Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Breathtaking width and depth!!, 21 Sep 2006
This truly is an epic. At first sight, I thought Vikram Chandra was just trying to match his namesake (the more famous Vikram Seth, author of other 'epics' like A Suitable Boy) by writing a long novel (it is long at 900 pages!). But as I started reading it, I realised that this was not just long, but wide and deep.
The author's breadth is dizzying - the story goes from the murky world of the Mumbai mafia-style underworld, to international terrorism, to the workings of the Indian bureaucracy, to the intelligence services investigating Islamic fundamentalism, to the traumas of the Partition of the Indian sub-continent 60 years ago, to the sidelines of the inside workings of Bollywood....
But, it is not just the breadth of the canvas that is breath-taking. This is not a superficial skimming of several sub-plots. It is the depth with which Vikram has researched each of these sub-plots and gone into not just describing the superficial external happenings there, but the intricate workings inside the minds of the people involved. He has gone right into the depths of the mind of a Mumbai don, a Mumbai policeman, an intelligence officer, a family uprooted at Partition....
It is hard to imagine that a 900-page book could be unputdownable - but this one was for me. I lost touch with the outside world for a week while I read this for several hours everyday.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
a taste of bombay, 10 Jan 2007
It's about hope and courage in a time of Kaliyug, of chaos, death and destruction - symbolised and realised as Bombay. It talks about random meaningless death, and random meaningless survival and how all of us choose our own way through life.
In addition to the plot elements you probably already know, the striking thing about it is - it's a book full of smells, from the slums, the traffic, the street stalls... Bombay sheer reeks off the pages. It's a book rich in character and tone (I especially enjoyed the untranslated Bombay slang), and still leaves you with the impression that you've seen the merest snapshot of the real Bombay - that there are countless millions of untold stories in this one city.
Yes ok, as a story - it wanders somewhat... as a read, it drags in places. It took me 3 months to finish it and I was let down a little by the ending which simply deflates after the painstakingly developed tension. (I think perhaps it just needed a surprise twist
Despite this it's thoroughly engrossing - particularly the internal identity struggles of the macho paranoid don Gaitonde, the existential soul searching of the inspector Sartaj, and the matter of fact detailing of administrative corruption in modern India.
Recommended for those with a bit of time to spare and some patience.
And if you enjoyed it, read Don Delillo's Underworld (if you haven't already).
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19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A fascinating insight, 24 Sep 2006
This is one of those books I just liked the look of without knowing a great deal of what to expect.What I got was a book written with a passion for a cracking story, peopled by lifelike individuals all living uneasily together distrusting the stranger,despising the immigrant and constantly aware of caste and social standing.
Chandra's Sartaj Singh is a policeman with all sorts of problems and when a big time gangster seemingly falls into his lap life becomes increasingly complicated for him.
Vikram Chandra has written a great story here and what has really sold me is the way he paints Mumbai and various parts of India with such detail and colour. Usually a keen eye for detail can bore rigid but that is avoided as the story belts along right through. You are shown how people survive,( or not ), and a whole world opens up before the reader as pages turn and a new and captivating soul strolls, often briefly, across the story.
That Sartaj sticks out as a rare Sikh at work in the Mumbai police force adds yet more tension.
There are some Asian referrences that can be looked up on-line at the publishers website but to be honest I didn't as I wanted the feeling of mystery and another world unfolding to remain. It certainly didn't spoil my enjoyment of this book one little bit.
There is so much to enjoy as the characters seemingly meander about the story whizzes along and you find yourself drawn deep into the huge world the author paints.
Give this one some of your time and you will find so much to savour and plenty will linger on in your mind long after you finish the last page.
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