Just picked this one up today at the used bookstore with some of my leftover credit from my pre-Bookcrossing days. Have been eyeing it for a while, and I'm on an India kick right now, so I figured it would suit.

I have mixed feelings about this book. The story was, overall, satisfying although extremely depressing at times. The prose was fantastic. Mistry's descriptions are vivid and impeccable; you feel like you're really there in the story. The ending, though, was totally disappointing. When I put my mind into reading a 700 page book, I like to be rewarded at the end with some closure. This book did not give me this satisfaction and left me feeling depressed and unhappy for the characters that I had come to know. I think that this was probably Mistry's point. He talks so much about how people view the past with happiness, and as I view these characters now, I agree that their past with me was full of mirth and family. But, as the reader, I didn't enjoy having to share this grim present with the characters.

Beware, slow readers who want a happy ending. This book is not for you.

RELEASE NOTES:

At the benches outside the upper exit.