To describe Of Love and Politics in a nutshell, the story is a portrayal of personal and political interplay amidst three characters - Aditya Samar Singh, a suave, foreign-returned young turk who is destiny-bound to take forward his father's political lineage; Brajesh Ranjan, a son-of-the-soil politico with a nationalist agenda; and Chaitali Sen, a fiery, liberal political activist who fights for the rights of those oppressed. Other characters, such as Aditya's girlfriend Sarah, Chaitali's friend Monica and her husband Prashant, seasoned politician Ghulamsaab play their roles to heighten the sizzle content of the story that weaves in and out of India's political scenarios stretching far back to the 1970s (when the then-imposed Emergency turned the power-equations all topsy-turvy) to present day India which is witnessing a dynamic upheaval of various parties, ideologies, politicians and issues — each more complex than the other. Of course, as the title suggests, the book is also about love (though not as much) as about politics. Thus, also expect an emotional roller-coaster ride as the central characters bond, un-bond and re-bond amidst themselves to the tune of surprising twists and turns.
It doesn't make things easier to have Sinha use his elitist linguistic capabilities to write prose that requires a “what was that again?!” sort of treatment at every other line. Indeed, in today's age of monosyllabic phrases and grammatically horrifying SMS-lingo, it is commendable to have a writer like Sinha who can so adeptly weave Shakespearean phrases like 'phlegmatic propensities' and 'puerile denials' with Shashi Tharoor-esque aplomb in his work. However, considering the 'weight' of the issues dealt with in the book, it would have been easy on the mind (for a cross-section of readers) to get to read it in simpler language. Albeit, there's no doubt that the book will delight the linguistically-gifted intelligentsia, with keen interest and in-depth knowledge of Indian politics.
To give the author his due, despite all the aforementioned, Of Love and Politics is indeed a study in thorough research and diligent analysis! It is certainly not easy to hark back four decades; unravel the socio-political mechanisms and ideologies from then to now; derive logical conclusions and co-relate it to present-day situations - all this, while penning a work of fiction which also has its share of romantic turbulence to add to the complexity of it all. Also, while it gets tedious for the reader to digest the elaborately enumerated statistics (in terms of voter margins, constituencies, number of farmers who have committed suicide etc), Sinha deserves due praise for undertaking such painstaking research, which Indian literature seems almost devoid of his recent times. Also commendable, is the author's drive to experiment with various genres (love, cricket, politics) in his books so far; without succumbing to being pigeonholed into a safe bracket.
Twists and turns - The Hindu
It doesn't make things easier to have Sinha use his elitist linguistic capabilities to write prose that requires a “what was that again?!” sort of treatment at every other line. Indeed, in today's age of monosyllabic phrases and grammatically horrifying SMS-lingo, it is commendable to have a writer like Sinha who can so adeptly weave Shakespearean phrases like 'phlegmatic propensities' and 'puerile denials' with Shashi Tharoor-esque aplomb in his work. However, considering the 'weight' of the issues dealt with in the book, it would have been easy on the mind (for a cross-section of readers) to get to read it in simpler language. Albeit, there's no doubt that the book will delight the linguistically-gifted intelligentsia, with keen interest and in-depth knowledge of Indian politics.
To give the author his due, despite all the aforementioned, Of Love and Politics is indeed a study in thorough research and diligent analysis! It is certainly not easy to hark back four decades; unravel the socio-political mechanisms and ideologies from then to now; derive logical conclusions and co-relate it to present-day situations - all this, while penning a work of fiction which also has its share of romantic turbulence to add to the complexity of it all. Also, while it gets tedious for the reader to digest the elaborately enumerated statistics (in terms of voter margins, constituencies, number of farmers who have committed suicide etc), Sinha deserves due praise for undertaking such painstaking research, which Indian literature seems almost devoid of his recent times. Also commendable, is the author's drive to experiment with various genres (love, cricket, politics) in his books so far; without succumbing to being pigeonholed into a safe bracket.
Twists and turns - The Hindu
