DIPLOMATIC ENCOUNTER BY S.K. BANERJI [HARDCOVER]

his is the story of an Indian diplomat, written in remarkably simple and fluid English. Nowhere does the author fall prey to the temptation of using heavy and complicated language replete with uncommon words, a malady with present-day authors.

Descriptions of exotic locales - Brazzaville, Rabat and so on - lend an interesting note to the narrative. Written by a retired career diplomat himself, the book, however, reads less like a novel than the memoirs of a former Foreign Service officer. The narrative is engrossing only in patches. Perhaps the subject chosen does not lend itself to any kind of excitement.

The author tries hard to make his story interesting. But the effort does not pay. The sexual escapades of his protagonist and the elaborate descriptions of love-making with his successive wives do nothing to enhance readability. The comments on India's relations with other countries sound authentic. Yet they fail to help the cause of the novel.