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The Death of Vishnu
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The Death of Vishnu
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10 journalers for this copy...
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Book Description: pub. 2001; pgs. 295"Vishnu, the odd-job man in a Bombay apartment block, lies dying on the staircase landing. Around him the lives of the apartment dwellers unfold: the warring housewives on the first floor, lovesick teenagers on the second, and the widower, alone and quietly grieving on the top floor of the building. In a fevered state Vishnu looks back on his love affair with the seductive Padmini and wonders if he might actually be the god Vishnu, guardian of the entire universe. "Blending incisive comedy with Hindu mythology and a dash of Bollywood sparkle, 'The Death of Vishnu' is an intimate and compelling view of an unforgettable world." This was a favorite of mine, and I'm ready to pass it on. It's an engaging tale where we not only meet Vishnu but the other families in the building whose lives all intersect and overlap in unexpected ways. It is a touching, comical, haunting story that brings India and its culture to life. It also has helpful glossary of Indian terms in back. |
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The Death of Vishnu was waiting in my mailbox when I got home from work today. Thanks very much, humberts-doll and vibrant-art for sending the book my way, and thanks very much to vibrant-art for the beautiful rainbow card! This will be the first book on my reading list for 2005 -- I'll likely start it on New Years Day (since I'm just finishing Bitter Fruit this evening), and will have it back in the mail to decay within the next couple weeks.Happy New Year, everyone! |
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There are four families living in the Mumbai (Bombay) apartment building in which Vishnu -- a homeless, alcoholic odd-job man named after a Hindu deity* -- lies dying. On the first floor live two warring Hindu families -- Mr. and Mrs. Asrani and their daughter and son, Kavita and Shyamu, and their arch enemies, Mr. and Mrs. Pathak. The Muslim Jalal family -- Ahmed, Arifa and their son Salim -- live on the second floor, linked to the Asranis through Salim and Kavita's illicit romance. On the top floor a middle-aged widower, Vinod Taneja, grieves the loss of his young wife, Sheetal. The cast of characters in Death of Vishnu is rounded out by a number of colourful servants (gangas), wallas and vagrants whose lives are linked symbiotically to the building's formal inhabitants, creating a kind of Indian Coronation Street -- chaotic, funny and poignant. Several of the storylines (e.g. Kavita's search for romance, the flashbacks of Vishnu's dates with Padmini and the trajectory of Mr. Taneja's grief) borrow explicitly from the romantic and overblown -- if entirely universal -- themes of Bombay cinema ("Bollywood"), adding colour and a kind of cinematic shine to the story. Unfortunately, the main plotline -- that of Vishnu's death and ascent to the spiritual realm, and the parallel (spiritual and literal) fall of Ahmed Jamal, was for me the least enjoyable aspect of the novel -- which consequently dragged a bit in the middle. Here's the link to author Manil Suri's official website, and here is a reading group guide for this book. (If you like this book, you might enjoy A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry.) *The deity Vishnu (left), preserver of human life, is one of the three gods of the trimurti (Hindu trinity). He is known as a generous god, kind and merciful, and is the only god of the trimurti who is reborn whenever there is a crisis on earth. |
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Released 7 yrs ago (3/18/2005 UTC) at bookring in bookring, Bookring -- Controlled Releases WILD RELEASE NOTES:
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Released 7 yrs ago (4/30/2005 UTC) at -- Controlled release in Victoria, British Columbia Canada WILD RELEASE NOTES:
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Released 6 yrs ago (6/30/2005 UTC) at -- Controlled release in Victoria, British Columbia Canada WILD RELEASE NOTES:
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Journal Entry 19 by
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