Cracking review Rajani. Is this book available in Nepal? Thanks.

i am not really sure if its available in nepal yet. as far as i know, its official publication date was february 9th but today i noticed that it’s available on amazon.com. it doesn’t seem to be available in pilgrims in kathmandu yet, and i don’t really know how to check other sources.

Truly unbelievable! Samrat as a writer has seriuous shortcoming of creating identity for its characters, flexbility of its narratives and subtlety of their contexts. His short stories are so predictable, a daughter refusing to marry her father’s wishes take’s on to a ‘cobbler’s son’? What a joke, why couldn’t he find a better character for a cobbler’s son than a victim of some psycho maiden’s spite against her father and family. What a spoilt bi***! Or was it really love?? Does he even bother to make that distinction? Doh!

Rajani,

Many thanks for the info. Would love to give it a go.

I’m judging the book by its cover, and to me, the title of the book says it all… the writer is obviously trying to cash in from the ongoing crisis facing Nepal.

A big NO for me. Thank you :)

he is doing what writers do — write. that is good enough for me.

it is good they are publishing it in paperback.

With all due respect to Samrat for being a ‘trail-blazer’ in Nepali-English literature scene, I suppose one naturally expects a little more complexity and depth in analysis and portryal of contemporary Nepali culture coming out of a guy who has managed to write (or will most likely shortly) several ‘cross-over’ short stories/fiction. He is critical of biases and prejudices, but his criticism fails to penetrate to the depths where writers are usually successful in shaking such beliefs. He attempts to ‘universalize’ the Nepali sentiment, yet it remains afloat at such shallow level that one feels like Samrat is selling his own version of Britney Spears’ ‘Hit Me Baby…’ to his loyal follower of teeny boppers, bunch of era-centric anecdotes that even fail to satisfy us during an 18-hour flight to Nepal.

There is only one good answer to be given to Samrat Upadhya: writing that is unambiguously better than his, whatever that constitutes.

Let’s write stories to write stories better than his.

Yes, let us!

Manjushree Thapa is lot better writer than Samrat, and she also started publishing around the same time. I don’t think he is “the” first Nepali writer writing in English — what about Laxmi p. DEvkota, BalKrishan Sama, and Indra Bahadur Rai among others?

i find it funny how people are critiquing the book based on someone else’s critic ….how about reading the book first? anyone heard of saying “Dont judge the book by the cover”? I would say kudos to samrat..unlike us he dares to share his imagination beautifully through writing. thanks for that.

“the first Nepali author writing in English to [/b]be published in the West[/b].”

Upadhyay seems to me to have been taken up by the west in a similar way to Rushdie, just on a smaller scale, I don’t know much about analysing texts, but it seems to me that it’s a similar theme of trying to break down the traditional orientalist viewpoints of strange hindus and inspiring buddhists sitting on the tops of mountains and exhanging these for interesting little tit-bits of Nepali culture that you wouldn’t find in guide-book.

I have to say that i love Upadhyay, especially in the West where there’s so little Nepali text except news/propaganda. Oh and there was one book i read, can’t remember what it was called, about Nepali women at different ages, yet written by an old nepali man.. it was a tad paedophillic..

What do people think of NArayan Wagle’s PAlpasa CAfe?

All I know about that book is, it’s been marketed like no other books (pre-publishing).

I got to admit after reading a few paragraph of Rajani’s critque, I stopped reading fearing her critique would evaporate my interest reading this book. I am looking forward to read this book.

I am not a book reading type. However, instead of going to movie, I will buy this book and read. Just for entertainment purpose.

Everbody has right to like and dislike. But to force their liking/disliking upon others isn’t really good. Thanks for her crtical analysis of this book but I really want to tell the critic that there is always a better way to tell things that don’t satisfy you… There’s a better way to tell other to change; to improve…
I admire Samrat and I love the writings of Manjushree Thapa.Who knows YOU may be the next.

I look forward to reading this book. Deepak

manjushree thapa’s way better than samrat. samrat’s got no depth. he’s a very superficial workshop-product.

salik, why do you think i am trying to force my opinion about the book on you? book reviews get written all the time, you don’t have to pay any attention if you don’t want to.
also, there are a number of people who seem to like manjushree thapa. i thought of reviewing (or just reading) her book, forget kathmandu when it came out but i never really got around to it. anybody else any good?

“Writing is not a profession, but a vocation of unhappiness”

so mr. samrat has more to say about nepal n its typical social environmwnts which is seems to be more successful to his writing.

About ‘Guru of Love’ one of the good english written by nepali.

About ‘Royal ghost’, i have n’t read yet.abt containing internal conflict this the most common rising in nepal these day.

at last, thanx for reviewing Rajani jee

Rajani’s review quite harsh & BoxCutter’friend- why would U think,the Guy’s trying to cash in with our country’s on-going crisis? I reckon, that’s bit Pathetic comment U’ve made! I admire the Guy & Grt Kudos 2 him!Why don’t U go ahead & write yr own version of story, If U’r so Grt?

I think its better to read the book first before start judging him……it would not be more stupid of us to judge the book/writer without even getting to read the book. pls pls this is not a chat room or sajha.com. comment about the book not tell us who is better than who. i dont care if manju shree or whoever is better than samrat or not and how can you jugde anyways? and you cannot also judge samrat based on his three books…… and finally comment about the book and only after you read the book not somebodys comments. thx…
not a huge book fan …and not a samrat’s supporter either…..(just a normal person irritated after reading stupid reviews by so called book reviewers of the nepalese society. )

Some times ago I watched a movie. Tittle vibrated on me over and over, Y Tu Mama Tambien. And a line of that movie always follows me whenever I read stories. It went something like this: A good literature is not composed with sweet stories.

I dont know how true that holds for Upadhaya since I am not familiar with any of his work. One reason certainly is my nepali pride.

But the movie Y Tu Mama Tambien is a materpiece both sexually and lyrically.

:)

Rajani, thanks for your comprehensible review. Hope you enjoyed my out of place disscussion too.

Y Tu Mama Tambien was a pretty sweet movie. I wouldn’t call it ’ a masterpiece’, but it was good, well made.
Plus, it had a nice twist at the end.

Every body has their own view.Talking about Samrat upadhya’s book ‘The royal Ghost’,is very nice to me.As a nepali i have been missing everything since i left nepal.This book reminds me the nepalese tradition,culture,riligion among the nepalese people.The way of sharing kindness even in the difficult situation.You all can see the real nepalese faces in this book.I am a big fan of Samrat upadhya.

Dr. Upadhayay is an academic and a heck of a technical writer!!

It is the glory of all nepalese people and nepal as well that we have samrat upadhya.I would like to put congratulation and want to say best of luck for the success of this book.
Have a nice day.
-Manzil Arc

Manzil, cool it with the absolutist “all Nepalese people” bullshit, because you are wrong. Why? Because I, for one, don’t consider Dr. Upadhyay a glory to my country.

Dear all I read rajni’s comments, i would say its her view point about the book. But I liked her view points the way she described her dislikes. I am from ktm, a ktm boy, haven’t read the book yet. Just want to ask one question “why the word ROYAL is used in the title?” by reading the comments I don’t find anything royal in this book. And the other thing I want to express is “Jutta lagaune lai po jutta ma bhako killa le dukcha” if u just see that shoe it looks everything fine if u wear it then u realise there is a pin that hurts and only then you will try to take that pin out of that shoe, otherwise no one sees the problem isn’t it.

Dear all I read rajni’s comments, i would say its her view point about the book. But I liked her view points the way she described her dislikes. I am from ktm, a ktm boy, haven’t read the book yet. Just want to ask one question “why the word ROYAL is used in the title?” by reading the comments I don’t find anything royal in this book.
And the other thing I want to express is “Jutta lagaune lai po jutta ko killa le dukcha” if u just see that shoe it looks everything fine if u wear it then u realise there is a pin that hurts and only then you will try to take that pin out of that shoe, otherwise no one sees the problem isn’t it. So first stay in kathmandu and publish from here and capture the international markets then only you are called a great nepali and only then you have right to talk about the problems here.

To name a few, Joyce, Garcia Marquez, Naipaul, Rushdie and Rohinton Mistry have all written convincingly about their countries while residing elsewhere. But following your logic, they are not great citizens, nor do they have the right to talk about the problems of their countries. You, on the other hand, are an honorable man, sir.

It’s a double edged sword. If on one hand writers publicize contemporary issues, they equally suffer from their own definition of events (like most of us, but we don’t dare publish book obout it!) that it becomes sort of self evident truth because there’s a novel published and a bunch of white people/institutions have decided to review and critique it.

I don’t see why geography should limit our imagination, but imagination only. Facts are whole different story. Besides, Joyce, Garcia et al are a bit high a benchmark to pull Samrat up to so soon to justify his writing on Nepal, I think.

Yes, geography should not limit imagination, and yes, the double-edged sword exists, nothing new there. In this age of instant communication, I wouldn’t afford “facts” the exceptional status that you do, but that is another very slippery story to tackle some other time.

Samrat was not the issue in my previous post. I was merely asserting the RIGHT of “ex-pat” writers to write Nepali fiction, in response to Prateek, who seems to think otherwise, and I mentioned Rushdie et al. to show that historically, ex-pat writers have done a hell of a job writing about their countries (yes, I can differentiate between Arresting God and 100 Years, thank you).

If Nepal hasn’t produced someone equally capable, well, lay the blame where it belongs: on the writer’s shortcomings, and not on the IDEA that the writer’s shortcomings/rights are contingent upon his/her residency status. In short, I was using historical evidence to disrupt the false correlation.

What I find disturbing in your post, and correct me if I am wrong, is the implication that for Samrat (or I) “… to justify his writing on Nepal”, he first needs to reach that high benchmark set by Rushdie et al. If so, in the meantime, pray tell us what are the justifications — say, for aspiring Nepali writers living abroad — to write fiction about his/her country, besides monstrous talent.

Samrat is not the issue at all, just that he is a point of reference. Of course RIGHT exists, who am I to say anything about it, it’s a free country. And I haven’t put blame on the IDEA of writing from abroad, which, no matter how absurd it might sound to me at times (and it doesn’t really!) still remains a valid and popular form of literary communique.

You misinterpreted my statement. Contrary to general opinion, I’m not contentious by nature. My intent was to simply mention that amidsts the ‘heavy-weights’ that have been successful ex homeland, there may equally me others who may have failed miserably. Hence giving examples of only the ‘successful ones’ in no way implies that it’s a sure path to stardom. So, that bring us to the justification part. Not withstanding his three novels/short stories being published, it is for the most part ‘mosterous talent’, I think, though publishing three books probably says something about him that I seem to have missed utterly.

I don’t think you are contentious, just deliberately obtuse sometimes, like above. Of course, one could rightly blame my low IQ, but I have no idea what you are talking about, except in a vague, it could mean anything kind of way, as well as in a “monstrous talent”, ha, ha, ain’t backseat literary-smirking easy kind of way. Try publishing one story in a university literary journal some day, believe me, you won’t be dismissing three published books so cavalierly, despite the “monstrous talent”, ha, ha.

I can try to tell you what you have utterly missed, but it will take much too long. But if I were to pen an essay, words and phrases like the following would be thrown about: novelty; marketing; support and encourage a rare voice in fiction from Nepal in the US; a touchstone, against which to test and clarify our own aethetics, literary values, likes, dislikes, etc.; a new path, however narrow and uneven, to expand upon, destroy, create anew, etc.; sparking an interest and fierce debate in Nepali literature written in English.

Samrat is important and necessary on many levels, one of which is to be the poor canary in the coal mine; it’s a test of his character that he hasn’t keeled over, what with all the noxious fumes he’s had to breathe on a regular basis. As such, I have deep affection for him.

In the meantime, my question stands: what, in your opinion, are the necessary justifications for Samrat or any other ex-pat writer to write about his/her country, besides impressive talent and your say-so? (In all this, let’s be clear, I am no fan of Dr. Upadhyay’s fiction.)

Also, if you still want those Bhairav Aryal books, let me know; couldn’t find that other thread, for whatever reason.

You give me too much precedence by reading all that I have to write/rant here, make extra effort and deliberately try to lead arguments/debates towards a point where you try to find closure in ‘what I am trying to say’. I don’t think IQ has anything to do with it, although I wish it had a lot. And I agree it is vague at times, necessarily so because that is the easiest thing to do. But I’ll try to put you through lot less pain in the future. Besides, man, if what you want is opinions to make sense and give comfort to the extent that you buy into others, I don’t know…

No I don’t look to publish in literary journals anytime soon, thus I conveniently escape the experience — the agony of wishing I hadn’t said the things I said about publishing three books. Don’t you generally feel my scorn towards institutions??!!

Again, you are ‘lumping’ my Samrat as a writer and Samrat’s stories as representation of contemporary Nepali ‘consciousness’ together. I wish former the best, I believe the latter is selling us short. How so you may ask, but that is for another time. But then I also think, ‘why the hell am I having high expectations from the early ones’, perhaps the followers will ‘expand, destroy, create anew’ in the future to satisfy my vague and obtuse taste in writing.

Yes, yes, the canary parallel, I presume being a ‘trailblazer’ is not easy for which I have already given his dues in earlier posts, I think. However, ‘breathing noxious fumes’ and the rest is a tad exaggerated. Most of the reviews I have read of him are good to say the least, and I hear NYT is reviewing his latest one shortly. Cheer up man, the guy is doing more than fine. But again, you could be talking in sense of sympathizing as ‘literary brothers’. I know when I am not wanted.

The question, I’ll try to answer in subsequent posts, now that you have accused me of being ‘vague and obtuse’ I figured I rather think through and write. Make sense? What can I say, I am complex. ;)

Of course I want Aryal’s lit. Email me: mystichacker123 at yahoo dot com. Lets talk.

All I know about Literature it is an experience attached with writer that creates universal appeal/emotions.

The more deep writer drowns himself in his belief the better writer he becomes. Writers devote themselves on their belif. Like Garcia somewhere in one of his interview said, he wrote 100 years like his Grandmother would tell him stories. Her voice would not be any alarming when ever she told supernatural stories. That is how Garcia potrays the story. Filled with magic, betryal and sadness as if everything is equally sane.

All writers within a boundry of countires have also failed. Maybe many than the one that depart overseas and fail.

Orhan Pramukh, Duong Thu Huong are few example of non migrated writers who write about country’s issue so deeply. One may have him opposite of Naipaul and Rushdie.

“But then I also think, ‘why the hell am I having high expectations from the early ones’, perhaps the followers will ‘expand, destroy, create anew’ in the future to satisfy my [unreasonably high, context-ignoring expectations].”

(NB: Words within brackets are mine. I am willing to amend them if you think I totally fucked up the meaning.)

Yes, exactly, world-cup teams don’t appear overnight. Before one gets to Rushdie, for example, one passes by the likes of Tagore, Nirad Chaudhari, RK Narayan and GV Desani, among others.

In other words, thou protesteth too much, IMO. So I graciously take your advice and kindly return the favor with something extra: cheer up and loosen up, dude!

Anyway, I look forward to you answering my question, when you find the time. I will email you to get your address.

Suva Ratri!

Oops, that was in response to MH.

Just My Thought:

Yes, that grandmother story of Garcia Marquez is legendary. How wonderful that he found the voice for 100 Years through his grandmother and not through reading gazillion literary theories (on the other hand, he credits Kafka for the lesson on establishing narrative authority — you know, that line about Gregor Samsa waking up one morning; it’s a freaky premise, but the writer makes it “true”).

You say: “Orhan Pramukh, Duong Thu Huong are few example of non migrated writers who write about country’s issue so deeply. One may have him opposite of Naipaul and Rushdie.”

Yes, I agree, there is no saying where the good ones are going to show up, no? Which is why I am annoyed by people judging writers based mostly on residency. Witold Gombrowicz I believe spend more than half his life in Argentina (very interesting fellow), but he is known only as a Polish writer.

No, it’s not unreasonably high. FYI I enjoy the simplicity of most prose here and in suskera. What context? That, the Nepali social structure is eaten from inside? That, the only issues that can be raised are those of sexual repression in Nepali men/women, that middle-class Kathmandu has a lot to offer to Nepali identity, that castism is somehow overcome by simple cross-caste marriages, that Nepaliness is inherently corrupt, anachronistic and bankrupt in every sense of the word? No sir, Samrat needs to take his ‘typically imposed foreign perspective’ glasses off before he can convince me into buying another of his novel.

The answer to your question is simple. There are no justifications needed, but when projects are undertaken and subsequently presented to the public one expects it to be a bit thorough and have some depth, which I DO NOT find in his writing. And don’t put me on spot: I never implied that ‘monstrous talent’ was a pre-requisite to ‘offshore writing’. Just write a good book, who the fuck cares what you have to write about. Damn man, you don’t even let me critique this guy. What’s Up??!! As his RIGHT is limited to writing, MY RIGHT begins where his ends.

Thank you.

Its funny to the nerves. For all this you both seem so naive to the audience, us. Without roots like why and how, you give your limited perspectives. Guys, testai halla garne ho bhanne, lets hear WHY like RAJNI has done. Critique in a proper manner. What subject matters needs discovery? Where Samrat lacks depth and where does he miss thoroughness? What is a good book? Who is a good writer why is he a good writer?

I havent read Samrat so do not ask me to elaborate. You guys seem to be the experts so let us hear it.

Don’t be ridiculous, please critique away, be my guest. I wouldn’t be able to stop you if I tried, as if I would even try. By context, I meant the almost nonexistent literary tradition of Nepali-English fiction that the writer under discussion springs from (as opposed to, say, a Vikram Seth). Hence my metaphor of expecting a world-cup football team to develop overnight, the unreasonableness of it.

All I have left to say at this point is one can curse all one wants at the blue sky for not being green, but a writer can only write what he or she is capable of in the end.

(“Just” write a “good” book, huh? Now that really made me laugh, the simplicity and reasonableness of it! And I thank you for that, a great way for me to finally hit the sack.)

Just A Thought, seems like we posted at the same time again. That response was for MH.

You raise good points and I agree that Rajani’s approach is more productive and mature than mine. She especially got the “tone” right, I think. No, I wouldn’t consider myself an expert by any stretch of the imagination, I just read a lot and pretend to be knowlegeable :).

But I believe I have said what I had to say, however incoherent (sorry you had to wade through my muck). Good night!

just a thought:

Criticism need not be so elaborate as to post a column. Besides, Rajani’s criticism gives us a platform to put our own forward, no matter how fragmented and elusive, still, I/WE take time to put it out there. Your observation regarding naiveness of ‘our’ discussion is not only premature as you fail to ‘connect the dots’ but intrusive as well since it’s none of you damn concern whether WE, more appropriately I even bother to get into the ‘roots of it all’. If you really feel like joining the discussion, I suggest you read through all the previous posts and knock on my door.

Hi all, sorry for the late response. You know kathmandu, there are so many things to do here but still you are doing nothing. Anyways, I appreciate your thoughts all of you three. And about the book, I am not talking about geographic restrictions. But I am mainly concerned about kathmandu, why did he restricted himself in just one city? Why did’nt he talked about describing good things about nepal instead of pointing out the poor things. To critisize these things he should stay in ktm and express the feelings, make his book listed in nepali literature, and make the country’s leading people realise about the matters. Its not the proper way of making dollars by selling our poverty. I don’t call this guy a nepali and he has no right to talk about my nepal. And the other thing how could he? how could he explain his title ROYAL .. isn’t it true he is just trying to sell his book. I read an article here in kantipur, in one of the book show in india, nepal also had one small stall and all the foreigners were only asking about the politics of nepal, they were looking for the books published by a nepali aurthor about politics of nepal, but sorry to say there were non. makes me laugh at this author, look samrat you could win world’s heart if you be honest and come to nepal, interview maoists, leaders, king and review all the history of politics and write on the basis of that and make our politics known to world, like mao, lenin, lincon and hitler did. You shold express our country in positive way so that they respect us. Try to make money gaining respect from your own and world society, not selling some cheap concepts. I know westerns don’t have anything to think about except sex and money but remember we over here have so many things to think about. We have to make our country a place where we can live happily we don’t want to follow westerns we just want to stay in our culture and be happy and make westerners realise this is how you lead your life.
Sorry, my english is not that good could you guys as well simplify your writings please.
Thanking You.

I was surprised to see the title of the book. In the first few seconds I thought of many things about royal massacre. I imagined something ‘real’ royal ghosts haunting gyane and paras.
I haven’t read this book but Rajani’s review disappointed me.
Anyway, Samrat is a good writer, his ‘Guru of Love’ is really a good novel.

Hi Prateek,
Just read your comments as I posted mine. I think one person can not do everything. Let Samrat write fiction only. Let him specialize in his way. There are many people who write ‘politics’. But I would appreciate if Samrat could come up with some stories that embodies other many aspects of Nepali society today for example; politics, insurgency among others. Some real life stories!

Oy, I really, really don’t have time for this, but let me touch on a few things in Prateek’s post.

1. He says: “And about the book, I am not talking about geographic restrictions. But I am mainly concerned about kathmandu, why did he restricted himself in just one city?” Okay. But then he also says: “To critisize these things he should stay in ktm ….”

2. “how could he explain his title ROYAL .. isn’t it true he is just trying to sell his book.”

Since we aren’t mind readers, it would be safe to say that we don’t know exactly why Samrat used the word “Royal” in the title. So how can you so quickly insinuate such a cynical motive on him? In other words, where is the evidence for that insinuation, what is the rationale behind your equation, wherein the inclusion of “Royal” in the title corresponds to good sales? (If only it were that easy!) I mean, in a similar vein, I could just as easily say the inclusion of “Ghosts” in the title is a bad choice because it scares away customers and actually drives down sales.

Me, I like the title. Why? Because it provides thematic unity to the book and also because of its evocative echoes, not to mention the “humor” behind those huge Royal edicts on billboards scattered around Kathmandu.

3. “Its not the proper way of making dollars by selling our poverty. I don’t call this guy a nepali and he has no right to talk about my nepal. And the other thing how could he?”

Leaving aside the poverty pimp snipe, let’s get to the other part. You accuse Samrat of not being a Nepali. Fair enough, you are free to say whatever pops up in your head. However, that accusation presupposes that you understand exactly what makes one a Nepali. Okay, then, list for us SPECIFICALLY the standards of Nepalipan that you’ve judged Samrat against to arrive at that conclusion, share with us your litmus test, and then we can have a discussion on who is and is not a Nepali, and other things like “rights”.

4. “You shold express our country in positive way so that they respect us. Try to make money gaining respect from your own and world society, not selling some cheap concepts. I know westerns don’t have anything to think about except sex and money but remember we over here have so many things to think about.”

I agree completely, absolutely, not to mention whole-heartedly. Yes, Samrat should start writing propaganda and double yes, unlike us pure, selfless, and altruistic Nepalis, all westerners are sexual perverts and money-grubbing capitalist pigs!!!

G_P your response to Pratik is whole hearted. I agree with you. But just disagree on one point.

I do think title was chosen in consderation with comercial sale. This is a well known tactic in bussiness, espcially for emerging writers like Dr. Upadhaya. I dont think Upadhaya only has his hands in choosing the title the publishers are forceful on such things too.

and yes title Royal Ghosts should boost sale after the good old Royal Massacare.

But again, what is a harm in trying to earn just little more money by manupulating the buyers. At last, captilist pigs!

Money, Money:

I hear you, makes sense, the machinations of the industry. It’s a catchy title for sure (probably the best part of the book :)). If it sells significantly more than the last one, I will gladly revise my assertion. But without hard evidence, in the form of actual book sales, I remain skeptical of the “equation”.

Good night!

…And while we are at it, why not ‘project my own damn first generation Nepali literary opinion, break all the self-construsted myth called Nepal and shove it down the throat of contemporary gringos who want to kindly know what the fuck is going on in Nepal’. I say to this, ‘buy my copy of The Damned Royal Ghosts and you’ll know Nepal like back of your pale hand.’ Me a good salesman, and a much better capitalist pig!!!

Uhm, okay, that really clarified everything for me, thank you.

Some people give the boogeyman — white people/institutions — waaay too much power. This all powerful boogeyman, interestingly, is also incredibly stupid. Why, they buy books of FICTION “to kindly know what the fuck is going in Nepal”, even though Nepali news can be accessed with the click of a mouse, for free! (No projections or myth-making going on there, of course, it’s all objective and real.)

Fuck what white people think, let our writers write what they want, how they want, and what their capabilities allow them. We’ll critique them and try to keept them honest, but for god’s sake, let’s make space within our hearts for them to make mistakes, to stumble, to fail. Let’s not be so quick to excommunicate them, to label them poverty pimps, sell-outs, etc., etc. The Nepali reality — however the hell it is constructed — won’t crumble just because ONE idiot living in the States has written three books of FICTION.

And while we’re at it, for those of you who obviously have such a firm and smug grasp of Nepal and the Nepali reality, and who, with superior disdain, dismiss Samrat’s “(mis)representation” of Nepal with such seething contempt, well, step up to the plate, why don’t you, and write your own motherfucking book! Show that idiot and us (and the all powerful boogeyman if he is still perched on your shoulder) how it is really done. Because, seriously, critiques and discussions and vague aphoristic rants in forums like this, while they have a certain value, only go so far.

Phew. End of my Sunday sermon, sorry. Please kill me if I drag myself back to this thread again. I must cure this addiction and tame my ego. Words, words, words!

Phuleezzzz….

Thank you for differentiating between reading a book and clicking to read News on Nepal, although to what extent an enquirer is curious to know, you decide to conveniently overlook. Fiction for a writer turns into a pseudo-reality for globally aware semi-moronic readers. Fine, suit yourselves with your own definition of fiction; I’m damn tired of this shit too!!!

But, before you write my obituary. Hear ye.

During all this panting and ranting, yours sound like the final escape-pod of an otherwise useless attempt to defend a writer whose ‘fictionalized’ account of past and current Nepal is limited to his despicable middle-class upbringing and an outsourced perspective. Here’s my Sunday confession father: I am a self-hating middle-class Nepali ‘elitist’ myself. Hence I have utmost disdain for those who try to remind me of their own shortcomings, in a very lethargic, tedious and pitiful way. I’ve had it with mine, don’t need a third person telling me ‘look how fucked up shit are with us’. For now I prefer to dig my head in the sand. It’s cool beneath the surface!

Ciao!

BTW whatever happened to my offer??

Son, may the lord save your self-hating soul from eternal damnation in an overcompensating, reactionary hell. In the meantime, by all the authority vested upon me, I absolve you of your very grievous but honest and necessary sin.

Now in the name of the father (me), son (you) and the Royal Ghosts, let us pray, let us pray for kickass Nepali writers to swing axes that finally break the ice within us (paraphrasing Kafka), amen!

And a good day to you, too, kind sir. Now kill me already!

(Sorry, haven’t checked my email, let’s see what gems you have for me.)

Don’t make me write your eulogy.

Here lies General Public who gallantly fought against the encroaching critics but begged to redeem himself for all his victories at the end…And thou was granted his final wish by a compassionate and benevolent recluse carrying a green lantern…

… but proudly swatted away the patronizing pat on the head, and the many convenient assumptions behind them!

yet his overbearing ego kept enlarging, threatening to resurrect at a slight inclinging of condescendtion.

hahaha. :)

and thats how it ended.

please don’t end the discussion, i’ve been enjoying it so much.
also, an interview with samrat upadhyay is coming up soon so i hope you guys will enjoy that

Mystichacker,

You agreed to a challenge above re writing a better book than Dr. Upadhaya’s books. So, I want to ask you the questions:

When is it possible for me to read your book? Is there a big-time publisher interested? Or even a small publisher? Or are you going to publish it yourself? Let us know when it happens. Dr. Upadhyay’s books were printed by Houghton Mifflin, a reputable name in industry.

You aren’t happy with Dr. Upadhay’s books because you think (I have to guess because your witing is confusing) he doesn’t do a good job in showing the Nepal you like? I’m waiting to see the difference in your book. Can you show us a trailor? How many pages have you written? I’m curious.

Is the Times (New York) going to print a review? Are they going to praise your book, like I believe they did Dr. Upadhaya’s books? Correct me if I’m wrong but the Times reads hundreds of books every month? And they chose Dr. U’s books and had good things to say. Dr. U’s books were also nicely reviewed by many newspapers around the world, not to mention Nepal also. Can we hope the same phenomena will happen with your not published yet book?

Have people already lined up to give you awards? Dr. U’s Arresting won a big award in America, Barnes and Nobel also selected it for its Discover prize, his second novel was selected for another big award. This new book Rajni talks about also has good reviews on amazon.com. Don’t be shy when you win awards, okay? Tell us.

I am curious about what you think of these:

I am smiling at your logic: you say it’s okay for you to type whatever farting thoughts run across you mind. But oh no, the standards for Dr. U’s books are different. Maybe you think he should have made an appointment with you before writing his books to get your asirbaad?

You think it’s cool to deliver farting thoughts about a book you haven’t read. (I haven’t read the book also, however I am not going to judge the book without reading). And then when people question your thoughts, then you tell them to knock on your door. You behavior is childish, IMHO. Why don’t you learn how to knock first this way? Read Royal Ghosts, then give us your analysis saying how it’s good or bad, in what way. Just like Rajni. That’s more like adult behavior. And that’ll make you more intelligent.

You have lots of emotions in your writing, and you show passion. Can you sit down calmly and tell us your categories of a good book and a bad book. Then sit down calmly, read Dr. U’s books, and point by point tell how he’s bad. You are otherwise only, quoting Dylan here, blowin’ in the wind.

What is wrong with middle class? Millions of middle class people looking for simple love and simple success, that’s what was in Guru of Love. If you hate being in middle-class, what have you done to go to upper class or lower class? If middle class is bad for you, then tell us which class is good. If you want to go to third class, go, who’s stopping you? Give you house and bank account to me before going. OK?

Review in Los Angeles Times Sunday Review:

The Royal Ghosts Stories Samrat Upadhyay Mariner Books: 210 pp., $12 paper
By Chandrahas Choudhury
Chandrahas Choudhury is a writer based in Bombay. He also writes the literary weblog “The Middle Stage.”

February 19, 2006

EVEN if writers are not especially showy, most intend us at least to linger upon a metaphor or a sentence, to notice the brightness of a phrase. But Samrat Upadhyay is among the smoothest and most noiseless of contemporary writers. His is an abstemious art. He sees that his characters, mostly members of the middle and lower classes — businessmen, middle-rung workers, housewives, servants — do not think in any obviously literary manner, and he strives to keep his work in the same key as their lives. He resolutely eschews metaphors, makes sparing use of colons and semicolons, and almost never resorts to that word so favored by short-story writers: “suddenly.” His work is so subtle that it does not even seem especially subtle.

Although he has resided in America for nearly two decades, Upadhyay has never lost touch with his native Nepal, a country that has produced very little English-language fiction. Indeed, the capital, Katmandu, is the locale for all of his work. His debut collection of stories, “Arresting God in Kathmandu,” showed people negotiating a thicket of choices in a close-knit, tradition-bound society in which the needs and preferences of families are as important as those of individuals and various codes of caste and class restrict the free intermixing of people. (For example, even adults cannot marry without parental approval and, in fact, often have their life partners chosen for them by their parents.)

In a magazine interview, Upadhyay described life as “a constant negotiation between limits and freedom from those limits, regardless of culture.” The country of his birth has given him an especially rich mine of material; the tension between individual freedom and societal constraints is evenly weighted and, therefore, narratively compelling. It is to his credit that in his 2001 stories and the 2003 novel “The Guru of Love,” he writes about Nepali society in English, for a primarily Western readership, without ever letting the whiff of exoticism invade his work.

Upadhyay returns in his new collection of stories, “The Royal Ghosts,” to themes familiar from “Arresting God,” the most pervasive of which is the struggle of men and women to understand each other, to work their way across the hollows and uncertainties that lie between them and find a way of living together. He often writes from the point of view of an interested third party, not just one or the other protagonist. (As if to dramatize how intricately people’s lives are linked with others, his stories always attend closely to the lives of at least four or five characters and how they feel about one another. This gives his stories a kind of novelistic roominess.)

In “Father, Daughter,” Shivaram is alarmed by the behavior of his daughter. She has left her husband — a match Shivaram arranged — for no other reason than that she cannot love him and has resumed an earlier liaison with the son of a low-caste cobbler. Conscious of the disapproving murmurs all around him, Shivaram declines to participate in her second marriage, so that “people would say less, say that he’d at least attempted to protect his dignity.” His speculative knowledge of his daughter’s motives and feelings, and his mixture of perplexity, outrage, tenderness and frailty, gives the story an unusual charge.

In “A Servant in the City,” a teenage village boy, Jeevan, is a servant to a single woman and witnesses her affair with her former employer, which has made her a pariah. Gradually she confides in Jeevan, who supports her through her low spells. Over time, Jeevan finds that he has become “strangely possessive of her, as if he were the only one who truly knew her.” He suspects that her lover will never keep his promise to leave his wife and marry her, and one day Jeevan blurts out these thoughts, turning from a spectator into an agent. Reprimanded by his mistress for his insolence, he thinks about returning to the village, “to remind himself where he came from.”

A new pressure is also at work on Upadhyay’s characters: politics and recent events in Nepal. The young democracy overseen by a monarchy has endured a turbulent five years. In 2001, the crown prince fatally shot several members of the royal family, including his father, King Birendra, in a drunken fit before turning his gun upon himself. Since then the country has been riven by a bloody Maoist uprising that has taken thousands of lives. “The Royal Ghosts” shows how the tension among the monarchy, democrats and communists has eroded the country’s social fabric, demolishing the old stability against which the characters of “Arresting God in Kathmandu” played out their lives. This darkness and violence lie at the edges of several stories in the new collection and are addressed explicitly in a few of them.

In “The Weight of a Gun,” the elderly Janaki finds a gun hidden under the mattress of her schizophrenic son, Bhola, who has often boasted that he is a Maoist. She lifts it gingerly, her head buzzing with questions. “Holding it carefully, she peeked out of the window. People were going about their business.” Everything is as normal, but this one gesture of Janaki’s is revelatory; she has stepped over the threshold and has been sucked into the morass.

Even when he engages most closely with politics, Upadhyay always illuminates the private realm, as in the book’s splendid title story. On the morning that word of the killings in the royal family sends shockwaves across Nepal, Ganga, a taxi driver mistrustful of the monarchy and generally of all those in power, drives around Katmandu, observing various scenes. He pays a visit to his younger brother Dharma, who works in a photocopy shop.

When Ganga enters the shop, it is dark. He sees his brother sprawled naked on a bed with another man. Learning that Dharma is homosexual hits Ganga much harder than the death of the monarch.

Distraught, he beats up his brother, then wanders from place to place. (Upadhyay’s characters are great wanderers — when they feel tense about something, they go for a walk.) Late that night, a very drunk Ganga seeks out an acquaintance, who wonders if there was some conspiracy behind the killings.

Ganga’s response meshes the day’s two big events. “Maybe, maybe,” he slurs, interpreting history through family. “How can we know what goes on behind closed doors? We cannot even know with our own relatives.”

Damn, talk about getting served nicely for all the effort! But I can handle criticism well. Perhaps that will make me a better writer in the future so that I don’t have to go around seeking my fame from critics on blogs when I am fifty and struggling to put my senile shit out there.

Your reactionary and emotional outburst is warranted I believe, and perhaps I would have done the same if I thought like most of the ‘international’ reviewers, which definitely has a lot of say in setting OUR standard in larger context, literarily or otherwise. And in all this, one cannot but remain a slave (rightly) to ‘institutional’ approval, which, getting published by HM and positively reviewed by many international media can provide a soothing effect to our Nepali psyche in an otherwise turbulent crisis, especially for those who have mentally surrendered our critical thinking capacity to the conspicuously consuming habit.

But your rather lengthy rant reduces to this: have I published stuff out there that measures to Samrat’s success, if not, then I should shut up. And if I haven’t read TRG yet, then I should not talk about how bad he’s been before either.

There’s a whiff of authoritarian put downs in your writing. Any sane and objective person would disagree with your first suggestion. Hence does not deserve any rebuttal from me. Regarding the second, let it be known that above posts were in response to his previous publishing. Further, if I am to get a free copy of TRG, and get paid for hours of reviewing, I certainly accept to put my criticism in a calmly manner. Otherwise, expect shit to be angry, abusive and abhorring. Why the fuck am I wasting time answering this shit???!!!

Simplicity is overrated, a hype and a reflection of our inability to break ourselves out of the traditional, societal and popular chains. It is a weapon of the weak, and excuse of the ‘fake’ to remain in warped state of existence and then complain about the stagnancy of general state of things. Middle-class by definition is a compressed bunch, caught between the oppressed and the oppressor, and has most to do with the ‘state of mind’ than an actual economic status. That ‘state of mind’ translates into lot of things we do in our life, the decisions we make and the books we choose to write!!!

As a participant here, lest my silence be mistaken for acquiescence: I strongly disagree with Fan’s central taunt that, in effect, a person first has to win mainstream recognition to legitimately question the brand names, or have opinions on their work. That is just patently bullshit. Chya!

Also, puttng aside my tendency to banter, provoke, rant and posture for a moment (damn it’s hard), I believe that MH has, not completely, but by and large, carried the day in this thread thus far. I believe any intellectually honest person should be able to see that.

I know this has nothing to do with the discussion at hand, but please indulge me for a second. I am a huge fan of ol’ Mystic. It is not everyday that one encounters someone with his kind of x-ray vision. Ask me, I am still recovering from the at-first unnoticed scars :). He is a treasure. Just needed to get that off my chest.

Okay, I think I’ve embarrassed him enough, now back to the fun business of dumping on his ass ….

Public display of private emotion…
damn, I’m so dark that I cannot even blush!

wtf, getting a book published by a “big name” and getting reviewed by the new york times bars a reader from disliking it? you don’t have to sit and listen to crap music put out by a big name (eg. britney spears) just because you don’t play an instrument or sing or dance. you don’t have to like a blockbuster just because you yourself are not a quality filmmaker. whether or not mystic writes a book himself has nothing to do with what he likes or dislikes. he is the consumer, damn it. he is the market.

Let it be known that she speaks for me. But I have no clue what it takes to get her attention and have her drop a line.

GP: you write beautiful!

“His work is so subtle that it does not even seem especially subtle.”

hahah what does this mean? I have no freckin clue.

yes, i thought that was pretty funny too :-)

Hi sorry for delay, don’t know why this site doesn’t load in public networks. The topic is getting interesting, I haven’t read all the comments but few of them like MH, GP are really good in discussions. Oh ok I got this line “In a magazine interview, Upadhyay described life as “a constant negotiation between limits and freedom from those limits, regardless of culture.” The country of his birth has given him an especially rich mine of material; the tension between individual freedom and societal constraints is evenly weighted and, therefore, narratively compelling.” Yes I do agree in his saying and if he knows all this then he should have known from what society is he from. If he is from the same society then he should know himself how to negotiate between limits and freedom and describe life staying in nepali culture, not in western point of view. And the other thing is lets not all try to be writers we are just discussing this for knowledge sharing. May be I am wrong, may be SU knows kathmandu and nepal more than me, he might be 100% right and trying to make our country known to westerns. May be no one knows what he might be thinking while writing. We are just the interpreters so we have every right to be wrong. The other thin lets not get angry while writing just express your feelings freely. Thanks

“We are just the interpreters so we have every right to be wrong. The other thin lets not get angry while writing just express your feelings freely.”

No prateek. We are the world. When a writer writes there is every demand of him to make it clear to the world. We hardly should care about what he thinks or is thinking, what matters is his work. If a writer cannot prove it through there than it is shit!

A few lines of quote doesn’t justify anything. Anybody is capable of doing that.

And other thing, you might already know but hey! A writers work is nothing more than a perspective. It is a like art, that everyone sees it differntly. Hence,my point is if the work gets to me, than it is cleared to be a marvelous work. If it doesnt than I can gladly claim he doesn’t know anything. Because to read literature all the education that is necessary is literacy.

and oh yah, that Review is a complete waste.

I have not read Upadhyay’s latest book, but from the reviews it has gotten, it seems to generally follow the same thread of his previous works.

To give the man his due, while his earlier works were not especially good, they were well written, readable. And he did reflect upon some of our society’s contemporary problems.

However, it was mainly the novelty of seeing a Nepali writer published here in the United States that led me to try out his books for the most part; that seems to have worn out for me, and I suspect for many others.

like MH i could probably care less about the book unless if someone gave it to me for free, or if some agenda of mine got fulfilled by promoting it.

however i am loving the discussion here… the sarcasm and the wit, it surpasses what entertainment the book could possibly provide..so for one thing i am grateful that dr. U. wrote the book..
damn i must make time for this..

p.s. seems like everybodybreed is also blocked now from nepal.. i had to use proxy

Can anyone here provide me the email address of Samrat Upadhya, the writer of the “Royal Ghost”?

My Name is Nareshchandra Rai, currently a Master of Journalism student at the University of Hong Kong.

My email address is: rainareshchandra@gmail.com

Which fuc#ing God was arrested anyway???

he seems more influenced by JHUMPA LAHARI and majushree thatpa is lot more better.

First of all, I feel so pity upon all of you who have not even mentioned the name of D.B. Gurung, probably the first Nepali writer in english to be published from the prestigious publication like UBSPD, India in the list of the english writers. You poor readers are still making noise about Thapa and Upadhyay ! What’s about Mr. Gurung, the writer of the debut novel Echoes of the Himalayas ? I can guess that all of you are the poor consumers of Nepali Writing in English. Plz go through him, and make evaluation among three.

Hi friends,
Me all the way from Pokhara I heard many time about Samrat Upadhya.
Last time in Kathmandu Post.

As a student scarcity of money.
But I am saving money to buy that book “The Royal Ghost” & we can see the their conditin how ghost the royal.
I expect this book is far better then the previous one.

hi,

its sagar from kathmandu,swoyambhu. lots of thanx to publish about different books cya

hi,

its sagar from kathmandu,swoyambhu. lots of thanx to publish about different books cya

first of all it is grat chance to know about different books and my personal choice meets with the samrat in his book the royal ghosts.

samrat is getting more realistic in “Royal…” than his previous creative writings.Though idealism still prevails in some of his stories ,”The Wedding Hero” ,for example.All stories have charaters dominant with minute portryals of their psycho -sexual desires as rationale for their suffering.Fortunately ,John, One of my friends sent it to me in Nepal and I loved reading it.

Some of Samrat’s books got recognition of outstanding books in the US and others as book of the year by the prestigious New York Times, I am sure everyone knows about it. He has been continuously receiving honours and awards as the best writer and novelist, that also in a foreign country. Where does Ms Thapa and Mr Gurung stand, If we are here to compare, I donot know!

The list of comments..really long. I got dizzy reading first 15 and did not like the idea about where it was going. Samrat, I hope you have read ‘em all, coz you deserved to be talked about. I love your work and I also agree that there are some rooms to improve. I’m sure your next will be even better. Carry on, buddy!

The book sounds interesting. Want to read!!!

HI,
WE REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR WRITING,SAMRATJI. PLEASE KEEP ON WRITING. YOUR WRITING IS QUITE DIFFERENT THAN REST OF THE OTHER WRITRS OF THE WORLD….PERHAPS, YOU KNOW-“WINNERS DO NOT DO THE DIFFERENT THING THEY DO THE THINGS DIFFERENTLY”
THANKS.

BY
info@mteverestrealvision.edu.np
http://www.mteverestrealvision.edu.np
Phone-014233223
Bagbazar, Kathmandu, Nepal