Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty
SPECIAL PRICE: Just £9.99 for your next 8 magazines
Subscribe today
Books

Sojourn by Amit Chaudhuri review: Brief encounters with the eclectic life of a city

A novel about a lecturer visiting Berlin and the overwhelming effect of its history, that ultimately fails to leave an impression on the reader.

Berlin cityscape

Berlin cityscape Image: wal_172619 from Pixabay

Sojourn by Amit Chaudhuri
Sojourn by Amit Chaudhuri is out now (Faber & Faber, £14.99)

For his novella Sojourn, Amit Chaudhuri has picked on a theme of the fate of Berlin and the sometimes overwhelming power of a city over those who visit it. As a visiting lecturer, the anonymous narrator captures brief encounters with the eclectic life of the city, becoming dramatically aware of the geography and history that shapes his visit and its visitors. The novel’s aims are worthy, but its short length and, more importantly, a lack of definition in description, mean it doesn’t leave a mark on the imagination.  


You can buy Sojourn from The Big Issue shop on Bookshop.org, which helps to support The Big Issue and independent bookshops.

This article is taken from The Big Issue magazine, which exists to give homeless, long-term unemployed and marginalised people the opportunity to earn an income.To support our work buy a copy! If you cannot reach your local vendor, you can still click HERE to subscribe to The Big Issue today or give a gift subscription to a friend or family member. You can also purchase one-off issues from The Big Issue Shop or The Big Issue app, available now from the App Store or Google Play.

Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty

READER-SUPPORTED SINCE 1991

Reader-supported journalism that doesn’t just report problems, it helps solve them.

Recommended for you

View all
Ruth by Kate Riley review – a refreshing new author to watch
Books

Ruth by Kate Riley review – a refreshing new author to watch

The Course of the Heart by M John Harrison review – imbued with mystery and the occult
Books

The Course of the Heart by M John Harrison review – imbued with mystery and the occult

Top 5 children's books to inspire awe for our universe, chosen by Chloe Savage
Children's books

Top 5 children's books to inspire awe for our universe, chosen by Chloe Savage

Poet Rowan McCabe didn't know his neighbours. So he went door to door writing poems for them
Poetry

Poet Rowan McCabe didn't know his neighbours. So he went door to door writing poems for them

Most Popular

Read All
Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits
Renters: A mortgage lender's window advertising buy-to-let products
1.

Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal
Pound coins on a piece of paper with disability living allowancve
2.

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal

Cost of living payments: Where to get help in 2025 now the scheme is over
next dwp cost of living payment 2023
3.

Cost of living payments: Where to get help in 2025 now the scheme is over

Citroën Ami: the tiny electric vehicle driving change with The Big Issue
4.

Citroën Ami: the tiny electric vehicle driving change with The Big Issue