Tomb of Sand - WINNER OF THE 2022 INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE: WINNER OF THE 2022 INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE

With Tomb of Sand, Geetanjali Shree claims space among the Partition writers she so vividly pays her dues to. Because as with the best literature, it speaks most urgently to the present. The narrative follows the odyssey of an 80-year-old woman named Ma, whose world is clouded by grief following her husband’s demise. Motivated by an inner resolve, she finally restarts her interactions with the world, especially with a transgender woman named Rosie. Bade and Beti are bewildered by their mother’s new-found enthusiasm for life. Ma’s descent into profound depression after her husband’s passing is contrasted with her eventual resurgence and fervent embrace of a newfound vitality. After having lived most of her life on the terms dictated by others, a motivated Ma embarks on a poignant journey to Pakistan, aiming to confront and reconcile the lingering scars of her teenage survival during the Partition riots. It is an immersive novel that delves into the complexities of human relationships and the lingering influence of the past on the present. It also talks about the limits society places on us and we ourselves get so used to living within our bounds that we don’t question it. We get used to these limits and divisions based on irrelevant factors. Ma goes into depression after her husband dies and refuses to even turn her face from the wall she faces everyday. It’s what most Indian women would feel, who are raised to be just wives and mothers. When those duties are done, they are lost and don’t know how to live for themselves. We also see the family dynamics, where the elder son feels he is the Man of the House and should be responsible for taking care of his mother, and takes pride in it. When Ma shifts with her independent daughter, it is she who feels that she is the better child for it is in her house that Ma has started taking interest in life once again. However, she also feels stifled with that responsibility. Geetanjali’s writing is almost poetic at times. The way she describes the sun following Ma in the day makes you feel warm and cosy. She also casually throws in deep truths like: “Why are the only correct answers the ones you know?” or “You go where poverty takes you.” The author doesn’t shy away from raising issues of government inadequacies and mentions various actual incidents that happen in the story’s timeline as if they’re mere distractions. Geetanjali has sewed together many different themes into a beautiful blanket. However, as I mentioned earlier, it can try your patience at times. I took my time reading it, and got back to it when I had the patience to enjoy reading it and not just find out what happens next. A lot of the story is non-linear and often seems to drift off on a tangent, but then she brings you back where you started and things make sense again. I would say the book is a Must-Read, not just for the story but also the story-telling, but I also understand not everyone will survive till the end. Verdict: A Must Read

Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shree, translated by Daisy Rockwell, is a haunting and immersive novel that delves into the complexities of human relationships and the lingering influence of the past. The nonlinear narrative structure adds to the atmospheric quality of the novel, drawing readers into the inner worlds of the well-drawn and complex characters. The author's attention to sensory details and inner thoughts creates a sense of nostalgia and longing that resonates with readers long after they finish the book. While primarily focused on the personal struggles of the characters, the novel also explores broader social and political themes without detracting from the intimate story. Daisy Rockwell's translation captures the beauty and subtlety of the original text, making this a must-read for anyone looking for a thought-provoking and insightful literary experience.

A story on partition, past love & marriage of an octogenarian, a strong friendship between an hijra(Rosie) & Ma(Chandraprabha devi),love between mother & daughter, son,grand children and other family relationships. It's also a story of falling ethics,violence,murders,breakups,killings & mayhem that follows partition. We find Ma an octogenarian staying with her civil servant son and her independant journalist daughter who lives on her own.The reader is surprised to learn that Ma already had an interreligious marriage & a past love life in Pakistan but the partition effect had a toll on her happiness & had to leave her country of birth fighting for survival, like so many others who crossed the borders in a live or die circumstances.Ma becomes aloof,weak and withdrawn after her husbands death which becomes a constant worry for her children & other family members. But all through her silence we find Ma developing or perhaps nurturing the thought of meeting her first husband Anwar who is now in Pakistan which we comes to know almost during the end of the story. This frailing women along with Rosie(an accomplice & also a survival victim of partition) makes a perfect plan to cross the borders and to meet her first love . but unfortunately we find Rosie being killed in a dreadful manner & the daughter(Who has no knowledge of her mother's & Rosie's past connection with Pakistan) takes it on herself as a responsibility to fulfill her mother's desire who was stubborn enough to visit Pakistan on behalf of Rosie's last wish of handing over Chironji. In Pakistan.Once into Pakistan the daughter starts getting suffocated with Ma's odd behaviour ,feels out of place. The situation worsens when they were held as prisoners and gets complicated continously with Ma' s quirky replies and actions and which makes the daughter feel with little hope of survival & even regrets her decision to accompany her mother to Pakistan. Finally with all the travails & hardships the old lovers were able to meet and the reader can have a feeling of reading a different kind of great love story and where perhaps the writer too wants to reflect the purity of two hearts with one soul beyond borders,religions,hatred, etc. & giving us a panacea in the form of a non- existing existing microscopic hope for universal happiness and brotherhood.but definitely a food to the thought of intellectuals & a relief to those who imagines a world and an humanity comprising of borderless nationless,religionless etc Coming back to the story the writer has a knack to play with words and many a times we find one word leading to multiple words and as a reader though sometimes finds out of the context but then being held by the powerful narration that nothing is amiss and somehow feel that we are mystically connected in to the story with that of the writers imagination & find ourselves well within the context.Things like an ordinary walking stick(Cane) in the hands of Ma , Rebock shoes etc finds so many references and forms and exaggerated humorously with wit to such an extent that you find at the peak of laughter.So also with reference to'Serious Son'.Other references to birds like Chukar or crow & its cawcaw sounds etc also brings lots of fun and keeps us in humorous mood & more particularly the silent language between Bade & the crow has all 'feelings & emotions' as between any two fair normal human beings. Above all a gifted talent and a rare writing intelligence which we wonder to credit either the orignal author or to the translator.Above all a good novel but though a lenghty one to read .

What a coincidence . How fortunate. Have been simultaneously reading a non-fiction, Tim Marshall's 'Prisoners of Geography' and a fiction, Geetanjali Shree's 'Tomb of Sand'. Often lost the feel of what is real, what is not. Geetanjali's novel is a work of art. An epic poem in a modern day prose. The love story of Chanda - Anwar beside being literature is also journey through unfortunate history of partition, a deep study in cross-cultural challenges, all the more in time when laws are being enacted to counter 'love jihad', when hatred is the emerging currency, pockets of sectarianism the new norm. The love story of Chanda and her search for Anwar across the border is developed in three distinct segments that well fuse in the single poignant end. The forgiveness towards the end is between two longing hearts. It is also between two nations for the malevolent, quirky twist of history. The character of Chanda, Ma, Amma, dominate the novel. Characteristically it also raises the characters of others, animate or inanimate. Rosie-Raza, Bade, The Daughter, The Stick, The Crow, The Chukar, KK, Bahu, Sid, Serious, The 'Murderers', Anwar, The Buddha, The Door and others shine in the glory of Amma, strengthening her character in turn. A long journey needs interludes. Like a banyan tree in whose shade the traveler rests, refreshes before moving on. Many interludes in the novel add freshness for the reader. Geetanjali's novel is a classic in literature and would qualify for recommendation as essential reading for a higher level graduate course in literature. Tomb of Sand will live with and within me for long. Clearly one of the finest novels I have read.

The book starts nice. Feels like a crazy lady has typed breaklessly while drunk. It’s a fun read when she gets into the life of a family. But then the artificial done to death part comes (which is supposed to be the climax and strong) and it’s a major dip. She starts with genuine stance on family and people and society but then it turns out to be a puke worthy end of artificial forced dreamy insincere sensitivity. LOTS OF FLAB. People who lose patience easily should refrain from reading but then i would have read it even if I knew it’s gonna be this. 2.5/5

Tomb of sand - review It’s a book about leading life selflessly , a book about reliving your past events , a book where an individual gets up from grieving a near and dear one and then enjoying the last phase of life to the fullest making selfishness a virtue. It’s a book of rejuvenating with the past moments of life when one had to leave her own home own country post partition , it’s about the feelings when those areas are relived , by touching the stones, the roads , the sands . It’s a book of telling stories of sands how those sands in the deserts have hidden all the facts about their escape from the riots post partition . It's the same when they listen to stories. they enjoy the essence of a tale, gather it like stardust, and scatter it in the sands so that even after they leave, the stories will grow and blossom and spread their perfume. The language of the book is wonderful and very witty as it starts with interactions from the non living things of the house like the door , the wall , the rainbow , the cane! All the more it has an emotional twist when the fact of riots is discussed in the book . Overall , the book is a must read book and is a book for all ages .

In one word, it is Different. Different in story telling, content. In my case at least, I had to ‘read’ it, didn’t get read. It intrigues. It is not ‘notputdownable’ in a typical novel fashion. I read it over a span of weeks, but the blame cannot be put entirely on the book, I am a slow reader. I haven’t read any of its literary reviews. I will now. I know it is a Booker Prize winner, that’s one reason I got attracted to it. But anyway I am fond of reading, read a lot but am not a voracious reader. My views are those of a lay reader. Would I recommend it? Yes, to those who love reading with patience.

I am not a literary person, curiosity attracted me towards रेत समाधि and it's English translation TOMB OF SAND. Skillfully integrating common dialects of Hindi belt of North India. Novelty of words and sentences form a linguistic structure cajoling cognition. Mind is not dimag but 'jalebi dimag.' The translation at times appears different perhaps to people like me prone to cognise in Hindi: हमारी गुरु, प्रेरणा और बेहद अज़ीज़ कृष्णा सोबती जी के लिए/For my guru, my inspiration, my dear Krishna Sobati. But translator Daisy Rockwell knows her job well. Geetanjali Shree, the author of रेत समाधि /Tom of Sand, expresses concepts and issues in a language rich in subtle meanings. Consider one from brain science--how we feel our feelings--the thought itself. Whether mind is in brain or it has origins in body? She prefers embodied mind, as one finds in somatic marker hypothesis of Antonio Damasio. It is a severe blow to Descartes' 'thinking stuff' residing in the soul. For enthusiasts of conservation, there is a satiric speech. Guns of hunter turned ornithologists, like Salim Ali, instilled fear of man in wild animals. Sensitivity to familial and social issues is impeccable; at times leaves smell of distaste for modernity. East and West meet and depart, as much as old and new. One can see it in concepts of trance, libido, and so on. The Buddha's image is a secret journey enmeshed in lowly and lofty ideals. If separation is reality, and devastating. It's passion lits fire inside to make meating of minds a possibility. And even the flame shows way to creativity.

Despite its woke acclamations, I found this book ponderous, over clever and a bit of a struggle. It is full of word play, jokes, fantasies and whimsical reflections by the author(s). Although translated, and the translator seems to have had almost as much input as the original Hindi written version by expanding the text to make the English version of puns and word-play actually work, this very long book also requires that the readers know a great deal about Hindi language, culture and deities if they are to ‘get it’. The book is about an Indian family’s intimate life and eventually the oldest woman’s journey with her daughter to places of memories of her past life. Maybe it is about the absurdity of borders but this seems somewhat pretentious.

Book was as described!

The book did not live up to expectations

A very nice read

I had to stop reading it as I couldn’t follow the story. It goes to one scenario to another with zero context, I had to search for the meaning of every single chapter with the help of google. Super annoying if you are not from the author’s culture. Quite expensive for a kindle version too. 12 euro wasted as I can’t return it