Scan barcode
saranshs's review against another edition
3.0
"Decidedly more assured and accomplished is another debut collection of short stories published by Random House last year. Rahul Mehta’s Quarantine flits between the US and India. In almost all the nine stories, the central character is a second-generation Indian-American gay man.
While some of this might seem familiar territory, what elevates this collection of stories is the author’s empathy for his characters. We do get characters who are out of place, lost between the new and the old, and sometimes with little control over their own lives, but they deal with it in a very believable, everyday manner.
And yet, the stories never get banal.
The gay men here are not fighting for acceptance. They are mostly comfortable in that identity. But all relationships change. Out of the everyday life of his characters, Mehta threads out little details in the shape of memories and habits to give us a hint of the change that is about to come. He has a sharp ear for dialogue. So whether the characters are breaking down, throwing a tantrum or on the verge of a break-up, the dialogue is always believably apt. The stories ‘The Better Person’, ‘Yours’ and ‘Citizen’ stand out especially."
http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/books/fluorescent-ink
mateusjobim's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
lisanussd's review against another edition
4.0
There was a very interesting exchange in one story about a man who was thinking something to tell his partner to bring their relationship closer together but he says the opposite! I thought how true!
2000s's review against another edition
4.0
mscott's review against another edition
3.0
timbooksin's review against another edition
3.0
biblioleah's review
sshabein's review against another edition
4.0
However, that's not to say that Quarantine is an entirely unhappy book. Small moments of joy punctuate many of the stories, during the moments when the characters feel at ease and snugly nestled into a comfortable life-groove.
Overall, the collection makes me curious about what Mehta would do with a full-on novel. The intimate way in which he writes would do well in long form, I think, despite his short story style being more about snapshots into characters' lives. He could do a lot with the ideas of searching for home, complicated love, and travel. I know I'm speculating, but I sense that Mehta has a grand and sprawling tale gestating somewhere in his head. Maybe he's already begun; I do not know. Whenever it arrives, I will read it.
(Full review can be found on Glorified Love Letters.)
colleen_be's review against another edition
4.0
I won this book from a Goodreads First Reads Giveaway, and it definitely wasn't what I was expecting. Quarantine is a collection of nine short stories relating the lives of gay Indian-American men. It alternates between being set in America and being set in India.
The stories were all so good, and I found myself entranced by the characters over and over again. I wish that some of them had been made into longer stories. I was disappointed when I was not able to find out what happened to the characters: where their relationships led, whether their dreams came true.
While the stories were all distinct in their own right, they all focused on the same theme: what it is like to be gay in a culture where it is considered unacceptable. While dealing with their personal problems: cheating partners, open-relationships, and other relationship issues, the characters must also deal with familial pressures: taking care of sick grand-parents, becoming successful doing what is expected of them instead of what they want.