A Son of the Circus (Magill’s Literary Annual 1991-2005)
At a glance:
- Author: John Irving
- First Published: 1994
- Type of Work: Novel
- Time of Work: The 1990’s
- Setting: India and Canada
- Principal Characters: Farrokh Daruwalla, Julia, John D., Detective Patel, Nancy, Martin, Rahul
- Genres: Long fiction
- Subjects: Culture, Murder or homicide, Gender roles, Immigration or emigration, Detectives, Canada or Canadians, India or East Indian people, Circuses or carnivals, Mass murderers or serial killers
- Locales: Canada, India
For Western readers and writers, India qualifies as a foreign country in the fullest meaning of the word. John Irving uses the “author’s notes” to describe the subcontinent as “obdurately foreign,” then admits that he does not “know India” and explains that A Son of the Circus “isn’t about India.” Instead, he points out, it is “a novel set in India—a story about an Indian (but not an Indian), for whom India will always remain an unknown and unknowable country.”
It has been said that there are many Indias, that India is reinvented each time...
[The entire page is 2115 words long]
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