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Two Lives

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Two Lives

By: Vikram Seth
Narrated by: Vikram Seth
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About this listen

 Two Lives tells the remarkable story of Vikram Seth's great uncle and aunt. His great uncle, Shanti, left India for medical school in Berlin in the 1930s and lodged with a German Jewish family. In the household was a daughter, Henny, who urged her mother "not to take the blackie". But a friendship developed and each managed to leave Germany and found their way to Britain as the Nazis rose to power. Shanti joined the army and lost his right arm at the battle of Monte Cassino, while Henny (whose family were to die in the camps) made a life for herself in her adopted country. After the war they married and lived a life in north London where Shanti, despite the loss of his arm, became a much-loved dentist.

During his own adolescence in England, Vikram Seth lived with Shanti and Henny and came to know and love them deeply. His is the third life in this story of Two Lives.

This is also a book about history, encompassing as it does many of the most significant themes and events in the 20th century, whose currents are reflected in the lives of Shanti, Henny, and their family: from the Raj and the Indian freedom movement to the Third Reich, the Holocaust, and British postwar society.

©2005 Vikram Seth (P)2005 Time Warner AudioBooks Authors

Critic Reviews

"Truly unforgettable....Moving and illuminating." (The Times)

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Disappointed

Seth is a great story teller but this was disappointing. The narrative skipped from reading letters word for word then into the narrative again. I think he could have incorporated the letters in the narrative and quoting poignant aspects of correspondence. It was tedious to listen to or read for that matter.
He had a good story but didn't tell it well and in the end was some kind of justification for Shanty Uncle's estatw and the part Seth did or did not play in those decisions. I think the last chapter was written for the family to get the record straight about what did or did not happen regarding Shanti's estate.
Some interesting insights about pre war Germany and post war Germany actually experienced by his Aunt and Uncle and their friends. Seth offers views about the statec of Isreal which are interesting but have no place in a biographical work on his Aunt and Uncle lives.

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