A powerful, daring novel by Stephanian novelist. Review on Piece of the Giant, A - Anupam Srivastava

I started reading “A Piece of the Giant” on recommendation of a friend who knows the author, Anupam Srivastava, who is a former Times of India journalist and a professional with the United Nations. I have of late been disappointed with the rubbish that is being published in India, and bought this book online from Flipkart with mixed feelings.

On reading the first page, I realized I had found something really good. By the time I finished it, I was more than impressed. I had found an incredible piece of work by a very powerful new writer. The novel tells the story of India as it got free from British control and became a free country. It starts with a  comic portrayal of an unsure Raja who is about to be visited by a British Resident. The Resident brings with himself a freedom fighter who inducts Raja into the national movement and soon he becomes a minister in free India.

His son, Pratap, leaves home to become a journalist and when he finds that his father, the Minister of Reforms, has forgotten the promises the Indian leaders had made to the people of India, becomes  a rebel and challenges the state. His relationship with his father is most sensitively portrayed. His relationship with Malati, the woman he loses to fate twice, is tragic and very moving.

Ultimately, this novel enriches the mind, exhilarates with its language, plot, characters and the story. In the current reading market dominated by big names who are churning out rubbish and are being loved by the masses who have nothing better to turn to, this new writer offers something different, something brilliant. I am sure he will be one of the leading writers of this decade. A most promising debut. Write on, Srivastava.