Terry's Reviews > The Far Pavilions

Set in India ni the middle of the nineteenth century, this book was an enchanting story of one English boy named Ashton, who survives cholera with his nursemaid Sita, and is swept away by the uprising against the Raj. With Sita, Ash goes undercover as Ashok and they flee for safety. "... But many who reap the whirlwind were as blameless and bewildered as Sita and Ash-Baba, blown hellplessly before the gale like two small and insignificant sparrows on a wild day of storm."

As Ashok, he forgets his father, forgets he is English, as Sita has adopted him as her own child. The two set off to find "...some place, somewhere, where people were not cruel and unjust and interfering-- where they could just live peacefully, minding their own business and being happy."

This, is just the start of a novel in which Ash grows up, survives Sita's death, learns of his true parentage, studies abroad, becomes one of the English Guides, and because of his unique background and fluency in the native languages, is put into various dangerous positions throughout his career. He also falls in love and risks everything to be with the person he loves. They together dream of the far pavilions, where they can live the dream that Sita inspired.

Ashton-Ashok-Ash is not accepted as fully one or the other, and he also must reconcile his two pasts -- as a Hindu and as an Englishman. "For Ashok was also Pelham-Sahib, and who could be certain which one, at any given moment, would be in the saddle? -- Sita's son, or the British officer?"

Did I say this also a love story?

Readers of classic literature will appreciate the many references and quotes throughout the novel (such as "Night's candles are burnt out and jocund day stands tip-toe on the misty mountain tops" -- Romeo and Juliet) but knowing the references is not necessary to the appreciation of this novel.

The novel has tension throughout. Like other sweeping sagas, this one holds your attention with action starting in Chapter One and continuing throughout to Chapter 62. (My copy was almost 1200 pages long.) It only slowed a bit toward the end when some history needed telling to set up the action-packed ending.

In the telling, there are parallels to the "shock and awe" war with Iraq, and with the difficulties in engaging in war and occupying Afghanistan. The novel ends there, but we must believe that Ash finds his far pavilions in the end.

If you like long books like Shogun, Pillar of the Earth, The Thorn Birds, Gone with the Wind, to name a few, you will probably really enjoy this one. And, if you read this, you will lose yourself in the novel and not want to attend to "the ordinary things a person ought to do," to quote a a lyric ("The Very Thought of You"). My TV broke in the reading and I didn't even care. Devote yourself to it and you will not be sorry!

I give it five stars (plus) and it might end up being the best book I have read this year!