A review by mlautchi
Such a Long Journey by Rohinton Mistry

“By the time he got to the window the rain became a downpour. The wind was sweeping it inside. He took a deep breath to savour the fresh moist earth fragrance, feeling great satisfaction, as though he had had a hand in the arrival of the monsoon.” (129)

“The new owners sold transistors, toasters, tyres, auto parts, plastic crockery – everything essential for the magic which swallows up a hundred years of history and propels a county stuck in the nineteenth century into the glories of the twentieth. Sometimes, swallowing a hundred years in one gulp caused acute indigestion. But the troubled populace was assured by its venerable leaders that it would pass; for the interim they offered free of charge wordy ANODYNES which mitigated no one’s suffering.” (155)

“ … Looking out at the empty fields where a faint light glimmered here and there. Would this journey be worth it? Was any journey ever really worth the trouble?” (259)

“You see, I don’t like to weaken anyone’s faith. Miracle, magic, mechanical trick, coincidence – does it matter what it is as long as it helps? Why analyse the strength of the imagination, the power of suggestion, power of autosuggestion, the potency of psychological pressures? Looking closely is destructive, makes everything disintegrate. Why to simply make it tougher? After all, who is to say what makes a miracle and what makes a coincidence?” (289)