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pavanayi's review
5.0
To be honest I didn't expect an Indian graphic novel to be this good. When truth crosses the high walls of absurdity, fiction somehow helps us rein it in and Ghosh's work is another reminder to humanity that the rights that we enjoy in a democracy can be taken away from us in the blink of an eye. A must read, especially for millennials and anyone who cares about humanity.
belacbooks's review
4.0
This was quite an enjoyable read. Ever since I was gifted a copy of A Fine Balance by my high school history teacher, I have been interested in the events surrounding The Emergency. Ghosh's graphic portrayal of this time in India is very well handled: through only around 6 characters, he is able to paint a larger portrait of India Under Moon (his name for Indira). Gosh's illustrations were quirky and very well done, particularly the way he masterfully worked news articles and quotations into side panels or backgrounds of the story. Although the narrative portion could have used a bit of help, this is definitely a solid four star read.
navyasinha's review
3.0
2.5 stars, rounding up for the choice of subject.
Delhi Calm is a fictionalized account of a few people living through the very non-fictional Emergency. The novel gets all the beats right - the main events before the Emergency and its worst atrocities are covered and all main 'players' are introduced (albeit metaphorically), the narrative focus stays on a handful of characters with complex motivations and arcs, and art complements the jarring and confusing feelings the novel wanted to impart and has a few exceptionally good frames (hello nightmares about Mother Moon's face).
But I still found this unreadable at points, mostly because the novel seemed too eager to keep pointing out how clever it was being. The elaborate metaphors were getting dense after a while, I snorted at Indira "Mother Moon" Gandhi and her sons "The Prince" and "The Pilot", and the main story remained fairly uninteresting compared to the political drama of Emergency andJP "The Prophet's" protest (which is where the book also shines).
Though 10/10 for just this one (1) quote: "The more he [Sanjay Gandhi/The Prince] toured, the more convinced he was about his dreams, enterprise, policies, plans and sideburns". Which is just...*chef's kiss*
Delhi Calm is a fictionalized account of a few people living through the very non-fictional Emergency. The novel gets all the beats right - the main events before the Emergency and its worst atrocities are covered and all main 'players' are introduced (albeit metaphorically), the narrative focus stays on a handful of characters with complex motivations and arcs, and art complements the jarring and confusing feelings the novel wanted to impart and has a few exceptionally good frames (hello nightmares about Mother Moon's face).
But I still found this unreadable at points, mostly because the novel seemed too eager to keep pointing out how clever it was being. The elaborate metaphors were getting dense after a while, I snorted at Indira "Mother Moon" Gandhi and her sons "The Prince" and "The Pilot", and the main story remained fairly uninteresting compared to the political drama of Emergency and
Though 10/10 for just this one (1) quote: "The more he [Sanjay Gandhi/The Prince] toured, the more convinced he was about his dreams, enterprise, policies, plans and sideburns". Which is just...*chef's kiss*
poojapillai's review
4.0
What a superb book. Utterly unputdownable account of what happened when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi imposed Emergency on June 26, 1975. The characters are mostly fictitious, as are their story arcs. But the historical setting gives, I imagine, as accurate a presentation of those dangerous days, when democracy was suspended. The author has researched his topic thoroughly, even using satirised versions of actual newspaper reports, songs and slogans. What I particularly enjoyed was how evocatively he writes about the hopes and dreams of a young nation, the yearning for social change and revolution, the nourishment that radical intellectuals of the period drew from Gandhi and Marx, and their faith in the power of ideas. It almost made me want to call for a revolution myself. This is an important book about an important period is modern history and is a particularly significant read for the present, when the national mood is one of dissatisfaction and disaffection.
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