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When I first read this book late in 2014, I loved it â I found it really moving. But then I didnât write a review of it, and forgot pretty much everything about it. This time around, I enjoyed it, but not quite as much as I did the previous time.
The Lowland begins with two brothers in Calcutta, perhaps around 1960. As kids, they do everything together â play together, study together, get into mischief together. But over their university years this begins to change, as Udayan grows frustrated with oppression and capitalist exploitation in India and gravitates towards the Naxalites, while Subhash lives more in line with his parents' expectations, dedicating himself to his studies, and eventually moving to the US to further those studies. The book mostly follows Subhash, who hears only from afar that his brother has defied convention and married discreetly out of love â Udayanâs wife, Gauri, becomes the second main character of the book. And I donât really want to spoil too much of the story, but the book does follow the family, mostly in the US and in a couple of parts in Calcutta, for a few decades.
I think what I liked about this book is that everyone in it is certainly flawed, but in a way that I found empathisable. Udayanâs idealism incurs the wrath of the government, which causes pain for his family. Gauri experiences trauma that leaves her unable to form real, meaningful emotional connections. Subhash is kind of meek, doesnât stand for anything. Bela holds on to bitterness like anything, and runs away to avoid tough conversations or feelings. They seemed like a family who were realistic in their imperfections (even if some of the events that shaped them are quite extraordinary), and I was curious to see how things could resolve.
But the book isnât exactly full of tension, and Iâm also not sure how I feel about the ending. It felt a bit like it just poetered out⊠but perhaps thatâs truer to real life, too.
Overall, I didnât find it quite as amazing as I remembered, but it was still an enjoyable book. Revising my rating to four stars.