Such a Long Journey

Rohinton Mistry is easily the best among all Indian expat writers. He remembers, cherishes and captures India better than anyone else I've read. The difference between his two masterpieces, "A Fine Balance" and "Such a Long Journey", is that the first is all-encompassing and hence somewhat diluted; whereas "Such a Long Journey" lives in a simple microcosm affected by outside events and is richer as a result. Both are great books though, and the author's stamp is unmistakable in both: think "War and Peace" vs "Anna Karenina". If you, like me, grew up in a middle class family in Bombay, "Such a Long Journey" could very well be about a neighbour of yours. Mistry takes you on a ride around the streets and markets of the Bombay you loved, makes politically incorrect (but funny) jokes about Sardars and Parsis, criticizes the Shiv Sena and the municipality, and even adds a sort of preface to the deaths of Sanjay and Indira Gandhi. He makes you remember - with a lot of fondness - Rex Jelly and gum bottles with rubber nipples and many other things that once made up socialist India. He makes you nostalgic about the past, and captures Bombay in an amazing time capsule of turbulence, struggle and joy. Such a Long Journey also - plain and simple - tells a wonderful story about wonderful characters. The best thing about Mistry's writing is that he is so realistic about the everyday things. He will translate word for word and make the spoken sentence more authentic. He will not explain a Gujrati idiom or Hindi swear word in a footnote, like many expat authors are prone to do. This enriches the experience even for a non-Indian - it just makes for better writing. For example, even if you don't understand French, you'll find that the best translation of The Three Musketeers begins with the Huguenots making a second Rochelle out of the bourg of Meung and not the protestants laying siege to the village of Meung. In short, Such a Long Journey is a remarkable piece of work: unputdownable and mesmerizing.

Coming from Bombay I thought this book depicted Parsis in a fantastic manner - especially their unique characteristics, the way they speak and even their idiosyncrasies. If you are at all familiar with the culture you will find yourself smiling knowingly and chuckling at all the little details Mistry throws in to depict them. I loved the style and character development. My sister had read A Fine Balance and said it was depressing so I had shied away from Rohinton Mistry for a long time. Big mistake. I hear A Fine Balance and Family Matters are even better and I can't wait to read them.

Superb story-telling. Engrossing, intricate, humorous, ironic, and more. Takes one back to older, gentler, days in Bombay - when the very character of Bombay began to change. A citywide-character defined primarily by the pioneering Parsi influence that played such an immense role in Bombay's, growth and development. Mistry gives us some sense of these cataclysmic changes in mores, values, outlook - all in the microcosm of the Khodadad building (a residential apt. complex of middle-class Parsi families)