Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyable Setting
Review: Despite an uncreative plot, Upadhyay's "The Guru of Love" is an enjoyable book. The story centers around a married character named Ramchandra who finds himself attracted to one of his young math students named Malati. Ramchandra's wife Goma senses the attraction and she tries to teach her husband a lesson by letting Malati move in with their family and sleep in Ramchandra's bed. Unsurprisingly, Ramchandra struggles with his physical desire for Malati and his emotional desire for his wife. Unless the reader has never seen a soap opera or is too young to recall Bill and Hillary Clinton's marital saga, he or she or she will conclude early on that Goma stands by her man.This novel is notable not for the boring love triangle but for its descriptions of Kathmandu and the many Hindu holidays and festivals that the family celebrates. The reader is transported to a city where an extramarital seduction in a temple means having monkeys wander in on the scene to watch Ramchandra and Malati consumate their desire for one another. There are also a number of descriptions of Hindu religious practices which include animal sacrifices, prayers to goddesses, and funeral services. Most interesting are the descriptions of modern Kathmandu as Ramchandra tries to adjust to his life in an overcrowded city that is on the brink of a political revolution. You won't walk away from this novel having learned ancient Nepali love techniques like the title implies, but you will have been transported to another culture and it may leave you feeling so intrigued you find yourself planning a vacation to this region of the world. Overall, this is a very quick read and I believe that many people will enjoy this novel if they look deeper than the basic plotline.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable Setting
Review: Despite an uncreative plot, Upadhyay's "The Guru of Love" is an enjoyable book. The story centers around a married character named Ramchandra who finds himself attracted to one of his young math students named Malati. Ramchandra's wife Goma senses the attraction and she tries to teach her husband a lesson by letting Malati move in with their family and sleep in Ramchandra's bed. Unsurprisingly, Ramchandra struggles with his physical desire for Malati and his emotional desire for his wife. Unless the reader has never seen a soap opera or is too young to recall Bill and Hillary Clinton's marital saga, he or she or she will conclude early on that Goma stands by her man. This novel is notable not for the boring love triangle but for its descriptions of Kathmandu and the many Hindu holidays and festivals that the family celebrates. The reader is transported to a city where an extramarital seduction in a temple means having monkeys wander in on the scene to watch Ramchandra and Malati consumate their desire for one another. There are also a number of descriptions of Hindu religious practices which include animal sacrifices, prayers to goddesses, and funeral services. Most interesting are the descriptions of modern Kathmandu as Ramchandra tries to adjust to his life in an overcrowded city that is on the brink of a political revolution. You won't walk away from this novel having learned ancient Nepali love techniques like the title implies, but you will have been transported to another culture and it may leave you feeling so intrigued you find yourself planning a vacation to this region of the world. Overall, this is a very quick read and I believe that many people will enjoy this novel if they look deeper than the basic plotline.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable Setting
Review: Despite an uncreative plot, Upadhyay's "The Guru of Love" is an enjoyable book. The story centers around a married character named Ramchandra who finds himself attracted to one of his young math students named Malati. Ramchandra's wife Goma senses the attraction and she tries to teach her husband a lesson by letting Malati move in with their family and sleep in Ramchandra's bed. Unsurprisingly, Ramchandra struggles with his physical desire for Malati and his emotional desire for his wife. Unless the reader has never seen a soap opera or is too young to recall Bill and Hillary Clinton's marital saga, he or she or she will conclude early on that Goma stands by her man. This novel is notable not for the boring love triangle but for its descriptions of Kathmandu and the many Hindu holidays and festivals that the family celebrates. The reader is transported to a city where an extramarital seduction in a temple means having monkeys wander in on the scene to watch Ramchandra and Malati consumate their desire for one another. There are also a number of descriptions of Hindu religious practices which include animal sacrifices, prayers to goddesses, and funeral services. Most interesting are the descriptions of modern Kathmandu as Ramchandra tries to adjust to his life in an overcrowded city that is on the brink of a political revolution. You won't walk away from this novel having learned ancient Nepali love techniques like the title implies, but you will have been transported to another culture and it may leave you feeling so intrigued you find yourself planning a vacation to this region of the world. Overall, this is a very quick read and I believe that many people will enjoy this novel if they look deeper than the basic plotline.
Rating: 
Summary: Not so impressive
Review: I had heard some big comments about this book. I think thats because readers were expecting to read more interesting novel by The Auther. But, when i read the book i didn't find anything to impress me. The character build up in this novel is not impressive. Auther tries to relate the story with contemporary events in the country but that has nothing to do in fact with the title and mean theme of the book. Goma in this novel is shown so wide and kind hearted, which of course doesn't represent the women from Nepal. Goma is a nepali women and nepali women can't act that way. The character of Malati is also not understandable. Readers can't get enough from her. Her actions in the story simply don't make any sense!
However, there are some good things to get from this. Auther tries to tell the reality of a middle class teacher in Kathmandu. It, more or less describes the life standard of such persons even though they are educated.
Rating:
Summary: Forgettable
Review: I read a lot of South Asian literature and this book just does not stand out. It was a quick enough read and the character development was good. I definitely understand all the characters thoughts and motives and I felt for them, but in the end, the story didn't do much for me. And there was something about the happy ending that just seemed too Disney. After all that suffering, everything works out great for everyone in the end? No thank you. The only thing interesting about this one was the setting - Nepal and the political details.
Rating:
Summary: Forgettable
Review: I read a lot of South Asian literature and this book just does not stand out. It was a quick enough read and the character development was good. I definitely understand all the characters thoughts and motives and I felt for them, but in the end, the story didn't do much for me. And there was something about the happy ending that just seemed too Disney. After all that suffering, everything works out great for everyone in the end? No thank you. The only thing interesting about this one was the setting - Nepal and the political details.
Rating: 
Summary: Intersting but unbelievable.
Review: I read Mr. Upadhyay's book with great interest and he did not fail me. I finished the book in one week - the first half in one day.
The protagonist Mr. Ramchandra, his family, social and financial situation is all familiar to readers who have lived in South Asia. His picturization of those aspects is really very commendable. All the characters look very human except his wife - Goma. The rationale behind her peculiar action of accepting husband's mistress in her own house has not been explained well. Under the guise of identity crisis so many peculiar things seem to happen that the reader gets confused. Depiction of Sanu's growth and Mr. Sharma's inevitable downfall are very convincing, so is Bandana Miss. To me, Mr. Sharma looks more human than protagonist Ramachandra.
On the inside page I read something like there is a 'rich sense of connection between spirituality and sensuality.' I disagree. There is absolutely no depiction of spirituality in the novel. What is described is religious rituals in which animals are sacrificed which can hardly be called spirituality. I could not find a single paragraph showing Ramachandra was in a tug of war between spiritual conscience and pull of sensuality. Malati's shifty character does not provoke sympathy in spite of her suffering so much in life - which I take is a drawback of the plot. It also is not clear why Ramachandra continued to get attracted to her.
In spite of some drawbacks I can highly recommend this novel, which is a page turner. It makes a very interesting read. Mr. Upadhyay does seem to have a mastery over words.
Rating:
Summary: A prose on Dr. Atkin's diet, lean, trim, light and fit
Review: If Truman Capote's classic novel Breakfast at Tiffany's is a glittering crystal palace furnished with ornate, regal, gilded Victorian furniture and bright oriental carpets, Samrat Upadhyay's The Guru of Love is a thatched, two room mountain cabin furnished with wooden Shaker furniture. Each structure has a charm of its own, of course. In a prose so relentlessly spare and light that it reads like it is on a no sugar, very low fat and low calorie diet, Samrat Upadhyay tells the story of Ramachandra, a poor mathematics teacher at Kantipur school in Kathmandu, Nepal.The government school is "housed in a crumbling building in a alley where stray dogs quarreled and garbage accumulated". He falls in love with a teen aged student named Malati, and has an affair with her. Malati is an unwed mother, with a daughter named Rachana. When Ramachandra's wife, Goma, learns about his affair with the student, she leaves him and moves to her parent's house, "Pandey Palace". It is a palace that belonged to the Rana family long ago, a residence which Mr. Pandey inherited from his grandfather. Ramachandra and Goma reconcile, however, and Goma returns to her house on one condition that Ramachandra invite Malati and her daughter to live with them. From this point on the novel reads like an ideal but predictable story written for a Hindi film produced at Bollywood. Malati's lover Amrit, who had deserted her when he found out that she was pregnant, returns to Kathmandu. He drives a taxi to earn a living. The lovers unite and eventually marry even. The book holds the reader's attention, however, from the beginning. The story, though predictable, is realistic and at times quite charming, too. The author's prose is plain, simple and uncluttered. A good debut novel.
Rating: 
Summary: The Guru of Love
Review: It's been a long time since I've been able to finish a work of fiction. Too much of contemporary literature seems contrived, designed to schock, or is simply boring. But Mr. Upadhyay's novel is sweet - even if the characters are not completely developed, it's almost impossible not to care about what happens to them. Think of a fairy tale for adults - that's The Guru of Love
Rating:
Summary: The Guru of Love
Review: It's been a long time since I've been able to finish a work of fiction. Too much of contemporary literature seems contrived, designed to schock, or is simply boring. But Mr. Upadhyay's novel is sweet - even if the characters are not completely developed, it's almost impossible not to care about what happens to them. Think of a fairy tale for adults - that's The Guru of Love
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