Book Review: Sutapa Basu’s Dangle rattles you, angers you, makes you question, makes you sit up and read and reread. Her protagonist Ipsita Sen is like young, independent women of our generation, and even though her experiences and reactions are very different to my own, I have related to Ipsita immensely.
One is intrigued by the journey of this young lady, a successful travel chat show host and therefore also a globe trotter. The places she visits and the people she meets have been described in intricate detail and Basu’s writing does have a cinematic feel, the characters, and their actions get into an imaginary motion picture as you turn the pages of the book.
Ipsita is successful and her work is appreciated, but her life isn’t perfect. A troubled past haunts her and rules over a part of her mind. She is, however, fortunate to have supportive and loving parents and her childhood friend Aditya who is an emotional anchor to her. Basu’s description of the Bengali household in which the mother sings Rabindra Sangeet brought a smile on my face. T
he men the protagonist meets, Amar, Akash and Steve, open new dimensions in the story each coming with different traits, characteristics, stories and charisma. As one reads through Dangle, it is evident that the author is a keen observer of human behaviour.
It is no secret that I am passionate about the Indian army and also emotional about how it is dealing home-grown terror and insurgency. So Ipsita’s journey to Manipur was an emotional journey for me as a reader too. So taken up I was with those chapters, that I read and re-read. The sensitivity and beauty of the descriptions will tug at your heartstrings. The uncertainty of life in these conflict areas, the helplessness of a man who loses a friend and a colleague is beautifully captured. T
he beauty of Sutapa Basu’s narration is even though Dangle is a thriller, it is multi-layered and there is a lot to explore between the pages and the characters. Divulging more will spoil the fun of reading a thriller. So go pick up your copies of Dangle and join Ipsita in her journey from Chicago to Delhi to Imphal and Batam and Furi.
DANGLE
by
SUTAPA BASU
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One is intrigued by the journey of this young lady, a successful travel chat show host and therefore also a globe trotter. The places she visits and the people she meets have been described in intricate detail and Basu’s writing does have a cinematic feel, the characters, and their actions get into an imaginary motion picture as you turn the pages of the book.
Ipsita is successful and her work is appreciated, but her life isn’t perfect. A troubled past haunts her and rules over a part of her mind. She is, however, fortunate to have supportive and loving parents and her childhood friend Aditya who is an emotional anchor to her. Basu’s description of the Bengali household in which the mother sings Rabindra Sangeet brought a smile on my face. T
he men the protagonist meets, Amar, Akash and Steve, open new dimensions in the story each coming with different traits, characteristics, stories and charisma. As one reads through Dangle, it is evident that the author is a keen observer of human behaviour.
It is no secret that I am passionate about the Indian army and also emotional about how it is dealing home-grown terror and insurgency. So Ipsita’s journey to Manipur was an emotional journey for me as a reader too. So taken up I was with those chapters, that I read and re-read. The sensitivity and beauty of the descriptions will tug at your heartstrings. The uncertainty of life in these conflict areas, the helplessness of a man who loses a friend and a colleague is beautifully captured. T
he beauty of Sutapa Basu’s narration is even though Dangle is a thriller, it is multi-layered and there is a lot to explore between the pages and the characters. Divulging more will spoil the fun of reading a thriller. So go pick up your copies of Dangle and join Ipsita in her journey from Chicago to Delhi to Imphal and Batam and Furi.
DANGLE
by
SUTAPA BASU
Blurb
Stunning, svelte, smart Ipshita is a globetrotter. She treks across the world to gather bytes for the travel chats she designs and hosts for TV channels. Despite being a self assured and sophisticated entrepreneur, Ipshita is haunted by a nameless fear. Social interaction with men unleashes psychotic turmoil inside her, making her wary of male attention. Yet, the cold and aloof Ips is inexorably drawn to the three men she meets at different points in her journey.
Her arousal to the overtures of these men catches her unawares. Well-built defenses break as her dormant sexuality goes into overdrive until she discovers the horrifying truth about them…and herself.
Life puzzles. Secrets tumble out. Will she be able to reclaim her life or let it dangle?
Read an excerpt from Dangle
The lilt of a flute fills half shadows. Emerald green silk unfurls to lavender hills. Mist gives way to a golden spectacle. Thickly embroidered into flowing waters are hundreds of lotuses. Sunlight dazzles on ruby, sapphire, turquoise, and amethyst that reluctantly open their layers to reveal honeyed hearts. The humming of multitudes of bees reverberates in the room. Intoxicated by the sun-drenched perfume of blossoms, they weave in and out of the pattern. Sheer colours daze the senses. Drumbeats intrude softly, only to rise to a crescendo.
Another shape enters the frame. Hazy at first, the outlines darken gradually. It is an empty square etched in bold strokes holding within it diagonally a metallic piece curved to the bent of an index finger. The lens zoom out. The shape takes definition. It is the trigger of a snub-nosed AK-47. The drums fall silent.
Everybody holds their breath. There is a thud and the face of Beauty is blotted with a gun stamped on it. There is a collective gasp. The screen stills. Strobes pick out a small crowd, including cameras on cantilever arms. Each person in the room is mesmerized…nobody can look away.
Giving a couple of seconds for the impact to sink in, the focus beams on Ipshita, the host. She begins the chat. Microphones pick up frequencies of her voice, enhancing its soft huskiness. Statistics and logistics start appearing on two screens flanking the bigger screen on which images are projected. She proceeds as visions of paddy fields, streets of Imphal, slim girls in phaneks with long raven-black hair flying, fishermen casting bait, rowing boats, sitting still as rocks for fish to bite fill the screen behind her. She goes on to the fascinating scenes of Loktak, the floating islands, the fisherman’s hut and through her words she builds up a metaphor. It is of Manipur, a dainty nymph struggling to escape rape by Mars, the god of war. She is crushed, yet nothing erodes her indomitable spirit.
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About the Author
An author, poet and publishing consultant, Sutapa Basu also dabbles in art and trains trainers and is a compulsive bookworm. During a thirty-year old professional career as teacher, editor, and publisher, she travelled the Indian subcontinent, Nepal and Bhutan. She has visited UK, USA, Dubai and Singapore while working with Oxford University Press, India and Encyclopædia Britannica, South Asia until 2013 when she decided to start writing seriously.
Sutapa is an Honours scholar from Tagore’s Visva-Bharti University, Santiniketan and holds a teaching as well as a masters degree in English Literature.
As a publisher, Sutapa has developed and published around 400 books. Recently, her short story was awarded the First Prize in the Times of India’s nation-wide WriteIndia Contest, under author, Amish Tripathi.
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