That way no suspense is lost at any point and the novel can be fully appreciated. My advice to anyone wishing to read this novel is to wait until finishing it to research any further into its history. Her father was an intelligence officer in the Indian Army and her grandfather and her husband both served the British Raj. The complexity of the various cultures in India is not one easily broached (especially as a foreigner), but Kaye gives the reader a good glimpse into it, taking aspects of her own experience growing up in British India as well as falling back on the extensive research she completed. Instead, she develops what is a well-rounded view of a rather turbulent time in India’s – and Britain’s – past. Granted, my bias is towards anyone favouring the subcontinent (I did live there for a time), but her portrayal is not one of blind adulation.
Kaye’s portrayal of India is without a doubt one of the better I have read. Given his background and his innate belief in right and wrong, Ash often finds himself in outlandish situations, where adventure and mystery are never far off. Born of British parents but raised an Indian, Ash must decide where his loyalties lie – or not – and face the consequences. The story follows Ashton (known often as Ash) as he journeys through British India (during the time of the Raj). But to Kaye, they showcase the beautiful detail of India, detail key – yet often unapparent – to the understanding of Ashton and his journey.
To most, these details would serve no purpose but to add to the overall word count. In The Far Pavilions, Kaye takes the reader on a long, winding voyage through various scenes of India, where the little details, often missed or cast aside, are unapologetically highlighted. Style has changed, and in so many ways brevity is king. I say this not because no great adventure stories exist today, but because people today don’t write like M. Perhaps it’s the sheer size of the novel, a daunting one thousand pages expecting to be read or the way the novel grabs you in the first sentence and refuses to let go, promising and delivering an epic journey through the life of Ashton Hilary Akbar Pelham-Martyn perhaps it’s something else entirely, but one of my first and last impressions of The Far Pavilions was exactly that: They don’t make ‘em like this anymore. As when discussing an old car with nostalgia – or that Nokia brick everyone used to own – the phrase ‘They don’t make ‘em like this anymore’ springs to mind.
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