3.5
Ghachar Ghochar
ByPublisher Description
ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES CRITICS' TOP BOOKS OF 2017
ONE OF VULTURE'S 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE 21ST CENTURY
FINALIST FOR THE L.A. TIMES BOOK PRIZE IN FICTION
“A modern classic.” —The New York Times Book Review
A young man's close-knit family is nearly destitute when his uncle founds a successful spice company, changing their fortunes overnight. As they move from a cramped, ant-infested shack to a larger house on the other side of Bangalore, and try to adjust to a new way of life, the family dynamic begins to shift. Allegiances realign; marriages are arranged and begin to falter; and conflict brews ominously in the background. Things become “ghachar ghochar”—a nonsense phrase uttered by one meaning something tangled beyond repair, a knot that can't be untied.
Elegantly written and punctuated by moments of unexpected warmth and humor, Ghachar Ghochar is a quietly enthralling, deeply unsettling novel about the shifting meanings—and consequences—of financial gain in contemporary India.
“A classic tale of wealth and moral ruin.” —The New Yorker
“Ghachar Ghochar introduces us to a master.” —The Paris Review
Named a Best Book of the Year by the Guardian, Globe and Mail, and Publishers Weekly
Shortlisted for the ALTA National Translation Award in Prose
Longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award
ONE OF VULTURE'S 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE 21ST CENTURY
FINALIST FOR THE L.A. TIMES BOOK PRIZE IN FICTION
“A modern classic.” —The New York Times Book Review
A young man's close-knit family is nearly destitute when his uncle founds a successful spice company, changing their fortunes overnight. As they move from a cramped, ant-infested shack to a larger house on the other side of Bangalore, and try to adjust to a new way of life, the family dynamic begins to shift. Allegiances realign; marriages are arranged and begin to falter; and conflict brews ominously in the background. Things become “ghachar ghochar”—a nonsense phrase uttered by one meaning something tangled beyond repair, a knot that can't be untied.
Elegantly written and punctuated by moments of unexpected warmth and humor, Ghachar Ghochar is a quietly enthralling, deeply unsettling novel about the shifting meanings—and consequences—of financial gain in contemporary India.
“A classic tale of wealth and moral ruin.” —The New Yorker
“Ghachar Ghochar introduces us to a master.” —The Paris Review
Named a Best Book of the Year by the Guardian, Globe and Mail, and Publishers Weekly
Shortlisted for the ALTA National Translation Award in Prose
Longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award
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3.5
Khushboo
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Nigar
Created about 21 hours agoShare
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“I picked up Ghachar Ghochar with a lot of curiosity. For me, it ended up being more of an intellectual experience than an emotional one.
I was drawn to the themes: how money shifts family dynamics, the suffocating power of silence, the moral decay that grows in comfort. There were moments I found genuinely sharp, the power struggles within the family, the narrator’s passivity, Anita’s resistance, Appa’s quiet disapproval of how things were evolving.
But emotionally, it never really pulled me in. I didn’t mind that it was a quiet or mundane story, I enjoy that kind of narrative when it feels impactful. In this case, the writing was clean but didn’t cut deep for me. I appreciated it more after talking about it than while reading it.
It’s a short read with a lot brewing under the surface, but you might only appreciate that once you step back and start unpacking what was never directly said.”
Sayantika
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Jayashree Suresh
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About Vivek Shanbhag
Vivek Shanbhag is the author of eight works of fiction and two plays, all of which have been published to wide acclaim in the South Indian language Kannada. He was a Fall 2016 resident at the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa. The first of his books to appear in English, Ghachar Ghochar was excerpted in Granta’s 2015 India issue.
Srinath Perur (translator) is a writer and translator whose work has appeared in n+1, Granta, and the Guardian. He is the author of If It's Monday It Must Be Madurai, published by Penguin India.
Srinath Perur (translator) is a writer and translator whose work has appeared in n+1, Granta, and the Guardian. He is the author of If It's Monday It Must Be Madurai, published by Penguin India.
Other books by Vivek Shanbhag
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