Customer Reviews

Arranged Marriage: Stories

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's award-winning books continue to stun her readers with their illumination of the lives of Indian women in both India and America. No other Indian writer has offered such an excellent perspective of life between and within these two cultures.
Whether describing the plight of a woman trapped in an abusive marriage in India or the quick adjustments required of an immigrant bride in California, she cracks open the inner lives of her characters, revealing the disappointments and dreams in a way that makes them appear universal. In language that rings with authenticity and the sounds and rhythms of the Indian people, her books are full of rich imagery. You can almost smell the tumeric, see the saffron robes, hear the finger bells, and taste the cardamom and the curry.
Arranged Marriage, a short story collection, is a good place for readers new to Divakaruni to begin to appreciate her; it a lovely addition to the bookshelves of those who already count her as one of our most important contemporary authors.

The author did a good job writing about issues that seem to be very real for Indian women, but each story seemed to stem from the same root. There was always a young Indian woman who was usually the main character of the tale. She had usually come from Calcutta, and was living in the states, in the Bay Area in CA. She always had some sort of emotional tie to her Indian upbringing or family; this was what brought on the conflict. Then the conflict, a stray child, a live-in boyfriend, marriage, racial issues, etc........and though each of these were different, the women would always handle them the same: with small vigor in the beginning, but then they would become depressed and at the end of the story, the conflict would end with some sort of realization about how they should have handled the situation. The book had some good stories with good lessons for life, but after a while they became predictable and boring because of the author's repetitiveness.

Ms. Divakaruni draws the inner life of her female protaganists with true skill and love, and her tales are worth reading for this alone. Alas, the author apparently has known only one type of Indian man--a heartless, emotionally distant male who, no matter his initial appearances, views women as property. I have no experience with Indian culture, but find it difficult to believe every Indian man is as the author portrays; it seems pretty apparent this young author is projecting her own broken heart into all these stories.

I first found this book in an unknown bookstore in my hometown and I was amazed to find out that Indian writers actually wrote stuff in English. This is the first book I have read by an Indian writer and I couldn't put it down. I found myself thorougly engrossed by the vivid details and how true everything was that I went on to read everything else she had written and I am still reading her work. I would also be honored to take her Creative Writing classes, if I lived closer and maybe to meet her. Her book captivated my soul and gave me a new perspective on Indian life.

The problem with these stories is that Ms. Divakaruni seems more interested in "issues" than in character or plot. The heroines are virtually interchangeable; they are all either traditional women on the verge of breaking free, or spunky, rebellious immigrants trying to acclimate themselves to American life. The conflicts seem ripped from newspaper headlines: Sex-Selective Abortion! Wife-Abuse! However, when Ms. Divakaruni steps off her sociological soapbox long enough to pay attention to just telling a story, (As in "The Maid-Servant's Story") she shines.

Arranged Marriage by Divakaruni is painful. That is not to say that the book is "bad". On the contrary, Arranged Marriage is masterfully written -- interesting to the end, thought-provoking throughout, and extraordinarily well crafted. Rather, the stories themselves deal with, center around, and analyze issues that are painful: abuse, heartache, loss, abandonment. The Indian and Indian-American women in Divakaruni's stories must deal with such serious and life-changing problems that feelings of hopelessness often rise to the surface (not only with the characters but with the reader as well!). Frankly, reading this book in its entirety very quickly might be sensory overload. As a word of advice, read this book slowly -- maybe a story or two a day. Think about the stories before you move on and really try to separate out the kernels of hope embedded in each one (they do exist!). After a while, the stories are not simply "depressing and hopeless" but are instead poignant and hopeful.

For me being an Indian girl, I recently began to wonder what it might be like to have an arranged marriage. What it would be like to dwell in a loveless marriage. Reading this book about arranged marriage and it being writen by an Indian author, I was drawn into reading her book. Divakaruni had written wonderful short stories about how women lived their lives not just for themselves, but for the people around them, especially their men. While reading the stories I began to comprehend with the fact that women don't marry a "prince from a far-off magic land" but they just end up with men. The way I saw it in the story "Silver Pavements, Golden Roofs" the husband needed a victory and his only conquest was his wife. Over all I began to realize that marriage isn't going to be all that it's meant out to be.

There is not one Indian male character who is shown in a positive light in this book. Well maybe one, but that's pretty much it. However there is a reason for this and I must say it is rightly so. We regularly tend to assume that times have changed for women in India and we are making progress. However, for most of us, our idea of these changing times dwells from the narrow view of the upper middle class society that we live in. For most of the small town and rural women (which is where most people still live in India), the tyranny of a life bound by the constraints placed by the males around them is real and exists.
Arranged Marriage poignantly highlights many of these situations and frustations that Indian women live through. It talks about things which are so rampant, even the most enlightend, educated Indian would call them cliches. But cliches they are not. The truth is that there are overt and subtle forms of roles cast on women as soon as they are born, that is if they are allowed to be born at all. Since the book is a collection of stories, it is definitely an easy read. There are a few stories which do not work but most tug at one's heart.
There are many which I could connect with immensely as an immigrant who has been exposed to a different, maybe more liberated kind of environment, one in which premium is given to decision made on the basis of pure choice and not necessarily necessity. Chitra Divakaruni writes with passion. There is a pain in her stories which seem to be borne out of experience. The stories are based in the San Francisco Bay Area and this makes it even more closer to my heart. The nooks and crannies of this place, the grocery stores, the parks, the apartment complexes are the stage for these episodes and I can visualize myself there, thinking similar thoughts. In particular, there were a few stories which mirrored my life to the tee and hence, provided an outlet to my internal dilemmas.
This is an easy read. I finished this in the half the flight time from Chicago to San Francisco leaving me wondering what to do with the rest of the time. However it is worth reading for every ignorant Indian man living the blubber of his self-created chauvinism. It is also a good read for every conscious Indian (man or woman) who looks around at his/her family/surroundings and thinks that things are getting better. There is a lot to be done and assuming progress is not helping.
Finally it is a book for the immigrants. Because not only are we a much maligned people, but also most misunderstood. The situations we place ourselves in and the choices we made in our lives places us in a unique situation where we are forced to contend with enormous complications. But inherent in these complications is an opportunity to grow and expand beyond mere stuckup cultural norms and live a confusing yet highly fulfilling life.

A group of short stories around the subject of arranged marriage. These stuners will leave you breathless. Sad, poignant, beautiful. Unforgettable. Haunting. I like this book as well as Divakaruni's poetry. Read this before Sister of my Heart. Divakaruni uses one of the short stories as the basis of Sister.

A collection of trite and predictable stories tailored for Western consumption and feeding every Western stereotype about Indian women. This author has been away from her home country too long. The title, "Arranged Marriage" has nothing to do with the contents. All the women are passive and/or desperate to be mothers. Indian men are referred to as "Indian males" with anthropological detachment! No metaphor or memorable imagery -- and this from an author who was an erstwhile poet. Very dissappointing.