Dark nights in Puducherry
GEETA DOCTOR, FRONTLINE
Ari Gautier is the self-designated purveyor of “le thinnai”, the semi-open platforms attached to traditional Puducherry homes, and he takes another look at these fertile spaces in this collection. This time, however, he has become the Baudelaire of Puducherry misfits, recording the fetid smell of the flowers of evil in the gutters of the seaside town.
Continue reading: https://frontline.thehindu.com/books/nocturne-pondicherry-ari-gautier-puducherry-caste-system-gender-violence/article68440483.ece
Nocturne Pondicherry review: A compelling exploration of identity and memory
Chinnadevi Singadi
The stories bring to the fore the lives of several characters, each with their dreams, struggles, and secrets. Gautier’s brilliance as a storyteller lies in addressing issues such as cultural identity, social dynamics, and personal transformation of the characters. His characters are complex and fully realized, each embodying different aspects of Pondicherry’s cultural mosaic.
Continue reading: https://thefederal.com/category/features/nocturne-pondicherry-review-a-compelling-exploration-of-identity-and-memory-130404
The Literary Gifts of Ari Gautier
DIRIYE OSMAN / THE AFROSPHERE
You’re someone who’s consistently made a lot of fascinating, enjoyable art and cultural contributions over a sustained period, so naturally, my first question is: Were you an especially creative child and if so, was that creativity encouraged by your family, friends and teachers?
I am kind of a late bloomer, Diriye. When I was young I wasn’t particularly interested in any form of creativity, and as I recount in my book Le Thinnai, which has some autobiographical passages, Kurussukupam is not a place where you can expect to be exposed to art or culture. That said, there was a popular culture of cinema and street theater that could be seen during temple festivals.
Continue reading: The Literary Gifts of Ari Gautier (diriyeosman.com)
Fabelaktig fra India
Anne Cathrine Straume, NRK
De eventyrligste historier vikles ut på thinnaien. Thinnaien er den overbygde verandaen utenfor huset til jeg-fortelleren.
Han er selv bare en tilhører til det hele, en guttunge som betrakter følelsesutbruddene, kranglene og latteren som brer seg i den lille hjembyen hans, Kurusukuppam i India.
Continue reading: https://www.nrk.no/kultur/anmeldelse_-_thinnai_-av-ari-gautier-1.16744688
Colonial continuities of the ‘good coloniser’
SOHEL SARKAR, HIMAL
In Ari Gautier’s Le Thinnai (The Thinnai), the tiny fishing village of Kurusukuppam, lying somewhere beyond Pondicherry’s White Town, is portrayed as the proverbial ‘melting pot’ of cultures, identities, and ideologies.
Continue reading: https://www.himalmag.com/colonial-continuities-good-coloniser-unsettling-utopia-review-2022/
The Thinnai offers an enriching literary voyage, one that promises readers a nostalgic and thoroughly enjoyable experience
Chandra SUNDEEP
The Thinnai was originally penned in French by Ari Gautier, but I delved into the English rendition skillfully translated by Blake Smith. This captivating tale unfolds in the charming fishing village of Kurusukuppam, not only offering a window into Pondicherry’s past and present but also whisking readers away on a journey spanning from a quaint village in northern France to the Maldives, various parts of coastal India, and even the Caribbean islands.
Continue reading: https://wordsopedia.com/the-thinnai/
#DESIBOOKS10QA WITH ARI GAUTIER
DESIBOOKS.CO
The desi book that made you want to be a writer (or changed your life.)
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry has strongly influenced me. His focus on the culture and identity of his Parsi community convinced me of the importance of writing about one´s own people.
Continue reading: https://desibooks.co/2021/09/03/desibooks10qa-with-ari-gautier/
‘The Thinnai’ is a rollicking saga of the colourful past and present of Pondicherry
Scroll.in
An excerpt from ‘The Thinnai’, Ari Gautier, translated from the French by Blake Smith.
Continue reading: https://scroll.in/article/1006927/the-thinnai-is-a-rollicking-saga-of-the-colourful-past-and-present-of-pondicherry
Book Reviews by a Pioneer: The Thinnai by Ari Gautier (Translated from the French original by Blake Smith)
sanjay chandra, authorsanjaychandra.com
I first came across the term Thinnai last year in a novel by a friend – it means a shaded verandah at the entrance to a home. I could not resist my temptation to read a novel named The Thinnai – was the verandah a lead character in the novel? I was not disappointed – the thinnai is indeed the lead prop where most of the action takes place.
Continue reading: https://authorsanjaychandra.com/2022/01/12/book-reviews-by-a-pioneer-the-thinnai-by-ari-gautier-translated-from-the-french-original-by-blake-smith/
A million stars and more for this book please!
rebel arunaa, rebelarunaa.wordpress.com
Reading The Thinnai brought back fond memories of my gallivanting about in Madagascar, Mauritius and the Reunion 2 years ago. I am a lover of island life. The islanders sense of music and rhythm is indeed captivating.
Continue reading: https://rebelarunaa.wordpress.com/2021/10/01/le-thinnai-the-thinnai-by-ari-gautier-translated-by-blake-smith/
Ari Gautier’s The Thinnai breaks new ground in Franco-Indian Dalit writing
Dr Chinnadevi Singadi, The Punch magazine
The Franco-Indian Dalit novelist portrays the life and times of Dalit communities in the postcolonial world…
Continue reading: https://thepunchmagazine.com/the-byword/review/ari-gautier-amp-rsquo-s-the-thinnai-breaks-new-ground-in-franco-indian-dalit-writing
Time Travel: Of thinnai, the Stone of Sita and a Pondicherry that was an ‘artificial paradise’
neha kirpal, The new Indian express
The book is beautifully translated from the French original by Blake Smith, a historian who specialises in the cultural exchange between France and India…
A window to a melting pot of confused cultures
Anamika A, The hindu businesss Line
Ari Gautier’s The Thinnai takes you on a delightful journey into the mindset of a former French colony…
Continue reading: https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/books/reviews/fiction/a-window-to-a-melting-pot-of-confused-cultures/article37415607.ece
Set in South India, The Thinnai and The Grand Anicut share a common thread of time travel and intertwining histories
Bindu Menon, The tribune
THINNAI, which in Tamil means a shaded verandah, is the organic setting for Ari Gautier’s eponymous novel. It is from this thinnai of a house in a working class suburb…
On a verandah, retracing Pondicherry’s past through a mysterious diamond
IANS, The statesman
Masterfully translated from the French original by Blake Smith, Ari Gautier’s “The Thinnai” (Hachette) offers a panoramic view of Pondicherry’s past, the whimsical eccentricities of its present and shines a light on the quirks of history that come to define us….
Continue reading: https://www.thestatesman.com/books-education/verandah-retracing-pondicherrys-past-mysterious-diamond-1503001201.html
Diamond and rust
Geeta Doctor, The Hindu
A boisterous look at the colourful Creole culture born of India’s contact with Europe…
Continue reading: https://www.thehindu.com/books/diamond-and-rust-geeta-doctor-reviews-ari-gautiers-the-thinnai/article36891799.ece
PAPER FRENCHMEN: FRANCOPHONE INDIAN LITERATURE
Natasha ryan, adventures on the bookshelf
In late November, Oxford welcomed the writer Ari Gautier and his translator into English, Prof. Blake Smith, for a discussion about Francophone Indian Literature and about Gautier’s writing in particular. Part of the ‘World Literatures’ strand of the Creative Multilingualism programme, this event was convened by Prof. Jane Hiddleston and Sheela Mahadevan. Here we reflect on a few highlights…
Continue reading: https://bookshelf.mml.ox.ac.uk/2019/12/04/paper-frenchmen-francophone-indian-literature/
Unseen, rarely read but still present: The persistence of French writing by Indians
Adrija roychowdhury, The Indian express
French has been a South Asian language since the 17th century, when agents of the French East India Company and French travellers arrived in India…
Continue reading: https://indianexpress.com/article/research/unseen-unread-the-sad-story-of-french-writing-by-indians-7488139/
“Nocturne Pondichéry” par Ari Gautier
inde-en-livres
“Nul ne peut empêcher la nuit de tomber” et c’est justement à cette heure “entre chien et loup” que l’auteur et poète Ari Gautier a décidé de nous faire découvrir la ville de sa jeunesse, Pondichéry, à travers sept enchanteresses nouvelles. La ville apparaît à son lecteur sous une autre dimension, différente que les scènes se déroulant en plein jour, presque irréel et pourtant si authentique…
Continue reading: https://www.inde-en-livres.fr/post/nocturne-pondich%C3%A9ry-par-ari-gautier
Temple elephant Lakshmi, the protagonist of French fiction
Annie Philip, The hindu
Ari Gautier weaves a story around her highlighting the hypocrisy of society…
Continue reading: https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/puducherry/Temple-elephant-Lakshmi-the-protagonist-of-French-fiction/article13987993.ece
CARNET SECRET DE LAKSHMI DE ARI GAUTIER
Véronique-Atasi, Overblog
Vous l’avez peut-être croisé mais avez-vous pris le temps de la regarder ? Voir un instant son regard triste et mélancolique ? Avez-vous essayé de deviner à quoi elle pense ? A quoi elle rêve ? Avez-vous songé une seconde qu’elle est plus qu’une attraction pour amuser les touristes et satisfaire les pèlerins ? Qu’elle a une âme comme tout être vivant ? Une âme avec des envies, des rêves, des blessures, une histoire, un parcours. Un être sensible, fragile et qui aspire à la liberté ? Une liberté sans chaînes, sans horaires et sans contrainte, loin de la ville, à l’air libre dans une forêt, à être parmi les siens…
Continue reading: http://atasi.over-blog.com/2015/11/carnet-secret-de-lakshmi-de-ari-gautier.html
PAPER FRENCHMEN: FRANCOPHONE INDIAN LITERATURE
Natasha Ryan, Adventures on the bookshelf
In late November, Oxford welcomed the writer Ari Gautier and his translator into English, Prof. Blake Smith, for a discussion about Francophone Indian Literature and about Gautier’s writing in particular. Part of the ‘World Literatures’ strand of the Creative Multilingualism programme, this event was convened by Prof. Jane Hiddleston and Sheela Mahadevan. Here we reflect on a few highlights…
Continue reading: https://bookshelf.mml.ox.ac.uk/tag/francophone/
Allez les bleus eller All Blacks?
KLASSEKAMPEN
«Vive la France!» En ny dag begynte etter den festlige natten da jeg for første gang var stolt over å være svart i Frankrike. Jeg våknet opp med en koloni-bakrus.
Continue reading: https://klassekampen.no/utgave/2018-07-10/allez-les-bleus-eller-all-blacks
LE THINNAI D’ARI GAUTIER
Véronique-Atasi, Overblog
Deux ans après “Carnet Secret de Lakshmi’ où la parole a été donnée à l’éléphante du temple de Sri Manakula Vinayagar dédié à Ganesh, Ari Gautier nous transporte une nouvelle fois à Pondichéry. Dans son nouveau roman – fruit d’un travail de quatre années -, il nous fait découvrir la ville de son enfance non pas à travers l’œil avisé d’un éléphant (ou d’un tout autre animal) mais à travers un lieu caractéristique des maisons tamoules, un thinnai dont vous trouverez son illustration sur la couverture. Pourtant, Ari Gautier n’a pas choisi n’importe quel thinnai pour son nouveau roman, il a choisi le thinnai de son enfance, celui qui l’a nourrit et qui l’a vu grandir pour devenir l’homme qu’il est devenu….
Continue reading: http://atasi.over-blog.com/2018/01/le-thinnai-d-ari-gautier.html
Les éléphants ça trompent énormément !
INterview
Nous vous présentons Ari Gautier, auteur d’un très beau roman qui met en scène des animaux comme personnages principaux. L’éléphante (Lakshmi, l’héroïne) nous fait part de ses pensées les plus profondes et nous dévoile l’Inde et plus particulièrement Pondichéry qui a abrité son enfance et verra son âge adulte.
Continue reading: http://www.lireetdecouvrir.com/2017/09/ari-gautier-auteur.html
Ari Gautier 