Oxford Bookstore presents an exclusive conversation with Jean-Claude Perrier

The book is translated from the French original Comme des barbaresenInde by Sriparna Chatterjee and published in English by Niyogi Books.

on Feb 23, 2023

Oxford Bookstore presents an exclusive conversation with Jean-Claude Perrier

New Delhi, 23 February 2023: Oxford Bookstore, in association with the Embassy of France, French Institute in India, and Niyogi Books, hosted an exclusive interaction around Jean-Claude Perrier’s latest book, “Like Barbarians in India.”

The author was engaged in a freewheeling conversation with noted author, academic, and writer Aditi Sriram on how travel inspires literature.

This book reveals the author’s love for India, through his travel and observations. The book is translated from the French original Comme des barbaresenInde by Sriparna Chatterjee and published in English by Niyogi Books. The smooth translation deftly conveys the author’s engaging insights into India.

This marquee event commemorated Oxford Bookstore’s century-old journey with books and bridging cultures through collaboration. The audience enjoyed a lively, insightful, and captivating conversation between the speakers at the iconic bookstore of Delhi.

About the book

Like Barbarians in India is a heartfelt tribute to India and to four French writers—Pierre Loti, Henri Michaux, André Malraux, and André Gide— who felt a common attraction to this country of ‘ancient civilization.’ The author discusses these writers and their interaction with India and his love for the country. Each chapter in the book details the impact or influence that India had on these French writers individually. Pierre Loti, whose original name was Julien Viaud, discovered India in 1931 and wrote India (without the English), which describes India as if it had not been colonised. About half of Henri Michaux’s Barbarian in Asia is devoted to India. André Malraux knew Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi and had read Tagore and the Indian sacred texts. André Gide also knew Nehru and had translated Tagore and Kabir into French. The author has traveled and lived in India and was a friend of the sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar. In this work, he comments on India of the past and present and shares his deep love of this land, its people, and culture.

About Jean-Claude Perrier

Jean-Claude Perrier, born in 1957 in Paris, loves literature, reading, and writing. He started working as a journalist and is also the author of several books, including novels, biographies, essays, and travelogues. He discovered India in 1981, and it was a revelation for him. In love with the culture, music, and people of India, he has authored several books with an Indian theme: André Malraux and the Temptation of India, Travels in French India, and Like Barbarians in India (translated into English, Hindi, and Bangla). He received the prestigious French Academy Prize in 2010 for an essay, ‘The mysteries of Saint-Exupery, ’ translated into Italian, German, Russian, and Slovenian.