Author: Rahul Bhattacharya
Length: 278 pages
Year Written: 2011
Why I chose this book: I found this book in the Kinokuniya bookstore in Los Angeles, and was intrigued by the cover and title.
This book officially has broken the record for longest time it's taken me to read anything (relatively short in length) from beginning to end. I started reading in October and didn't finish until a few days ago. That's five months, a time period in which a lot has transpired in my personal life. By the time the plot switched gears a little more than halfway through, it was easy to identify parallels between the book and my life, and all in all it was a strangely rewarding experience. (Side note: This is also only the second book I've finished in 2015—suffice it to say it's been a lazy year for reading.)
The main character of The Sly Company of People Who Care is a 26-year-old journalist from Bombay who leaves everything in India behind for a rudimentary life in Guyana. One a one-year visa, he navigates the poverty-stricken but awe-inspiring terrain of a new country populated by a smattering of different cultures and customs. He eventually meets a woman that captures his attention and they embark on an adventurous and volatile relationship that eventually lands them in a lot of trouble.
Language and the way Bhattacharya employs it was the most important part of this reading experience for me. The book is chock-full of regional dialect and though that sometimes slowed down my reading, it also paid off well in many moments. Another important part of this reading experience was the vacation that it takes you on. Unless you're Guyanese, you probably weren't thinking of traveling to Guyana. Bhattacharya's main character takes an unlikely vacation that people often question him about, incredulously. The book's ability to transport you to an entirely different place that you probably have zero prior reference for, so acutely, speaks to the layered, complex nature of the writing. Overall, it was an interesting read that took way too long to finish.
Rating: 7/10
