Such a Long Journey [Paperback]

ROHINTON MISTRY (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1998

Major novel on Bombay at the time of the India-Pakistan War.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Mistry does something that only the really natural writers can do: without apparent effort, manipulation or contrivance, he creates characters you like instantly and will gladly follow for as long as the novel leads. The book is about an Indian family during the years of Indira Ganhdi's rule; it's also a study of the times, its politics and corruption, and was especially interesting for me, who knows so little about life in the rest of the world. It had to be a good book: after I read Such a Long Journey, I wanted to go right out and buy a plane ticket and see India for myself. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Mistry, Bombay-born author of Swimming Lessons and Other Stories from Firozsha Baag , serves up an exotic feast with this novel. The year is 1971, and India is ready to pursue a war against Pakistan over the region that will become Bangladesh. This chaotic period is seen through the eyes of one Gustad Noble, a family man and Parsi bank clerk in Bombay. Gustad's fortunes have begun to change for the worse, with disappointments and bad luck sweeping through his previously secure way of life. When an old friend secretly recruits him to assist in a seemingly heroic mission under the aegis of Indira Gandhi's CIA-like operatives, he becomes enmeshed in a series of dangerous events, with tragic results. Mistry's prose displays the lightest of witty touches, and the narrative is often quite funny, particularly when it invites us inside the minds of the knowable, likable, somehow familiar men and women whose activities propel the plot. A writer of enormous range and shrewdness, Mistry delivers no manifesto, but an intelligent portrait of the corrupt aspects of Indira Gandhi's years in power. Throughout his byzantine scenario, he demonstrates empathy for and deep understanding of his characters. His novel evokes Rushdie in its denser, florid moments, and T. Coraghessan Boyle in its more madcap flights.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 339 pages
• Publisher: South Asia Books; 2 edition (April 1998)
• ISBN-10: 0140278125
• ISBN-13: 978-0140278125
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,432,277 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Rohinton Mistry was born in 1952 and grew up in Bombay, India, where he also attended university. In 1975 he emigrated to Canada, where he began a course in English and Philosophy at the University of Toronto. He is the author of three novels and one collection of short stories. His debut novel, Such a Long Journey (1991), won the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book and the Governor General's Award, and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. It was made into an acclaimed feature film in 1998. His second novel, A Fine Balance (1995), won many prestigious awards, including the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction and the Giller Prize, as well as being shortlisted for the Booker Prize, the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and the Irish Times International Fiction Prize. His collection of short stories, Tales from Firozsha Baag, was published in 1987. In 2002 Faber published Mistry's third novel, Family Matters, which was longlisted for the 2002 Man Booker Prize.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Luck is the spit of gods and goddesses.", May 16, 2005

By 

Mary Whipple (New England) - See all my reviews
(COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Such a Long Journey (Paperback)

Sometimes compared to Dickens or Victor Hugo for the strength of his descriptions, Rohinton Mistry uses "ordinary" men and women as his protagonists and fills his novels with the sights, sounds, smells, and color of India. Depicting his characters as neither saints nor sinners, he involves the reader in their lives as they try to survive the complexities of their culture.

In this novel, Gustad Noble and his wife Dilnavaz, living in a congested apartment building in Bombay, try to lead good lives and inspire their children during Indira Gandhi's rule in the 1970s, with all its political, professional, and social upheaval. India is on the verge of war with the Muslims of Pakistan, and though Gustad, a Parsi, is aware of political chicanery, he is far more pre-occupied with having his son accepted at a school of technology, doing his job as a bank supervisor, and supporting his family. Constant blackouts and continually deteriorating conditions on the street add to the frustrations of Gustad's life.

Then Jimmy Bilimoria, an old friend, asks Gustad for help, claiming that he is training freedom fighters in Bangladesh to act on behalf of the Indian government against Pakistani "butchers." Gustad reluctantly agrees to use his position at the bank to deposit money to a secret account, but he soon finds himself enmeshed in a spiral from which he cannot break out, his life turned upside down.

Throughout the novel, the wall outside Gustad's apartment building symbolizes the larger world of Bombay and parallels some aspects of Gustad's own life. At the outset, it is used as a latrine, breeding illness in the neighborhood but keeping the noise and tumult of the street out of the apartment house. When Gustad persuades a sidewalk artist to paint it, he depicts scenes from all the religions of India, and the wall becomes a shrine--until the government decides to widen the road and tear it down. Gustad's personal crisis and the fate of the wall intersect in a conclusion both moving and profound.

Though this novel lacks the grand scale of A Fine Balance, it is a beautifully constructed and emotionally involving story of a small family trying to live meaningful lives against almost overwhelming odds. The characters are finely drawn, and the plot, though not "exciting," reflects the traumas of an ordinary man and his wife caught up in events and crises not of their own making. Wry and often humorous in its observations of people and circumstances, this early novel by Mistry has all the ingredients which make his later novels so memorable. Mary Whipple

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Perhaps I should have not read A Fine Balance first, December 19, 2003

By 

E. M. Otis (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Such a Long Journey (Paperback)

I truly enjoyed this book but it failed to meet my high expectations of Mistry's compelling and totally engrossing story-telling. It is a great story but if left me wishing for more depth and impact. Perhaps my biggest mistake is that I read A Fine Balance a few years ago and it still haunts me. It is such an intense journey, none of his other work has come close to it, in my opinion.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Such a Great Book, December 13, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Such a Long Journey (Paperback)

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.