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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.
angelajuniper's review against another edition
2.0
I kind of feel like Vikram Chandra said to himself 'what do I want to read? what do I want to see happen in a story?' then gathered every idea he had ever had and smooshed it into a book. He covers every single genre in one way or another and at times it is so compacted that I couldnt remember who people were and why they were there so had to browse back through the first third of the book. At times it was very wordy, almost unnecessarily so, and I didnt think it was actually needed. Abhay's story was so sharply contrasted with the rest of the book that Chandra could have left it out and still achieved the same outcome. I didnt see the point of Abhay's immature antics with his rich but miserable friends. It was a whole other book slid between a story of battle, Indian Gods, love and struggle. A book that was strangely put together, I probably would't read it again.
superfamoustia's review against another edition
4.0
Picked this up at Adventures Underground, a jaw-droppingly fantastic bookstore/comic book store in Richland, WA. Very excited to start!
* * *
Finished: an EXCELLENT work. Sublime moments meet "surly sphincters." A story about stories, which I'm a sucker for; dashes of magic realism, which I'm also a sucker for. I preferred the old tales to the new, myself, but the whole book was written with loveliness. I look forward to "Sacred Games."
* * *
Finished: an EXCELLENT work. Sublime moments meet "surly sphincters." A story about stories, which I'm a sucker for; dashes of magic realism, which I'm also a sucker for. I preferred the old tales to the new, myself, but the whole book was written with loveliness. I look forward to "Sacred Games."
shonasmile's review against another edition
4.0
Some lovely prose. Got slightly lost in the third quarter, but managed to stick it out to a rewarding end.
general_jinjur's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- 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
yellowtypophile's review against another edition
3.0
This was an interesting book. I found it quite difficult to follow - perhaps because I read it on and off over several months, but I've done the same with Vikram Chandra's other novel (Sacred Games, which I enjoyed much more) without a problem.
This book is written as a story within a story for several layers, as is common in Indian storytelling traditions - while this made it a little difficult to follow, for me this was not the main issue. The main story about Sanjay and his life, which runs through the whole book, is what I found difficult. I didn't have an understanding of what the book is trying to do with the story; I couldn't understand Sanjay's motivations, which seemed to change substantially and gain new drivers in drastically different directions every so often. Perhaps it was this aspect which some reviewers apparently called "cinematic".
I noticed a couple stories which are inversions of familiar stories from Hindu mythology and are nice winks from the author to the aware reader - I don't know how many I missed. The example that comes to mind is Sikander narrating his archery lesson where his master has him aim at a bird and then asks him what he sees; when Sikander replies that he sees only the bird, his master tells him that he will only not miss when he sees everything, the mountains and the sky and the ground and the bird as well. This is an exact inversion of the story from the Mahabharata of Dronacharya teaching the Panadavas and Kauravas archery. He asks each of them what they see, and all but Arjuna describe the bird and other things as well. Drona is pleased with only Arjuna, who claims to see nothing but the eye of the bird.
The bits of the book I enjoyed the most were the parts that happened in present times: the descriptions of the situation in the maidan where the highest level of storytelling is happening, and all of Abhay's stories of his times in America. For me these are the parts which flowed the most easily, where it was easiest to empathise with the characters and find the humour and just-feels-right observations that make good writing good. This writing also feels the most down-to-earth; somehow in making Sanjay's thread somewhat grand and far-away, the writing gains some pretenses it could do without. Perhaps this is what makes Sacred Games so good.
All in all: good, but read Sacred Games.
This book is written as a story within a story for several layers, as is common in Indian storytelling traditions - while this made it a little difficult to follow, for me this was not the main issue. The main story about Sanjay and his life, which runs through the whole book, is what I found difficult. I didn't have an understanding of what the book is trying to do with the story; I couldn't understand Sanjay's motivations, which seemed to change substantially and gain new drivers in drastically different directions every so often. Perhaps it was this aspect which some reviewers apparently called "cinematic".
I noticed a couple stories which are inversions of familiar stories from Hindu mythology and are nice winks from the author to the aware reader - I don't know how many I missed. The example that comes to mind is Sikander narrating his archery lesson where his master has him aim at a bird and then asks him what he sees; when Sikander replies that he sees only the bird, his master tells him that he will only not miss when he sees everything, the mountains and the sky and the ground and the bird as well. This is an exact inversion of the story from the Mahabharata of Dronacharya teaching the Panadavas and Kauravas archery. He asks each of them what they see, and all but Arjuna describe the bird and other things as well. Drona is pleased with only Arjuna, who claims to see nothing but the eye of the bird.
The bits of the book I enjoyed the most were the parts that happened in present times: the descriptions of the situation in the maidan where the highest level of storytelling is happening, and all of Abhay's stories of his times in America. For me these are the parts which flowed the most easily, where it was easiest to empathise with the characters and find the humour and just-feels-right observations that make good writing good. This writing also feels the most down-to-earth; somehow in making Sanjay's thread somewhat grand and far-away, the writing gains some pretenses it could do without. Perhaps this is what makes Sacred Games so good.
All in all: good, but read Sacred Games.
eyelit's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0