Cheap In Custody (Book) (Anita Desai) Price

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Customer Reviews of In Custody

A beautiful novel
Touching and wonderfully funny. "In Custody" is woven around the yearnings and calamities of Deven, a small-town scholar from Mirpore in the north of India. An improvised college lecturer, Deven sees a way to escape from the meanness of his daily life when he is asked to interview India's greatest Urdu poet, Nur. But every attempt will only end up in desaster.
A beautiful book, mingling melancholy, disappointment and lots of humour. I recommend it most warmly.

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A very interesting look at new versus old
I always feel like I've read something good if I'm still trying to interpret it weeks after I've finished it. Such is the case with "In Custody." On one hand, it's a very entertaining, almost slapstick account of a poor chump who serves badly at a less-than-stellar academic institution. After finishing it, though, I've been doing a lot of thinking about new versus old theme in particular... [There] are very valid questions today, which makes this a timely read.

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Delightful, light-handed academic satire.
I haven't seen the film, and I'm not a student of Urdu poetry, but I really enjoyed this book. In fact, it's the only truly delightful, light-handed academic satire I've ever read. You'll find none of the hit-'em-over-the-head-in-case-they-miss-the-point nonsense of Jane Smiley's Moo and none of the archness and linguistic density of Alexander Theroux's D'Arconville's Cat. Desai employs a gentle, kind humor and simple, but totally controlled, style to create two memorable characters who will long outlive more fervid attempts to show the sometimes ridiculous lengths to which academics must go to achieve their goals and the goals thrust upon them.