The Last Song of Dusk : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: SALT, SUGAR AND SPICE IN A SONG
Review: My first reading of THE LAST SONG OF DUSK was a greatly enjoyable experience. The story has lingered on my mind since, compelling me often to revisit. Now, when I start rereading at whatever page I happen to flip, I immediately get caught up again in its enticing storytelling and the lives of its fascinating characters. Succumbing once more to the tale's magic, melancholy and sensuality, I wonder, shed a tear, chuckle, reflect or heave a sigh. As in eating an Indian curry, I savor the various flavors, the salt of sadness, the sweetness of love and friendship, the piquant spice of sexy passages... all of it steeped in poetry.
I highly recommend readers to partake of this delightful curry that Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi so lovingly and ably prepared for us.

Rating:
Summary: a second-rate imitation
Review: Taken in isolation, this book is quite good. The problem comes when it is compared to authors such as Allende... because this book reads like the fraternal twin of her superior work, The House of the Spirits. From the quasi-mystical powers that the women posess, to the overt feminism, to the over-obvious foreshadowing, Shanghvi employs every trick in Allende's book-- but not nearly as well. Every magic-realism cliche can be found in this book, leaving it overwrought, overstylized, and unsatisfactory. Skip this book in favor of some ORIGINAL works.

Rating:
Summary: The First Song of an Exciting Talent
Review: We are living in rich era of Indian literature and here is another author to embrace. Unlike the professional reviewers who finished this novel at one sitting, I had to take the first part of this book in small doses. It was too strong, too rich, too surprising, and too ominous. Lurking nastily in the house with Anuradha and Vardhmaan is an evil and ruthless mother-in-law who drove me away from the book for days. Next, the very house to which the lovers flee takes over plotting against them. When I finally screwed up my courage, I too finished the book in one evening. At the last page, I turned the book over and started reading it all over again. This time I'll try to figure out the meaning of the magical elements and try to see how the Nandini subplot influences the story of Anuradha. On first reading, I don't understand the end of the story, which may just be too realistically sad.