Tutor of History

By Manjushree Thapa

Book Overview

The Tutor of History is an ambitious social saga, a compelling tale of idealism, love and alienation, set in contemporary Nepal caught between tradition and modernity. The events of the novel unfold against the backdrop of a campaign for parliamentary elections in the bustling roadside town of Khaireni Tar. At its heart the book is about four main characters: Giridhar Adhikari, the chairman of the People's Party's district committee, who suffers from a serious alcohol addiction and strange, violent manias; Rishi Parajuli, a lonely, under-employed bachelor and disillusioned communist who gives private tuitions in history to disinterested middle-class boys; Om Gurung, a former British Gurkha determined to bring love into every life in his hometown; and Binita Dahal, a reclusive young widow who runs a small tea shop and is careful not to demand of life more than the meagre pleasures it brings her. As the election campaign reaches its peak, the crisis in each character's life mounts, and the eventual rigging of the elections becomes a metaphor for the flawed, imperfect choices that ordinary people must make to get by in a world beyond their control. significant new voice from the Subcontinent. The first major novel in English to emerge from Nepal.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0141007745
• ISBN13: 9780141007748
• Release Date: January 2001
• Publisher: Penguin India
• Length: 442 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 7.9" x 11.4"

Customer Reviews

Thoughtful and engaging, well worth reading.

Ms. Thapa's novel follows the lives of a variety of characters in the lead-up to local and national elections in a small town in central Nepal. She drwas the reader in by illuminating the interior dramas of many characters, each of whom is engaged in conflict with various societal issues, whether they be gender based, substance abuse, personal philosophy, economic or other. Having spent a good amount of time in Nepa, I was able to recognize the town, the peoples, the physical lay-out, and other atmospheric elements that Ms. Thapa beautifully evokes. Om, the Gurung landowner, Binita, a young widower, various Bahuns trying to uphold what they see as their endangered status, and many others are recognizable individuals that illustrate the complex ethnic and cultural mix of this Himalayan country. She has a special knack for evoking the hard life that many women endure in village life: limited opportunities, limited dreams, and often long, drawn out sad endings. The build up to the election is very well orchestrated, with suitable tension among the different factions battling it out. Her language is not overly ornate, but rather suitably simple in that it accurately reflects her characters. When needed, when warranted, her writing reveals deep and compicated thought on her characters parts. And she is equally adept at bringing in the ever changing environment - the changing rythms of agriculture, of nature, the hot and dusty towns, the constant traffic on the Kathmandu-Pokhara highway, the day and the night. Well worth reading, as is her other book "Forget Kathmandu: an Elegy for Democracy." If you want to understand contemporary Nepal, then you should start with Ms. Thapa's works.