Rating: 
Summary: Not too original
Review: Enjoyable, but not original. Great if you've never read a novel by an Indian author before. Well-crafted words, but the character development isn't full.
Rating: 
Summary: The Death of Vishnu
Review: In this complex novel, which on the surface does not appear to be about very much (at first), we eventually realize that we are observing a struggle to rise above the mundane and attain spiritual fulfillment. The lives of the residents, alternately presented comically and seriously, of one apartment building in Bombay represent the rungs on that spiritual ladder literally and figuratively. Those on the lower floors are less advanced, those on the upper floors and those trying to climb to the upper are more enlightened. The main plot lines - what to do with Vishnu, the handyman, who is dying out on the landing and may already be dead; the standing feud of the Pathaks and the Asranis; Mr. Jalal's crazed spiritual quest; the elopement of two young residents of different religions, Salim and Kavita, and its repercussions.The theme plays out with a mixture of realism, religious tradition and mythology, much as the two are intertwined in Indian society, but at times it looks like the author's real purpose is to address the absurdities and problems of life in India: the clash between Hindu and Moslem, superstition and science, castes, rich and poor, modern and traditional; arranged marriages, death and grieving, housing inadequacies, medical inadequacies, corruption in high places that prevent things like lack of sewers from getting remedied. The list goes on. I believe an understanding of Hinduism will provide an even greater dimension to the book, but it is not a prerequisite to a general understanding and appreciative read.
Rating: 
Summary: A warm, funny, and manageable novel of India.
Review: If you, like me, find yourself needing to gear up emotionally before reading an Indian novel, due to the stupendous scale of the misery you are likely to find, you are in for a huge--and very wonderful--surprise here. Despite the off-putting title, this is a very funny novel. It is also very thoughtful, thought-provoking, and beautifully constructed. A Mumbai apartment building serves as the setting, a true microcosm of life in Mumbai at large, but a limited enough context for the reader to be able to see the problems as soluble and to appreciate the day-to-day lives of its inhabitants. Vishnu, an alcoholic who inhabits the stairwell on the ground floor, dreams of his mother, his love for Padmini, a prostitute, and the Hindi myths which have given color and meaning to his life, as he lies dying. But he is a colossal problem for his petty and contentious neighbors--Mrs. Pathak tries to figure out how he can be cleaned up and hidden before her gossipy friends come for a card party, Mrs. Asrani hates waste and wonders whether she really needs to leave tea for him after all, Mr. Asrani and Mr. Pathak argue about who will pay for the ambulance to take Vishnu away. While life among these residents of the first floor is centered on the most basic aspects of life, the residents of the upper floors have the financial resources to be able to worry about "higher" concerns. The Jalal family, on the second floor, are Muslims at odds with the Hindi society in which they live, Mrs. Jalal devout, while Mr. Jalal is still searching for answers. On the top floor is Mr. Taneja, whose ascetic life takes on new meaning when he does good works, finds a swami, and discovers the peace of meditation. The symbolism of the floors takes on additional meaning through Vishnu's visions. In many ways this resembles a grand chorus from a huge and wonderful comic opera, with all the inhabitants of the building singing at once. And underneath all the voices wailing about their personal concerns is the insistent bass of Vishnu as he prepares to die. Dealing with the most basic aspects of religion, love, and human kindness in a city setting which challenges its inhabitants to the limit, Suri creates a warm, funny, and very human drama of a every man's search for meaning in life.
Rating:
Summary: fantastic and powerful
Review: Great read. Interesting characters and well tied together. Explores some religion/caste issues and brings India to life. Intriguing imagery.
Rating:
Summary: Am I mortal?
Review: This novel was a captivating study of people. It could be in Brooklyn or in New Orleans or in Paris because the characters all jockey for positions of dominance over one another. Even Vishnu on his journey toward death begins to believe that he is a god. The characters are each wrapped up in a quest to find a place in the world where they can convince themselves that they are well and right and maybe even better than another. They use their money, clothes, societal connections, sexuality, religion, dwelling, foods, and habits to prove this. As with most humans, the plans fall short of superiority and land in a humorously mediocre routine of life. They fool only themselves with their attempts. The cultural view of life in Bombay was most interestingly offered by Manil Suri who holds the reader's attention with cultural information and powerful human characterizations of people to whom everyone can relate no matter where their homes are located on the planet.
Rating:
Summary: Tells, doesn't show
Review: I'm a sucker for good language, vivid descriptions, smells and sounds that leap off the page. In the case of the Death of Vishnu, it never happened. I'm borrowing from a well-known approach here, forgive me, but instead of telling me that Mr. Jalal is crying, make me sense and see her tears before they appear, convey her sadness without simply stating the fact. I'm a bit surprised at how many people praise the book as an "amazing debut". I have no desire to put Mr. Suri down, who am I to criticize or spew derogatory remarks? However, I found the language and story structure simplistic, poor, watery and unengaging. Being a mathematician, Mr. Suri seems a bit too concerned over mathematical efficiency when the beauty of the language and the detail of the description should be a higher priority. The book is exquisitely designed, a feat much cheapened by the lack of comparable content. I commend the writer for the achievement that publishing a debut always is, but in his future work, I'd like him to loosen his tie a bit and make me believe that he smells and feels and touches his characters and the apartment building. And I'd love to see him spice up the language, give us words that we'd like to snuggle up to, words that strike by their accuracy in description.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Social Satire And Spiritual Journey
Review: Suri's first novel begins as social satire. As a man lies dying at their doorstep, life goes on for the inhabitants of one building in Mumbai (Bombay) whose human frailties and foibles are deliciously portrayed: the social pretensions and petty rivalry of the Asranis and the Pathaks, the religious conflict and aspirations of Mr. Jalal the skeptical Muslim turned Hindu prophet, the widowed Mr. Taneja longing for his lost wife, the mixed-religion Romeo and Juliet romance of Kavita and Salim, supported by a host of minor and very well sketched characters all imperfect in their own peculiar and humorous fashion. The reader delights and is a tad admonished by their too explicit humanity. The dying or perhaps already dead man recalls his life and goes up gradually to heaven as his spirit ascends the stairs of the tenement past its inhabitants and past the ever higher levels of existence they represent. The image of the Indian cinema constantly arises, a traditional (though obviously a recent tradition) Hindu image of the unreality of this world, one used frequently by Ramana Maharshi. Not surprisingly toward the end of the book (pp. 256-257) a Hindu guru speaks explicitly of the levels through which the soul must ascend to perfection, beginning with the level of the rule of the jungle, pleasure, desire, the promise of wealth, the callings of the flesh, the pool of selfish gratification. It is an entrancing read, very well written. One looks forward to future novels from the author. The use of many Indian terms and allusions unfamiliar to most readers has the great advantage of drawing us into the world of the story by presuming our familiarity with it, but a slight knowledge of Hindu mythology would help the average reader, and maybe even a glossary of Indian terms.
Rating:
Summary: Incandescent!
Review: How often do words cause the hair on your arms to stand at attention? This was how some of Manil Suri's prose affected me. The scene where Mr. Asrani encountered the true nature of Vishnu flowed with excitement and fervor. The many characters flow in and out of the novel, and yet we care about them all. In many ways this is a Siddhartha for the new century. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: I liked it
Review: I found this to be a very nice little book. Don't be scared away by the 'ethnic' nature of the story; I have never actually read an entire book about India or its society, but I found that I had picked up enough here and there to follow all but the most obscure references without any problem. Though the characters are very much products of their world, their types are universal, and I recognized facets of people I knew in every one of the main characters. There are some deep matters covered here, if you care to go looking for them, just as there are some minor first-novel type weaknesses, but neither of these things are enough to make this anything but a very engaging, often stunning piece of storytelling.
Rating:
Summary: The Death of Vishnu
Review: DON'T judge a book by its cover, for if you do you'll probably write the paperback edition off as a lurid Bollywood bodice-ripper. However, The Death of Vishnu is a vivid snapshot of working class life in Bombay. Lively without being pulpy, it's an excellent debut novel by Bombay-born Manil Suri, which I hope will be a foretaste of more novels. Although it's about a pending death, it's a more cheerful novel than, for example, Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things, and it's also a lot easier to read than Salman Rushdie's work. The Vishnu of the title is a derelict drunk who lives on the stairs of a block of flats in Bombay, eking out an existence by doing the odd job for the residents. The residents themselves consider themselves immeasurably superior: the bickering Asrani and Pathak wives are painfully conscious of social distinctions. They are not wealthy enough to have their own kitchens but they also, as Hindus in a predominantly Hindu area, unite to feel superior to the eminently respectable Muslim Jalal family upstairs. There's a lot of humour in the way Suri describes Mrs Asrani and Mrs Pathak as they joust for social ascent, and in the way the hapless husbands and children react. He creates a wonderful gallery of characters: seductive Padmini from Vishnu's past, the grieving widower Mr Taneja, the Asranis' rebellious daughter Kavita and a range of other smaller but just as memorable personalities. They all have stories which weave in and out, including meditations on religion and spirituality and the impact of Bollywood films on everyday life, making a book which is uniquely Indian but also universal. Most enjoyable.
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