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_askthebookbug 's review for:
Rumble in a Village: A Novel
by Luc Leruth, Jean Drèze
• r e v i e w •
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When Jean Dreze, an economist resided in Palanpur for a year (1983-84), he found the small village interesting enough to make it into his notes. It is only several decades later Luc Leruth decided to conjure up a fictional story that unfolds in Palanpur using Jean's notes. Wrapped behind this beautiful cover, Rumble in a Village is a witty and humorous story about a whole range of characters, each carrying his/her own unique trait. Although fictional, Luc has succeeded in projecting a sleepy village's life appropriately. Through this story, he highlights how caste and power plays an important yet unfortunate role in villages. The contrast in power between the higher and lower classes of people are shown vividly. Rumble in a Village may be funny on the surface but also highlights an underlying sense of political and social norms of a society.
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Anil, a banker in the States receives a phone call informing him of his uncle's murder in Palanpur. Having previously visited the village as a three year old child, he doesn't have many memories to recall. Reluctantly, he makes his way to India to sort out property details that he will now be inheriting. His father who moved to America decades ago, leaves behind an incomplete fictional novel set in Palanpur which Anil uses to understand the nature of this tiny village. Upon his arrival in India, he immediately senses how curious people are to have an NRI amongst them, their questions only increasing in fervour as he makes his way to the village. The other aspect that he quickly understands is the unfairness with which Dalits are treated in remote places and in his case, Neetu, an old Dalit woman who is imprisoned as his uncle's murderer. The villagers know that Neetu is a timid woman, barely having the strength to hold or even own a rifle. But it's often easier to wrongly accuse Dalits and so they do exactly that.
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Anil's stay in Palanpur is both amusing and adventurous and with Babu, a Dalit as his sidekick, he sets about exploring the place. The story shifts between 1872 and 1984, as Anil reads his father's story while thinking of his own experience amidst this eclectic set of people. Although life may seem simple in a village, it also has it's dark secrets. The father's story which is set during the pre-independence era, has funny and interesting instances about how the British introduced railways in this quaint village much to the amusement of the villagers and how it boosted their financial situation. The power held by Thakurs and other higher caste people and the manner in which they misuse it applies even in the current situation. Rumble in a Village was a riot at times but most of the story felt dragged, like a rubber band that is stretched to it's maximum capacity. It is here that it lost couple of points from me.
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Rating : 4.1/5.
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When Jean Dreze, an economist resided in Palanpur for a year (1983-84), he found the small village interesting enough to make it into his notes. It is only several decades later Luc Leruth decided to conjure up a fictional story that unfolds in Palanpur using Jean's notes. Wrapped behind this beautiful cover, Rumble in a Village is a witty and humorous story about a whole range of characters, each carrying his/her own unique trait. Although fictional, Luc has succeeded in projecting a sleepy village's life appropriately. Through this story, he highlights how caste and power plays an important yet unfortunate role in villages. The contrast in power between the higher and lower classes of people are shown vividly. Rumble in a Village may be funny on the surface but also highlights an underlying sense of political and social norms of a society.
.
Anil, a banker in the States receives a phone call informing him of his uncle's murder in Palanpur. Having previously visited the village as a three year old child, he doesn't have many memories to recall. Reluctantly, he makes his way to India to sort out property details that he will now be inheriting. His father who moved to America decades ago, leaves behind an incomplete fictional novel set in Palanpur which Anil uses to understand the nature of this tiny village. Upon his arrival in India, he immediately senses how curious people are to have an NRI amongst them, their questions only increasing in fervour as he makes his way to the village. The other aspect that he quickly understands is the unfairness with which Dalits are treated in remote places and in his case, Neetu, an old Dalit woman who is imprisoned as his uncle's murderer. The villagers know that Neetu is a timid woman, barely having the strength to hold or even own a rifle. But it's often easier to wrongly accuse Dalits and so they do exactly that.
.
Anil's stay in Palanpur is both amusing and adventurous and with Babu, a Dalit as his sidekick, he sets about exploring the place. The story shifts between 1872 and 1984, as Anil reads his father's story while thinking of his own experience amidst this eclectic set of people. Although life may seem simple in a village, it also has it's dark secrets. The father's story which is set during the pre-independence era, has funny and interesting instances about how the British introduced railways in this quaint village much to the amusement of the villagers and how it boosted their financial situation. The power held by Thakurs and other higher caste people and the manner in which they misuse it applies even in the current situation. Rumble in a Village was a riot at times but most of the story felt dragged, like a rubber band that is stretched to it's maximum capacity. It is here that it lost couple of points from me.
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Rating : 4.1/5.