Odysseus Abroad

• Odysseus Abroad by Amit Chaudhuri on Amazon

Amit Chaudhuri's probably partly autobiographical Odysseus Abroad describes days in the life of an Indian student living and attending school in London during the Thatcher Era. "Beguiling, wistful, and ribald?" not quite, but Chaudhuri's poetic prose expertly evokes time, place, scent, sound, colour, and total atmosphere to place the reader right there and then.

I especially loved the conversations between young South Indian student Ananda and Nestor Davidson, his older mentor from South Africa! I suspect both were quite aware of both their home countries having been British colonies.

Given that events don't unfold with changing circumstances, and there's no real discernible story line, I'm hard-put to call this A Novel—I'd consider it more of a memoir, since it lacks the structure of a typical biography/autobiography. Someone who has lived or currently resides in an area with a large immigrant population or simply more settled cultural and ethnic diversity probably would enjoy Amit Chaudhuri's descriptive gifts, but if you're expecting a plot that develops and resolves, you won't find it in Odysseus Abroad.

• My Amazon Review: poetic prose; very little action