The Blue Yonder

As a Mayoite, this is the book we each carry around inside us. Chakravarti writes so compellingly about his Mayo years that I felt he was telling my story. In that sense, the book was a cathartic read. The story of these Brothers in Arms, Brandy, Fish, PT Shoe and Porridge is something that anyone who has run the boarding school gauntlet can easily relate to. Even the suicide of Fish, a key turning point in the book, was something one knows could have happened. As all of us who’ve been there know, schools like Mayo can be a roller-coaster emotional ride. But is this then a book that has an appeal limited to an elite public school audience? I believe Tin Fish has more universal appeal. Sudeep writes in a pithy yet poignant style so reminiscent of Salinger. Brandy’s story is emotional without being sentimental, dramatic without being melodramatic and honest without being harsh.