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alex_watkins's review against another edition
4.0
This book is good, but the first half isn't compelling so I found myself reading less, the end picks up and bit and it has its fair share of excitement. I found this a very slow read. Otherwise I really like his stories within stories within stories that the book if full of. And I thought it was a little presumptuous to have the reception of the story in the book being so popular.
kkonda's review against another edition
1.0
I took about four months to get halfway through this book and then abandoned, and this was when I was starved for English books in my first year in Chile. I liked the concept but the plot got too thick for me to maintain my suspension of disbelief. I got disgusted and dropped it for good.
wintermute9's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
bookherd's review against another edition
5.0
This is an epic of storytelling through the history of India and its relationship with its British colonizers. Read it.
skbarks's review against another edition
I took a run at this but it didn't work out. If it can't hold my interest on a plane when I have literally nothing else to do, it's probably not meant to be.
jangleresse's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
eleanornd's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
ben_miller's review against another edition
3.0
Confession: I didn't get all the way through this, despite my huge admiration of Chandra's talents. This book has one of the best first chapters I've read, and is intermittently brilliant thereafter. But it's so maddeningly uneven that I found it gradually more exhausting than enjoyable.
This was his first novel, so it's no surprise that Chandra may not have been in full control of his powers yet. His follow-up story collection, [b: Love and Longing in Bombay|165602|Love and Longing in Bombay|Vikram Chandra|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1403987921s/165602.jpg|939142], is much more assured.
This was his first novel, so it's no surprise that Chandra may not have been in full control of his powers yet. His follow-up story collection, [b: Love and Longing in Bombay|165602|Love and Longing in Bombay|Vikram Chandra|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1403987921s/165602.jpg|939142], is much more assured.
timgreenard's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Overall, I really enjoyed this book.
During the first third, the focus on warfare and the switch between characters did start to bore me. I think this was also a consequence of the way we glimpse multiple characters in the first section with no clear indication of what the broader story is and how they relate. Once Sanjay entered the picture as the main character, it became easier for me to accept diversions from his story since I now knew what the central narrative was. Early on, I wasn't sure where the stories were going and there was no consistent character to follow. But the first third did seem more meaningful once I was finished. I still think it was hard for me to get into though.
At points I felt Chandra did not succeed in varying the narrative voices. Perhaps this was intentional since all of these narratives are technically being told by one character. Nevertheless, there were definitely examples of distinctive narrative voices throughout.
The interspersed narratives of contemporary American life were interesting, but often felt like they only just held together with the 18th/19th century story. It did sometimes feel jarring to transition between the two, and at times it felt like reading to distinct books. Some parts would have worked equally well or even better just as separate short stories.
But the ending brought everything together in a way that satisfied me. Abhay does something very unlikable within the first few pages, which kicks off the whole book. But by the end of the book you can understand his actions, and I think Chandra ties the two main narratives together successfully at the end, perhaps enough to compensate for the failure to better integrate them at other points.
My favourite section was the story of Sanjay's childhood. Despite Sanjay being the character we follow for the majority of the book, I never got the impression that I understood him or his motivations, or saw things from his perspective. While this was at times confusing, it did give the impression of a myth or legend; we follow the character and get glimpses of his thoughts and feelings, but are always observing from a slight distance. I felt I was watching but never fully understanding him, and that was ok.
I did have a great time with this book. It just confuses me that I enjoyed it so much by the end while being so close to putting it down for almost the entire first third of the book. I surprised myself by giving it such a high score, but I think it reflects how I felt when I finished.
During the first third, the focus on warfare and the switch between characters did start to bore me. I think this was also a consequence of the way we glimpse multiple characters in the first section with no clear indication of what the broader story is and how they relate. Once Sanjay entered the picture as the main character, it became easier for me to accept diversions from his story since I now knew what the central narrative was. Early on, I wasn't sure where the stories were going and there was no consistent character to follow. But the first third did seem more meaningful once I was finished. I still think it was hard for me to get into though.
At points I felt Chandra did not succeed in varying the narrative voices. Perhaps this was intentional since all of these narratives are technically being told by one character. Nevertheless, there were definitely examples of distinctive narrative voices throughout.
The interspersed narratives of contemporary American life were interesting, but often felt like they only just held together with the 18th/19th century story. It did sometimes feel jarring to transition between the two, and at times it felt like reading to distinct books. Some parts would have worked equally well or even better just as separate short stories.
But the ending brought everything together in a way that satisfied me. Abhay does something very unlikable within the first few pages, which kicks off the whole book. But by the end of the book you can understand his actions, and I think Chandra ties the two main narratives together successfully at the end, perhaps enough to compensate for the failure to better integrate them at other points.
My favourite section was the story of Sanjay's childhood. Despite Sanjay being the character we follow for the majority of the book, I never got the impression that I understood him or his motivations, or saw things from his perspective. While this was at times confusing, it did give the impression of a myth or legend; we follow the character and get glimpses of his thoughts and feelings, but are always observing from a slight distance. I felt I was watching but never fully understanding him, and that was ok.
I did have a great time with this book. It just confuses me that I enjoyed it so much by the end while being so close to putting it down for almost the entire first third of the book. I surprised myself by giving it such a high score, but I think it reflects how I felt when I finished.