'Loot' traces the love, war and art that shaped India's colonial history

NPR's Book of the Day

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Arts, Books

4.2 • 671 Ratings

🗓️ 25 November 2023

⏱️ 10 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In her new novel Loot, Tania James writes of a 17-year-old woodworker who's commissioned to build a tiger automaton for the Indian ruler Tipu Sultan in the 18th century. The story is inspired by the real-life Tippoo's Tiger, one of the most famous sculptures in London's Victoria and Albert Museum. James' tale of colonization, war, love and art stretches across India and Europe – and as she tells NPR's Ari Shapiro, it continues to raise questions about historical artifacts and who should own them.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. Yes, I know it's Saturday, but for the next few weeks, we're actually going to be bringing you an extra episode, going over more of the books we loved this year. And one of my favorite tags on our annual guide is the one for seriously great writing. These are the books where you could really see other writers flex a little bit on the page, you know?
0:23.3	And there's actually a little bit of writing advice in the interview I'm about to play for you.
0:28.0	It's between NPR's Ari Shapiro and author Tanya James about her book, Lute,
0:32.8	which is about a piece of Indian art that pushes back against British colonialism.
0:37.3	But in this interview,
0:38.2	James says something about leaving room in her own work for discovery, because if she's just
0:43.8	writing stuff she already knows, she says the writing feels dead in the water. That's ahead.
0:50.3	In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life.
0:55.0	Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors on our new show, Sources and Methods.
1:01.7	NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.
1:09.4	Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
1:14.4	In the late 1700s, an Indian ruler commissioned an incredible work of art.
1:20.2	It's carved out of wood, a tiger attacking a man.
1:24.4	And inside the tiger is a musical instrument similar to a pipe organ.
1:33.6	The Victoria and Albert Museum in London posted this video showing how the automaton makes music
1:40.3	with the turn of a crank. This real creation is at the center of a new novel, Lute. The plot
1:47.2	travels from India to Europe, touching on war, immigration, love, and art. Tanya James is the author.
1:54.7	Welcome. Hi, Ari. Thank you for having me. Will you describe the first time you saw the wooden tiger
2:00.3	that is at the center of this novel?
2:02.4	Yes, I first encountered Tipu's Tiger in a book.
2:06.5	Tipu's Tiger, Tipu is the ruler who commissioned it.
2:09.0	Yes, it's a giant mechanical tiger, as you described.
	...

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