English August

English August is about a young man Agastya Sen, who is called August partly because of his fondness of the english language and partly because of his mixed blood. I have to thank my friend ananth for recommending the book. I took a while to finish it, but that was because i enjoyed every page and literally soaked it in. Humour in this book is not garish, but very subtle and at times funny not because of the humour but simply by the nakedness of the thought expressed contributed mainly by Augusts wild imaginations.

The book takes us through the life of city bred August as it transforms from the buzz of the city to the quite ramblings of a small town in rural india. August, who is a poet at heart, a student of english literature, who carries marcus aurelius and the gita with him, cannot relate to his job in the Indian Administrative Service or his surroundings. Augusts life is all about "being happy", and that meant drugs, women and good literature. And civil Services and Madna as he realises are not close to any of these. Viewing Madna through his eyes and living through his wild imaginations is simply an entertaining ride. And the shift from the city to Madna and the characters that have been brought to life by the author are extremely real and to someone who has been to india its something one can easily relate to.

The book has also been release as a movie. If you dont get to read the book, make sure you watch the movie.