A review by the_local_dialect
The Romantics by Pankaj Mishra

4.0

This book is more 3.5 stars for me but I'm rounding up. I wasn't incredibly impressed with it, but I enjoyed the portraits of the Westerners living in Benares, people mostly backpacking through who just ... stayed. I felt I knew these people somehow, as an expat myself who lived in a city that was a bit like Benares at one point, so I think for that reason alone I was more drawn to the book than I might have been. The portaits of these characters are well drawn, in particular Catherine and her sitar-player boyfriend, and I found myself more interested in their story than in that of the main character, who becomes a bit of a bore after awhile.

I do think Panjak Mishra has potential and would like to read from him.