The Lives of Others

By: Neel Mukherjee

Narrated by: Raj Ghatak

Length: 21 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, Neel Mukherjee delivers a powerful, epic story of a family and a nation.

The aging patriarch and matriarch of the Ghosh family preside over their large household, made up of their five adult children and their respective children, unaware that beneath the barely ruffled surface of their lives the sands are shifting. Each set of family members occupies a floor of the home, in accordance to their standing within the family. Poisonous rivalries between sisters-in-law, destructive secrets, and the implosion of the family business threaten to unravel bonds of kinship as social unrest brews in greater Indian society. This is a moment of turbulence, of inevitable and unstoppable change: The chasm between the generations, and between those who have and those who have not, has never been wider. The eldest grandchild, Supratik, compelled by his idealism, becomes dangerously involved in extremist political activism - an action that further catalyzes the decay of the Ghosh home.

Ambitious, rich, and compassionate, The Lives of Others anatomizes the soul of a nation as it unfolds a family history at the same time as it questions the nature of political action and the limits of empathy. It is a novel of unflinching power and emotional force.

©2014 Neel Mukherjee (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

extraordinary insights

the juxtaposition of lives in one home... a bit like comparing the west with developing nations.

Excellent, but...

I loved this novel, a multi-generational family saga that takes place primarily in Calcutta in the 1960s. The conflicts among the parents, their offspring and spouses, all living together in a fading mansion, are psychologically astute and compelling. A parallel story, told through letters, of the oldest grandson who joins a Maoist insurrection in the poor provinces of Northern India, is disturbing. I heartily recommend the novel to those interested in life in a large developing country.

BUT… I have two concerns. First, there are some explicit scenes of violence that are almost nauseating. If you want to read this fine book, be prepared for upsetting images. Second, before listening to the novel, you should find a hard copy. I was not familiar with the many Indian names and nicknames, which made it a challenge to understand who was related to whom and who did what to which relative. Making it worse, the characters often refer to each other by their family relationship, using Bengali words rather than, say, “oldest uncle” or “sister.” After I borrowed a hard copy at the library and could check the family tree and the glossary of Indian terms, the book became clearer.

Still, this is one of my favorite listens in a long time. The skilled narration by Raj Ghatak added to the pleasure.