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Walking With The Comrades (2000)

by Arundhati Roy(Favorite Author)

3.99 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0670085537 (ISBN13: 9780670085538)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

review 1: Significant in that Roy puts forth an account of the Naxalites, a notoriously (for good reason) difficult subject for anyone to gain access too. She's also a decent writer (with fiction work as well), which makes this a one-day kind of read. However, she also drops the ball on sketching a full contextualized picture of the group, and leaves the reader wishing for a bit less description and a bit more analysis. With such a unique topic, she could have ventured a bit further into the more complex situation which gave rise to the Naxalites. However, as a journalistic account, the lack of this is not entirely surprising, and the book remains a worthwhile read.Takeaways were the sincerity of the Naxalites conveyed through Roy's sketch, as well as the extent to which Indian ... moremedia falsifies and distorts the situation with the Naxalites and the primarily Adivasi-inhabited region in which they operate. At one point, Roy describes a mission undertaken by the Maoists in which they entered a local girls' hostel/dorm which had recently become a makeshift housing structure for the militarized police forces in the region. The Naxalites managed to kill over 50 officers without harming a single girl. Impressively accurate in itself, this Naxalite action was reported in the wider nation as "Maoists attack girls' hostel." As such, anyone interested in guerilla fighting, indigenous resistance, or a counterpoint work on the maligned Naxalites should pick the book up.
review 2: A wonderful read. A paragon of courageous journalism written in Ms. Roy's trademark style. The language is almost lyrical. In the beginning of the book, she admits that it's a partisan telling of the naxal saga. But it's a version that's never been told before in mainstream writing/ electronic media - press or otherwise. It's a version that everyone should hear before making their minds up on left wing extremism in India less

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