***SPOILER ALERT***An Obedient Father tells three stories:1. Indian history, culture and society (including a flashback to its independence from England), 2. Political corruption, and 3. Child molestationMr. Paran Karan is the protagonist and he is the most evil of human beings - an utterly despicable child molester of the worst kind. How evil? He molests and rapes his daughter and twenty years later molests his granddaughter! He is also a bagman for bribes and other illegal transactions as his livelihood. So he is not a nice guy. There is ultimately an intriguing revenge outcome but even then I am not convinced he ever is truly repentant.An Obedient Father is a worthwhile literary effort - I just couldn't get over the "ugh" factor. Ram Karan, a corrupt official in the Delhi Education Department, is a sad, bumbling, character tortured by a terrible secret. When the country is plunged into confusion following Rajiv Gandhi's murder, he finds himself trapped in a series of deadly political betrayals with little or no protection. I didn't enjoy this book as much as I had expected to unfortunately. Because of being so busy at the end of last week, and away all weekend with a bunch of people from work - I read it slower than I might have done usually, and honestly didn't really like having these characters in my head for several days. Ram Karan the reader understands right from the beginning is a sleazy man, corrupt, and rather pathetic, but it is only later, that we are hit by the revelation that he raped his daughter Anita when she was 12, and is only just prevented from abusing his granddaughter by Anita walking in on him. Some of the more disturbing parts of the novel are narrated by Anita rather than Ram, but I must say I did find bits of it hard to read. This is certainly a well written, ambitious novel, with some big themes, and in the end there was a sort of satisfying conclusion, but I didn't like any of the characters at all. Even Anita who I felt I should feel more empathy for, left me cold.
What do You think about An Obedient Father (2014)?
DARK. Easy to read, a bit horrifying. Looking at life through the eyes of a pretty shitty dude.
—apepa
Terrifying and difficult and wonderfully written.
—destiny
