 An intense storytelling and a matured crispness enlaces the "Voices in the city" . The middle class and the voices of the middle class intellectuals weave the storyline of "voices of the city' while aptly justifying the title.
Anita Desai was born on 24th June 1937 in India. Daughter of a German mother and an Indian father she grew up during World War II and could see the anxiety her German mother was experiencing about the traumatic situation in Germany. After the war she found her known Germany devastated. Her mother never returned there. Anita herself did not visit until she was an adult. She has taught at Mt. Holyoke and Smith Colleges and is a member of the Advisory Board for English in New Delhi. She is married and has four children. She is known as a novelist, short story writer and also children author Presently she is working as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Girton College, Cambridge and Clare Hall, Cambridge. The author has won the Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize for her novel 'Fire on the Mountain' and her children's book 'The Village by the Sea' in the year of 1982. She has also won the Guardian Children's Fiction Award. Synopsis: 'Voices in the City' is a great creation by Anita Desai. The story is based on the life of the middle class intellectuals of Calcutta. This is an unforgettable story of a Bohemian brother and his two sisters caught in the countercurrents of changing social values. In many ways the story reflects a vivid picture of India's social transition. The story is basically based on the life of the middle class intellectuals of Calcutta. Anita Desai being the winner of the Sahitya Akademi Award wrote the fascinating novel and describes the corrosive effects of city life upon an Indian family. Brought up in luxury by an over-indulgent mother, Nirode settles down in Calcutta and becomes absorbed into its bohemian life, while his elder sister, Monisha lives out a servile existence within the rigid confines of a traditional Hindu life. Their younger sister arrives from the country and becomes involved with an artist; but the outcome of this and the dreadful decision Monisha eventually takes, makes this novel a doubly haunting and a consummate work of art. This novel is beautifully illustrated and states that Calcutta can be the place for bohemians. This book is worth reading to get the feel of social transition, which is described in a lucid manner. 
'Voices in the city' written by Anita Desai is published by the peter Owen Ltd., South Asia Books, Architectural book publishing company, etc.
This creation of Anita Desai is set in the backdrop of contemporary Calcutta. The central character Nirode is a journalist here, so the readers see the place with his eyes and different corners of the city has come up with a journalistic point of view. The bohemian lifestyle gets a clear picture while the author narrates the story. (Last Updated on : 06-01-2009) |
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