Word: chaudhuri
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...seem to be leading him to the conclusion that a marriage will not work unless it is rooted in love. But surprisingly, Jayojit reaffirms his commitment to the idea of arranged marriages and says quite simply that he does not believe in love. This is another way in which Chaudhuri shows the extent to which Jayojit gravitates toward the old world, but these intermittent statements never add up to an understanding of why Jayojit feels the way he does...
Jayojit's statement about love is jarring, and highlights a central problem in the novel. Chaudhuri never develops Jayojit fully enough for his philosophy to ring true to his character. In fact, it is hard to understand Jayojit's inner life at all. Chaudhuri shows us that a part of Jayojit is stuck in India, but he never shows the side of Jayojit that inspired him to leave India in the first place. Jayojit occasionally comments on the extent to which he has grown accustomed to the conveniences he enjoys in America, but these comments do not give us insight...
...Chaudhuri's depiction of Jayojit's marriage is equally sparse. The short scenes of Jayojit's memories of his wife are beautifully written, but are not effective in conveying the reasons for Jayojit's disenchanted feelings about romance, nor in validating his disillusionment with his life in America. Jayojit is left then as a stunted character; we know he is stuck between two worlds, but we have no idea how he got there or why he cannot...
...Chaudhuri's portraits of the more minor characters in the novel, such as Jayojit's parents, are particularly enjoyable. Jayojit's neurotic mother and reticent father provide a strong backdrop to Jayojit's affinity for life in India. The Chatterjees talk about Jayojit's experiences "abroad" as though he lived in an imaginary land. Chaudhuri's subtle comparison between the mystical atmosphere that the Chatterjees attribute to America and the dreamlike way in which Jayojit wanders through India is compelling and beautiful-this is the strong point of Chaudhuri's novel. Through his sensitive descriptions of the daily trivialities...
...Amit Chaudhuri...