Rating: 
Summary: All time top ten
Review: This book is without a doubt one of the finest books ever written. It has everything. Excitement, danger, romance, harrowing escapes, heartrending losses, and thrilling victories. This book thrives on descriptive narrative that transports you to another place. Every nuance is captured by her sense of place and detail. The Far Pavilions is a book to get lost in. Shadows of the Moon is a good follow-up. You could be gone for months! Have a great trip.
Rating:
Summary: I would rate this 7 stars but they won't let me!
Review: It's strange how the book before you read "The Far Pavilions" is ALWAYS "Gone with the wind." My Mother and sister are always telling me "You HAVE to read this!" Of course I'm rebelios but when I start it I can't stop! I came across It on our shelve and I was kept reading, and reading, and reading! At the part when he was saving Juli from her death, I would'nt come to dinner. I went to bed every night at 3 because I was up reading it (much to the annoyance to my siblings!) I defenatly recomend it.
Rating:
Summary: Life Altering
Review: I know that sounds odd for a book like this, but I first read this book when I was 12 after I saw the movie starring Amy Irving. I remember thinking how beautiful Amy/"Anjuli" was in the movie and how romantic the setting...I vowed then to name my first daughter Anjuli and I did on 23 August 1993. I recently bought a copy of the book for her to read when she is older.
Rating:
Summary: A beautiful story, a captivating book
Review: I had the good fortune of coming across this book in an old, dusty used book store when I was 13. Although the size of the tome was intimidating at first, a recent read, Gone With the Wind, convinced me to "not judge a book by its cover" or in the case, its size. This book is wonderfully written: the main subject matters of love and war are universal, the history lesson superb. After reading The Far Pavillions, I went in search of other M.M.Kaye books. I was not disappointed after reading Trade Wind and Shadow of the Moon. I highly recommend Ms. Kaye's books to anyone who enjoys being transported to a different time and place, and anyone who wants to read a story that is unforgettable.
Rating: 
Summary: Flawed but fulfilling
Review: M.M. Kaye's "The Far Pavillions" depicts nineteenth-century India with vivid--and occasionally tugid--language, displaying the struggles of its peoples through a omniscient viewpoint that chances along all spectrums of class and creed, Hindi, Muslim, British, and a score of "lesser" viewpoints. Often this technique can overwhelm an author of lesser talents, leaving his or her work a mess of conflicting POV with little balance. M.M. Kaye handles such difficulties with appearent ease--but in the end, it overcomes her novel.The first 3/4ths of the book is captivating material. Through the eyes of Ashton, "The Far Pavillions" gives the reader an intimate portrait of India, detailing the various climate and culturial differences between the nothern and southern latitudes. Yet the last 300 pages almost totally concentrate upon the British mindset in the invasion--and attempted colonization--of Afganistan. Though the battles are bloody and at times breath-taking, one cannot help but wonder why the main protagonist--who's 600-page slew of tragedies and triumphs have come to dominate our perspective of this work as a whole--is set to the side for a few officers whose intentions, well meaning but flawed, serve to exemplfy the worse of European attitude toward foriegn civilization. The last 1/3 of the book is not bad, just ill-suited as the book careens into a far-too-abrupt ending. Personally, I believe Kaye should have finished "The Far Pavillions" with a more satisfactory conclusion for the main character (the books hints throughout that it will detail his life as a whole, not the twenty-three or so years is actually covers) and used the other 300+ pages as a "companion" novel. Both books would have been better served as two than craming such meticulous sub-plots and tangents into one convoluted whole. That critisism aside, "The Far Pavillions" is still more than worthwhile for the time and money spent. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Loved it--laughed and cried
Review: I fell in love with the characters in this book instantly, and continued to love them throughout the book. I also loved the setting in India; I'm going to have to visit that country now that I've read the book.
Rating:
Summary: Enriching but wandering
Review: I was very taken by the characters, but I don't feel Kaye writes from the male perspective necessarily well. I was also distraced when the story of Ash was largely set aside in the last 300 pages, 200 of those spent on a battle scene with a predetermined ending. After page 900 (my 1970s copy runs to 1200 pages) I felt like I was reading an enormous epilogue. On the good side, which is much larger than the bad, although I've never visited India I felt I had after having read this novel. Her descriptive passages were magnificent and the characters as a whole were very well drawn. I recommend this novel as a classic in historical Asian fiction.
Rating:
Summary: SPLENDID WRITING
Review: This book by M.M.Kaye is brilliantly written. The story never sticks at one boring point and the suspense and the action in this book deserve all the praise they get and more. The last few chapters are about a great bATLLE AND WILL NOT LET YOU PUT THIS BOOK DOWN! Brilliantly written
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely the best!
Review: I first read Far Pavilions as a teenager and it is still my all time favorite. I remember my sister drove me 40 miles to a book store so I could buy it-in hardback no less. I don't know how many times I have read the saga of Ashton and Anjuli, but each time I find myself carried away and unable to put it down! M.M. Kaye develops characters so completely, and somehow immerses the reader in the story. It's amazing! Other sagas worth reading include the Shadow of the Moon and Trade Winds. For some lighter fare, try her Death in... series. They are short, intense, and keep the reader guessing.
Rating:
Summary: Captivating!
Review: My mother gave me this book when I was pregnant with my first child and far from home. She told me I would enjoy it. I hesitated because it was so long, but one day I was bored, so I picked it up and was instantly hooked! There has never been a book like this before. I did not put it down for days. I shared it with my husband and he now lists it as one of his favorites. It is an excellent book, and I recommend it for everyone!
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