The book moved me to tears! To borrow some phrases from other reviews which sort of sum it all "sensuous background of everyday life in Bombay.....evokes empathy and compassion....skilled storyteller..memorable characters". A glimpse of Rohinton Mistry - the Parsi lifestyle and strength of characters and Greg Roberts (Shantaram) - the city of Bombay at its best and worst. I find it amazing that inspite of the incredible relationships and well sketched complex characters, the book is an incredibly simple and quick read. Full credit to the author - Thrity Umrigar - will have to get some of her other books....
I highly recommend this book to anyone who has lived in Bombay, has Parsi friends and loves books with strong empathetic characters.
I'm assuming your rating scheme ranges from 1 star to 5 stars. Curious as why you did not rate it 5 stars (I took your recommendation and I'm reading this book and enjoying it tremendously....not clear what my own rating will be...).
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment - I have updated the post to make the rating system clearer.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely loved the book - but have an intense personal dislike for the genre of books that show India at its worst. That kept me from giving it a higher rating. Also I felt the book was very one dimensional - focused on the 2 main characters - completely ignoring the point of view and thought processes of the other characters...
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ReplyDeleteI eventually decided to remove the ratings as I find it difficult to slot books on a scale of 1-5. I will let the reader decide if they want to pick up the book based on my short write up.
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