The Novel रेत समाधि - Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shree is in limelight as it became the first Hindi book to receive the International Booker Prize, a remarkable achievement indeed.
I just finished reading the original book in Hindi, and must say that I am in a spell, so I decided to write this review while it is fresh in mind.
This book starts slow, and takes its time to develop the plot, the characters, and your interest, you may also get impatient at times at this stage, but it starts to climax around page 250, after which you get hooked to it and can’t put it down. I will not reveal the story and be a spoiler. A very interesting aspect of the story is human like treatment accorded to birds, animals, and even static things at places, and very humorous tone adopted in the narration throughout. The language deployed is the one used in everyday conversations with an occasional English word thrown in as we usually do, hence it is easy to read.
As an avid Hindi novel reader, I believe this novel to be among the top ones, and fully deserving the award it received.
I have not read the English version, so cannot talk about it, but I would say go for the Hindi version if you can read Hindi. The book has beautiful play of words and language throughout that is really something to relish as you read along.
If you love reading fiction, this book is very highly recommended.
