A FICTION, A NOVEL, A HARDBACK BOOK
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
173 of 179 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
These Foolish Things
From every angle you discuss the matter, old age is a very un-sexy issue. Surprisingly, as you move along in your reading of "These Foolish things" sex is in fact quite a subject.
The book starts with a story that sounds familiar - wasn't it just last winter when I read this tale in the newspapers - an old lady lying in a hospital corridor does not get treated by the medical staff and the newspapers are out, once again, to blame the system ...
Ravi Kapoor, the over-worked Indian doctor in charge of the elderly woman gets a lot of bad publicity. He himself knows the truth, Muriel Donnelly, the old lady, did not want to get treatment from "those darkies". This whole affair comes at a very bad time for Ravi. His father-in-law, a typical "dirty old man" is staying at his house, after being thrown, again, from another retirement home. Here however comes the unexpected twist. Ravi's cousin comes out with a genius idea: move a group of British senior citizens, just like Ravi's father-in-law to India where labor is cheap and elders are treated with respect, and create a Little England in India. The old folks will never know the difference. The cousin is very convincing, he knows just the right place and the right people to manage the establishment...he is a man who dwells on "arranging". What if the ends are not loosely tied...Ravi is captured in his enthusiasm.
This is a story about old age but also about personal revelation and self discovery that sometimes need the mediation of a different place. This is what India manages to do in this book and its influences on the group of elderly people and one doctor is the essence of this lovely story.
Deborah Moggach is funny and gives you a very detailed and understandable description. You feel you have met, at least once in your life, most of the characters she talks about, although they are not stereotypes. Moggach presents a host of characters that is about to occupy the Indian retirement home and brings each personal story - then we read about them in their new home, far far away...or maybe not?
I give the story 4 out of 5 points as the story is interesting, even educational, and very entertaining. It does tend however to slip towards some very easy soap opera solutions. I have to say that the story is comforting in the sense it is filled with a lot of vivacity and life force and there is (almost) nothing of the despair of old age. On the other hand, this is also the reason why the story is not totally convincing. Nevertheless, quite lovely.
From every angle you discuss the matter, old age is a very un-sexy issue. Surprisingly, as you move along in your reading of "These Foolish things" sex is in fact quite a subject.
The book starts with a story that sounds familiar - wasn't it just last winter when I read this tale in the newspapers - an old lady lying in a hospital corridor does not get treated by the medical staff and the newspapers are out, once again, to blame the system ...
Ravi Kapoor, the over-worked Indian doctor in charge of the elderly woman gets a lot of bad publicity. He himself knows the truth, Muriel Donnelly, the old lady, did not want to get treatment from "those darkies". This whole affair comes at a very bad time for Ravi. His father-in-law, a typical "dirty old man" is staying at his house, after being thrown, again, from another retirement home. Here however comes the unexpected twist. Ravi's cousin comes out with a genius idea: move a group of British senior citizens, just like Ravi's father-in-law to India where labor is cheap and elders are treated with respect, and create a Little England in India. The old folks will never know the difference. The cousin is very convincing, he knows just the right place and the right people to manage the establishment...he is a man who dwells on "arranging". What if the ends are not loosely tied...Ravi is captured in his enthusiasm.
This is a story about old age but also about personal revelation and self discovery that sometimes need the mediation of a different place. This is what India manages to do in this book and its influences on the group of elderly people and one doctor is the essence of this lovely story.
Deborah Moggach is funny and gives you a very detailed and understandable description. You feel you have met, at least once in your life, most of the characters she talks about, although they are not stereotypes. Moggach presents a host of characters that is about to occupy the Indian retirement home and brings each personal story - then we read about them in their new home, far far away...or maybe not?
I give the story 4 out of 5 points as the story is interesting, even educational, and very entertaining. It does tend however to slip towards some very easy soap opera solutions. I have to say that the story is comforting in the sense it is filled with a lot of vivacity and life force and there is (almost) nothing of the despair of old age. On the other hand, this is also the reason why the story is not totally convincing. Nevertheless, quite lovely.
136 of 142 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
I purchased this book after reading that it was the basis for the movie "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel". Having loved the movie I thought I would also enjoy a more in-depth exploration of the characters and the background. However, I was sadly disappointed as the book is really nothing like the movie. Some of the character's names are the same, but that is where any similarity with the movie begins and ends. It is actually quite a depressing story of the suffering and neglect of the elderly in modern-day Britain, which forces the characters to seek a better life in India, in much the same way that the health care system for the elderly in the UK has been out-sourced to India. Don't read this book if you're looking for more of the sparkling wit of Maggie Smith, the stoicism of the magnificent Judy Dench and the dry humour of Bill Nighy.
89 of 94 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
There have been other novels set in old age homes - Muriel Spark's Memento Mori, Alan Isler's The Hamlet of Fifth Avenue - and there is a certain formula about them. But Deborah Moggach's is the most kindly of these novels and, unusually, envisages the possibility that the elderly might actually get a new lease of life under such circumstances. Not possible, it is suggested, in cash-strapped Britain; but why not outsource the care for the elderly to Bangalore in India, where a little money goes a long way, where the climate is better, and where, above all, a former British hotel converted into a somewhat run-down retirement home (called Dunroamin) can create a little island of Old England in the midst of a throbbing Indian city. One has to suspend one's disbelief that elderly folk would really be happy in such a setting, but, it is suggested, there is something about the atmosphere of India which makes possible some kind of renewal of the spirit which gives new insights and meaning to what had been lonely lives in England. For much of the book the stories of each of these elderly folk seems episodic and disconnected, and there seems to be no particular plot; but in due course a plot does emerge in which coincidences - somewhat forced in my view - connect many of these lives together in unexpected ways. It is a kindly book, both about the elderly and about India and Indians, and that makes it an attractive book.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
The Raj is Back
If you fancy reading this book because you want to relive the film with Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Bill Nighy etc then don't bother as they have virtually nothing in common. Read more
Published 1 day ago by John Fitzpatrick
4.0 out of 5 stars
Marigold Read
Really enjoyed the book.Having seen the film first I thought the book was much better. I would recommend others to read the book first. Read more
Published 1 day ago by Austenite
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting book
I enjoyed the book even though I had seen the movie. The novel is quite different & gives us a different slant on all the characters and background of the hotel.
Published 7 days ago by Patricia
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very Enjoyable Read
Really enjoyed this, wasnt sure what to expect. Havn't seen the film, but was a really great read. Lots of laughs along the way. Would highly reccommend it.
Published 8 days ago by Suzanne Browne
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best Book On The Beautiful People Who Choose To Start Anew In India
Always enjoying film,had to have the book.Lovingly packaged.Book is different but as great as movie. Read more
Published 12 days ago by Ellen
5.0 out of 5 stars
Just read it
Very much in the English style - reminiscent of Austen, Christie, Greene... very much an insular story that allows you to fall into a world that possibly no longer exists. Read more
Published 13 days ago by RedKahu
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good book
Nice mixture of old subjects and modern style
Relations are also old subjects but eternal.
Everybody carries its own India but environment is 10% understanding is up to... Read more
Relations are also old subjects but eternal.
Everybody carries its own India but environment is 10% understanding is up to... Read more
Published 14 days ago by customer
3.0 out of 5 stars
Shocking! The movie is actually BETTER than the book!
Deborah Moggach got her story right the second time around in adapting it for the screen. The book has too many characters, too much going on, and not enough good stuff to keep you... Read more
Published 15 days ago by artsyteacher
1.0 out of 5 stars
I had previously seen the movie, which was good enough to make me want...
The book was totally disgusting, derogatory & crude in it's sexual content. While the movie was humurous in many parts, the book was quite depressing. Read more
Published 17 days ago by Pauletta Johnson
5.0 out of 5 stars
Perfect balance of sad and happy.
All baby boomers sould be able to relate to this story of the sad and happy moments of entering our golden years. Movie was good, but the book was better, as is always the case.
Published 17 days ago by sheila m palmer
