Welcome from Chief Librarian Louise Blalock
“Vivid and engrossing. . . . Though the book is anchored, fascinatingly, in the daily life of Bombay, the depth of Suri's characters lifts The Death of Vishnu out of its sociological and cultural background, takes it beyond the confines of its particular setting, and raises it into a work of fiction that seems not only universal but absolutely cosmic.”
That is how the writer Francine Prose describes Manil Suri’s The Death of Vishnu, the selected 2008 One Book for Greater Hartford.
All of the books that have been selected for One Book for Greater Hartford have given us the opportunity to explore cultures that may be different than our own, ideas that challenge us, perspectives that are unfamiliar, and a chance to observe the world through the writer’s eyes. Indeed, all of the books have transported us to an unfamiliar culture at the same time revealing the singular thread of humanity that connects us.
Manil Suri’s star is in ascendance. The first book in his trilogy, The Death of Vishnu, is rich with the complex relationships of people who share a space, but not common cultural reference. Toss in the fragility of human emotions and Hindu mythological traditions, and this is yet another book that generously gives us the opportunity to discover another culture through imagination and literature.
In Manil Suri’s story the mythology overlays contemporary urban life. More specifically the life of a single crowded apartment building becomes a microcosm not only of the city, but of the human condition itself.
Those of us who are city apartment or condominium dwellers will relate to the visceral descriptions of residents making space for one another, creating protective space in chaos, or claiming a piece of common space. Suburban and rural environments have their own manifestations of these conditions, of course.
Join us in reading this wonderful book and in the opening
celebration at the Downtown library on Saturday, August 16 - where the foods
and arts of
The summer and fall will be full of book-themed programs for both adults and youth, and on Friday, October 24, the highlight of One Book will take place at the Downtown library– the author’s reading with Manil Suri.
I hope you’ll join us for this celebration of the literary arts!
