Rating: 
Summary: Bombay Life Artistically Portrayed
Review: This first novel of Manil Suri is indeed a great contribution to the body of Indian English literature. He portrays the life of the working class men and women of the city of Bombay in its rawness. The story revolves round the protagonist Vishnu, a derelict drunk, who lay dying on the ground floor landing of the stairs of an apartment house. The interaction among the Pathaks, Asranis, Jalals and Tanejas who live in the same apartment house and their unusual responses to the dying Vishnu, create a host of complex situations through which Suri paints a beautiful picture of urban life for the average Indian. Padmini, Vishnu's beloved from the prostitute house, Kavitha the daughter of the Asranis, and Sheetal the deceased wife of Vinod are also memorable characters. The portrayals of even the less significant characters are unusually credible; short Ganga, Salim, Shyamu etc.The novelist does not have any agenda of his own except to depict the life of the ordinary people with its heavy influence of Bollywood movie personalities like Raj Kapoor, Meena Kumari and Mohammed Rafi and religion with its accompanying mythology, godmen and swamijis and a host of superstitious observances and beliefs. The narrative is humorous, witty and at the same time sensuous and touching. The Bombay-born Suri walks us through the city of Bombay with its Marine Drive, Gateway of India, Hanging Gardens and Victoria Terminus. In order to help the understanding of the foreign reader he also gives a glossary of Bombay-words. It is a delightful novel giving a fairly flawless picture of life in this large Indian city.
Rating: 
Summary: colorful writing that leaves you delightfully uncertain
Review: You'll want to read "The Death of Vishnu" with the wonderful cover photo that is written, most interestingly, by a mathematician. I read the book quickly but it took me several hours to decide whether or not I thought it was good or even liked it. The female characters were familiarly (considering some other examples of Indian fiction) one-dimensional: obsessions with social climbing through kitty parties and the conniving/injustice of a joint kitchen.... There was far more depth and struggle (and here religious questioning is the equivalent of depth) in the male characters which makes for a contrast that is not explored. I usually hate books in which there is scant redemption or sympathy at all for the characters but I guess this focused on their interwoven plight(s) in a way that was (darkly) comedic. I like the premise, only because the execution is not really cliched: as an 'everyman' dies, his life flashes before his eyes. He climbs from the landing he inhabits in a building proliferated by middle-class Bombayites, and as the point of view switches back and forth from the building's other residents the question of whether this Vishnu (the drunk and good-fer-nothin' sometimes servant) is an avatar of THE Hindu god Vishnu is raised. There are some vibrantly written flashbacks of the child Vishnu being assured by his mother that he is not just an ordinary villager but Divine and sensual and poignant descriptions of Vishnu's love for the prostitute, Padmini. Hindi films nicely resonate through the collective imagination of the characters as all the significant points in their lives are compared to scenes or songs from film. Ultimately, I did like it because I wasn't sure whether laugh at the absurdity or allow myself to be stung by the irony.
Rating:
Summary: Life in a Bombay apartment building
Review: THE DEATH OF VISHNU is wonderful and poignant novel concerning the inhabitants of one apartment building in Bombay. At the center is servant Vishnu who is found unconscious on the landing of the apartment building. Has Vishnu passed out from drinking or he is dead? No one seems to know. Although many in the building are concerned, no one claims financial responsibility to seek medical help. As Vishnu lies in his own waste two opposing housewives on the next floor cannot arrive at a consensus of what to do, and life continues to unfold elsewhere. Residing above the rival households is a Muslim couple who is enduring a crisis of their own. While their son is having a secret romance with the downstairs Hindu girl the husband is engaged in metaphysical and spiritual journey of his own that only seems to infuriate his devout Muslim wife. On the top floor lives a sorrowful widow who refuses to leave his apartment; instead he reminisces about his deceased wife and the involuntary path his life has taken. As the events of the story unfold the reader is given glimpses of how the consciousness of Vishnu begins to believe that he is a Hindu God and therefore able to perform extraordinary acts. All of these characters and elements combine into a creative and wonderful story. Manil Suri performs a splendid job of balancing the seriousness of this story with clever humor that made me laugh out loud. This rich tapestry of emotions results in a well-balanced novel that is a delight to read. I was instantaneously immersed in the trials and tribulations of these characters, and generally cared for their wellbeing. In the past several years there has been a rush of Indian literature, and I have to admit that THE DEATH OF VISHNU is one of my favorites. The novel gives the reader a glimpse into everyday Indian life in Bombay that is most interesting to someone who has never traveled to this part of the world. One aspect that I greatly appreciated is the fact that there is a glossary included in the back that translates many words and phrases that were used. I only wish that other Indian writers would imitate this gesture as it surely helps a novice like me better understand both the dialogue and the action. Overall, I greatly enjoyed THE DEATH OF VISHNU and would recommend it to others.
Rating:
Summary: Full of real people. Mr. Suri makes the mundane exotic.
Review: Though there is a lot of sadness in the book, I found it to be a wonderful read. To hear an Indian voice and to learn about those cultural sensibilities is like taking an exotic trip. Not as a tourist, but into the apartments of real human beings in an apartment building in Bombay. The Vishnu of the title is an alcoholic who does odd jobs for a bit of money and food. He lives on a landing and as the book opens he lies dying there. It is strange for an American to think about people walking around a dying person and debating what to do with him. To even work up enough emotion to call an ambulance, but then to not take him away because no one wants to sign for the hospital bill is foreign to us. I have no idea if this is the way it is in India, but why would you make it up if it were not? There book involves the interactions of some of the tenants in the building and their all too ordinary lives with their hopes and dreams. There are religious visions in the book and the tensions between Hindus and Muslims also plays a role. I particularly love the way the Romeo and Juliet story between Salim and Kavita plays out without an overly dramatic or noble resolution. Kavita's subsequent dream is true to her character and what led to all the hubbub in the first place. The way the ordinary and the petty is juxtaposed with the mythical is handled very well. The author does show how religion can be a living presence that brings life, light, and hope. But he also shows the way it is demeaned and used as cover for petty and vindictive behavior. Mr. Suri can write. His characters come across as real people and I look forward to reading more of his work.
Rating:
Summary: A glowing tale of the human spirit
Review: I read "Death of Vishnu" after seeing it on Amazon.com and couldn't put it down until I'd turned the last page. Suri brings Mumbai to life in its frantic cacophony of sounds and smells, mapping the path of the human spirit from birth until death. The book reminded me in some ways of Herman Hesse's Siddhartha in that the protagonist is an unlikely hero. Suri deftly paints daily life in a crowded apartment building, complete with neighbourly disputes and small wars over water and the shared kitchen. His wonderfully drawn characters cover a wide range of human emotions and possibilites and never seem two-dimensional. Suri also infuses his story with the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of India. Whether it is Cigarettewalla with his radio playing Indian pop music, eating ripe mangoes, fixing gulab jamuns, or the soundtrack to an Indian film, Suri creates sensory snapshots that stay in the mind throughout the story. An excellent first novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Good start, falls flat.
Review: I just finished "The Death of Vishnu" and I was disappointed from the middle on. The characters are very quirky, which I like, and the premise is very inviting. The comic scenes are great, and the darker ones are very moving as well. We meet a gallery of folks living in this apartment building, and they are likable. What lacks is a sense of cohesiveness. I'm trying to come up with themes that pull everything together. Also, story of Taneja is good, but it falls flat at the end. We don't even see him in the present when Jalal is hanging on his balcony. I would liked to have seen more of Pdmini, as well, but she gets cut off as well. A strong start, but I lost interest after the middle. I simply started to not care.
Rating:
Summary: A Study in Contrasts, Filled with Symbolism
Review: It's really hard to believe that THE DEATH OF VISHNU is a debut novel. It is so filled with lovely and poignant insight, symbolism and social commentary that it appears to be the work of a seasoned novelist rather than one who is just beginning his career. THE DEATH OF VISHNU takes place in a Bombay apartment building that is populated with a fascinating, and sometimes humourous, array of characters. There are the Asrani's, a Hindu family that is constantly at war with the Jalal's a Muslim family. There is Kavita, the daughter of the Asrani's who secretly loves Salim, the son of the Jalal's. There is Mrs. Pathak, who argues with Mrs. Asrani over how much ghee each one them is allowed to have. There is the lonely widower who rarely leaves his room. All of the characters argue with all of the others over what seem to be the most trivial of things, yet to them, these things of the utmost importance. If THE DEATH OF VISHNU were just about the humourous interactions of its many characters, then it would be a very good book, but it would not be a book that would be special; it would contain nothing to lift it out of the ordinary world of "very good books." Fortunately, for readers, THE DEATH OF VISHNU contains much more. It contains the character of Vishnu and it is precisely this character that lifts the book out of the realm of "very good books" into the superlative. Vishnu is a handyman who works in the Bombay apartment building inhabited by the Asrani's, the Jalal's, the Pathak's, etc. In return for doing odd jobs in the building, Vishnu has been given the "privilege" of living on the steps. As the book opens, Vishnu is dying, and, as he dies, he dreams of better days...days when he was happy and in love with a beautiful and fun loving prostitute named Padmini, who, sadly, did not return his love. The really special sections of this book, at least for me, concern the interaction between the dying Vishnu and Mr. Jalal. Mr. Jalal, who is a very rational, down-to-earth man but not a very religious one, attempts to reach some understanding of "faith" by creeping out to the stairs each night and sleeping, wrapped in the dying body of Vishnu. And, Mr. Jalal does find "enlightment" during his nights with Vishnu, but whether it's the spiritual enlightment he's been looking for or enlightment of another kind would not be fair to say. For me, the Bombay apartment building was India, itself, or at least many of the things that are plaguing India at the present time: the discord, disharmony, fighting, squabbling, misunderstanding, etc. If you know even a little of Hindu mythology (and I only know a little), you'll understand why Vishnu was the deity Suri chose to inhabit the apartment's stairs. THE DEATH OF VISHNU is rich in symbolism, but it's symbolism that some Westerners may not understand. If this is the case, they might come away from this book feeling it was an interesting book, but not really profound. Those who are acquainted with Eastern philosophy, and especially Hindu philosophy, will derive far more from this book and will come away from it with a sense of wonder and awe at Suri's accomplishment. I think the prose in THE DEATH OF VISHNU is perfectly suited to the story. It's gorgeous...lush and sensuous and filled with imagery. I really felt I could taste the spiciness of the bhajias Padmini loved so much and smell the clove and cardamom that infused the tea Kavita brought to Vishnu each morning. Sounds, too, are an important sensory element in THE DEATH OF VISHNU. I "felt" the sounds of crowded Bombay, "heard" the noises Suri described so wonderfully. I found THE DEATH OF VISHNU to be a wonderful study in contrasts. The squalor of the apartment building is stunningly juxtaposed alongside the beauty of the legend of Vishnu. Fantasy and reality intertwine in the best of ways in this lovely and haunting novel. If you like Indian literature, you're sure to love THE DEATH OF VISHNU. I love Indian literature but I've found so much of it to be second rate and repetitive (V.S. Naipaul and Rohintin Mistry are notable exceptions, of course). THE DEATH OF VISHNU is totally fresh, beautifully written and deeply insightful. I don't think many readers could fail to be impressed.
Rating:
Summary: Top Indian Writer
Review: This is one the best books I have read by an Indian-American writer. The tragic/comic juxtapositions, the irony, the subtle layers of meaning, the overall structure (note how the stories "rise" from the first floor inhabitants to the final floor as Vishnu lays dying), the vivid character descriptions make it go beyond a novel to a true piece of literature. I think to really "get" some of the passages, you have to Indian or pretty familiar with things-Indian. The references to Indian movies, the class structure etc.
Rating:
Summary: well-written, sad stuff
Review: Vishnu is a sort-of handyman for an apartment building in Bombay, who purchased the right to sleep on a landing in the building. Here he lies dying in an alcoholic stupor, as all around him the neighbors argue over who should pay for the ambulance to help him. The Asranis and Parthaks share a kitchen, and the wives are in eternal turmoil over who is stealing potable water and ghee. this puts the families in a stand-off about helping Vishnu. Each insists the other is responsible. Upstairs lives a Muslim family whose son is in love with the Hindu daughter downstairs, who is sure her life will turn out like those of Indian film stars. And then there is the really sad story of the now-reclusive widower and how he came to be in this situation. Throughout it all, Vishnu remembers his own life as well as imagining himself as the Hindu god Vishnu. For Vishnu believes in the afterlife and this is not the way he will end. Every single woman in this book is horrible, except for maybe Mrs. Jalal. But apparently she gets punished for it. The men are largely ineffectual but are painted as heros for such. Frankly, they should have just gotten over it and paid for the ambulance, they had good jobs. In the end, they are all just sick, Vishnu is the healthiest of them all.
Rating:
Summary: otherwordly
Review: This unfurls as a comedy in the sense of Dante's Comedy, though plainly not the same literary level, more like a TV variety show. But spiritual moments creep through, through cloaked in The Bhagavad Gita. One senses of life in Bombay (stratified with the lower strata somewhat challenging.) The book suggests movement on a deeper level, maybe it is ironic or maybe not. Ever sample an exotic cuisine and find that what looked sour was actually sweet? or vice versa. Worth the journey!
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