In Times of Siege: A Novel (Vintage Contemporaries) - Tapa blanda

"A heady mix of myth, modern mores, politics and lust. . . . Heartbreakingly funny, moving and as relevant as today's headlines."--The Washington Post

"Githa Hariharan's fiction is wonderful--full of subtleties and humor and tenderness." -Michael Ondaatje

"If this premise seems to be drawn from the headlines of modern, B.J.P.-dominated India, Hariharan amplifies the themes of courage, dissent, and responsibility in her protagonist's private life. . . . The result is an engaging portrait of the mild-mannered professor." -The New Yorker

"Appealing. . . . By turns bewildered, titillated, embarrassed, and frightened out of his wits, Shiv makes a sweetly sympathetic hero for a story that is part comedy of manners, part comedy of ideas."--The Boston Globe

"A modern fable . . . beautifully told in a spare style that is as modern as its subject."--The Baltimore Sun

"A witty, insightful novel . . . Hariharan tells the tale with a realistic grasp of how people interact and a highly evolved sense of the absurd." --The Seattle Times

"Intelligent . . . [Hariharan's] deceptively simple prose belies the artistry of her phrasings and she writes with an infectious concern for her characters." --San Francisco Chronicle

"Admirable. [Its] themes . . . extend beyond India or its current situation. They are universal. Ms. Hariharan has written a fine novel that leaves much to ponder long after its conclusion." -The Richmond-Times Dispatch

"[Hariharan is] an outstanding writer." -J. M. Coetzee

"Eloquently written . . . a quick read, and fascinating to any outsider. A modern book, it reads like a classic with gorgeous prose and intense conflict." -The Oklahoma Gazette

"Imaginative . . . entertaining . . . [The] strength of this highly readable tale is that it is a delicate blend of humor, tenderness and insight." --Tucson Citizen

"Wonderful . . . Ms. Hariharan executes the vastness of India's historical terrain, and the minutiae of one sagging human being finding a flicker of inspiration, with great dignity and intimate humor." -The Asian Reporter

"Engrossing . . . re-establishes [Hariharan's] reputation as a deft storyteller." --India-West

"Hariharan captures Shiv's besieged existence with just the right amount of angst, confusion, polemic and humour. Hariharan has written . . . [a] persuasive work that tells of the perils of sectarianism and silence in the face of oppression." -Far Eastern Economic Review

"Hariharan writes with anguish, pain and anger about what is happening to our country. I put In Times of Siege on top of my list of books that must be read." -Khushwant Singh in The Hindustan Times

Caring for his twenty-four-year-old ward, who has broken her leg, middle-aged history professor Shiv Murthy struggles with the feelings that the young woman stirs in him, a situation that is complicated when one of his medieval Indian lessons is challenged by a group of religious extremists. Reprint 10,000 first printing.