Gora

Rabindranath Tagore · 1861–1941 · India (Bengal)

Originally Gora (Bengali)

Why it matters

A fierce young Hindu nationalist crusades against caste laxity and foreign influence, certain of his own place at the center of Indian orthodoxy. Tagore's great novel of ideas wrestles with what it means to belong to India.

At a glance

A large ensemble cast and extended ideological debate slow an otherwise linear plot.