The Amazing Racist – Book Review

Author: Chhimi Tenduf-La

Paperback: 240 pages

Publisher: Hachette India (January 1st 2015)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 9350099128

ISBN-13: 9789350099124

Genre: Humour, Casual

About The Book:

Eddie Trusted, an English school teacher in Colombo, wants to spend his life with Menaka Rupasinghe, a vibrant Sri Lankan beauty, but as with all matters of the heart, there’s an obstacle. If Eddie wants to wed Menaka, it is Thilak Rupasinghe, her orthodox terror of a father, whom he must woo and whose farts he must kiss – Thilak wants his daughter to marry someone of the same race, religion and caste, and if possible from the same locality.
In a desperate bid to make his dream a reality, Eddie tries to connect with Thilak in other ways – eating curries that make him bleed spice and breathe fire, driving drunk through red lights, threatening co-workers with violence, and sleeping with snakes. But will Eddie ever be good enough for a man who hates the colour of his skin?
Sparkling with wit and featuring an endearing cast of characters, The Amazing Racist is the story of a man who finds a home among strangers, of a father-in-law whose bark is worse than his bite, and of bonds that grow to be stronger than family ties..

About The Author:

Half English, Half Tibetan, Chhimi Tenduf-La grew up in Hong Kong, London, Delhi and Colombo, where he now lives with his wife, Samantha and daughter, Tara. The Amazing Racist is his first nove his second novel will be released later this year.

My Take:

If you think that the book is about some racism that it isn’t for sure. Being a debut novel, this is a perfect start for the author to carve a perfect writing career ahead. The setting of the story is in the Sri Lankan backdrop. Indian readers can find a few similarities between their own and the neighboring country. The story causally moves forward with daily insights into Sri-Lankan Life. The story is simple and shares the experiences of an Englishman in the south-Asian foreign country. It brilliantly depicts the pre and post marriage struggles of a white man in a foreign land. The flow of story is lucid and doesn’t bore even when it goes slow. It does become a little stretched at times. A few things in the story seem to be pretty obvious throughout the story but are still handled very well. The language of the book is also pretty simple and beautifully describes the beauty of Sri Lanka.

Charaters seem to be directly inspired from real life people and are totally understandable through their words and actions. The protagonist will surely make you feel sad and you might pity his plight. But his love and care for his daughter is undefinable. The strength with which he decides to fight against all the odds just to be with his daughter is impeccable and will surely move you. His character shows no changes from the start to the end. However, you might hate the female protagonist, Meneka, as the story moves forward because you never imagined the twists that were in waiting. Moreover, the character of Uncle Thalik, you thought you can only hate in the starting turns out to be otherwise. He is one character that will make you realize how most of us truly are, a little flawed and far from perfection but goodness of heart still preserved somewhere. Other characters fill in the spaces very perfectly.

Book is a light read with perfect sense of humor tickling the reader’s stomach yet touching the reader’s heart deeply just by its simplicity. The author strikes perfect balance between the tragic circumstances with his words of humour. The book leaves a smile the face when it ends.

My Rating:

3.5/5

And now I’ll leave you with a few lines from the book…

“The secret is not to listen. Just nod.”

“I guess it’s human nature to be conditioned to believe in something that you know is unlikely to be true, if the lie can, in any way, make you happy.”

“I don’t think anyone knows what true love is until they have children.”

Here’s where you can grab a copy for yourself:

AMAZON || FLIPKART