Bombay Time: A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful, Enthralling, Memorable
Review: I was completely enthralled with the book and the characters. I absolutely love Thrity Umrigar's writing style and the way in which she was able to make the reader truly identify with each of the characters, their lives, their pains. I have to say that the most disappointing part of the book, was when it ended.

I could NOT put this book down. This author has a special way of really making you feel like you are inside the characters heads and hearts. I think this is a wonderful book about India, but for ANYONE and EVERYONE, from any country in any culture. If you are interested in reading a book rich with emotion and culture, a book that you will think about long after you are finished, and make you hungry for more of these people, and this author, THIS is the book to read! I honestly cried at several points and had to put the book down to contemplate the emotion and thoughts that were conjured up in me. I also laughed heartily at moments.

I carried this book with me everywhere, stealing a sentence here and there while at work, and reading it everynight for about 3 days until I greedily ate up every word. This is a book you can finish in one sitting, but to savoir it, I would recommend spanning it over a couple days, if you can bare it!

Rating:
Summary: A Little Piece of India
Review: Of late, a suprising number of novels coming out of the Indian diaspora have focused on small apartment buildings within Bombay: SWIMMING LESSONS, BEACH BOY, SUCH A LONG JOURNEY, and THE DEATH OF VISHNU are a few outstanding examples. Each has in common a deeply felt affection for the people and families who live in the building, many of whom have lived in close proximity for generations, and rich understanding of the complexities of the lives of these people. BOMBAY TIME can proudly take its place with these fine novels. Thrity Umrigar has a lively, sympathetic but unsentimental view of her richly diverse characters. Her writing is lush and sensuous, conveying in few words the smells and sounds and colors and heat of a decaying but vital community. Her ability to convey the heart of her characters is striking, making reading her work a pleasure.

Though each of these novels focus on a small Bombay community, each is its own gift. In the case of BOMBAY TIME, it is each individual character who provides a gift to the reader, the gift of understanding how another sees the world, and another way to make sense of the world. I finished BOMBAY TIME sadly, knowing I would miss each character, from the odiferous Tehmi to the rageful Coomi. Each character was memorable and gave me yet another little piece of India, another little piece of humanity. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Rating:
Summary: Nostalgic trip down memory lane
Review: Thrity Umrigar has captured the essence of the experience of being a Parsi in Bombay, India and distilled it beautifully in her 271 page book -- Bombay Time. Reading this wonderful, complex story is like being wrapped in a quilt of stories of Parsis from different walks of life with the whole being greater than the sum of the individual tales. I must confess that I had some difficulty with Ms. Umrigar's writing style which I attribute to a matter of my individual taste. However, Ms. Umrigar is a skillful storyteller and I found myself unable to put the book down as it transported me back to the Bombay of my youth evoking tender, bitter sweet memories with every page. If you're interested in getting an insider's view of this endangered culture (the population of Parsis world wide is falling), I suggest you get yourself a copy of this book.

If you're not familiar with the term "Parsi" - they are descendents of a group of Zarathushtis i.e. followers of the Prophet Zarathustra (anglicized to Zoroaster) who fled Parsa (anglicized to Persia) and came to India some time around the 8th century (may be earlier). Though they've lived in India for well over a thousand years, they've managed to keep certain aspects of their culture distinct especially those that pertain to practicing their religion while simultaneously integrating themselves into the vivid heterogeneous cultural tapestry of India. Try an Internet search on "Parsi" for more information or better still find one and engage in a conversation.