Such a Long Journey

Mistry does something that only the really natural writers can do: without apparent effort, manipulation or contrivance, he creates characters you like instantly and will gladly follow for as long as the novel leads. The book is about an Indian family during the years of Indira Ghandi's rule; it's also a study of the times, its politics and corruption, and was especially interesting for me, knowing so little about life in the rest of the world. It had to be a good book: after I read Such a Long Journey, I wanted to go right out and buy a plane ticket and see India for myself.

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"Luck is the spit of gods and goddesses." - Rated
Sometimes compared to Dickens or Victor Hugo for the strength of his descriptions, Rohinton Mistry uses "ordinary" men and women as his protagonists and fills his novels with the sights, sounds, smells, and color of India. Depicting his characters as neither saints nor sinners, he involves the reader in their lives as they try to survive the complexities of their culture.

In this novel, Gustad Noble and his wife Dilnavaz, living in a congested apartment building in Bombay, try to lead good lives and inspire their children during Indira Gandhi's rule in the 1970s, with all its political, professional, and social upheaval. India is on the verge of war with the Muslims of Pakistan, and though Gustad, a Parsi, is aware of political chicanery, he is far more pre-occupied with having his son accepted at a school of technology, doing his job as a bank supervisor, and supporting his family. Constant blackouts and continually deteriorating conditions on the street add to the frustrations of Gustad's life.

Then Jimmy Bilimoria, an old friend, asks Gustad for help, claiming that he is training freedom fighters in Bangladesh to act on behalf of the Indian government against Pakistani "butchers." Gustad reluctantly agrees to use his position at the bank to deposit money to a secret account, but he soon finds himself enmeshed in a spiral from which he cannot break out, his life turned upside down.

Throughout the novel, the wall outside Gustad's apartment building symbolizes the larger world of Bombay and parallels some aspects of Gustad's own life. At the outset, it is used as a latrine, breeding illness in the neighborhood but keeping the noise and tumult of the street out of the apartment house. When Gustad persuades a sidewalk artist to paint it, he depicts scenes from all the religions of India, and the wall becomes a shrine--until the government decides to widen the road and tear it down. Gustad's personal crisis and the fate of the wall intersect in a conclusion both moving and profound.

Though this novel lacks the grand scale of A Fine Balance, it is a beautifully constructed and emotionally involving story of a small family trying to live meaningful lives against almost overwhelming odds. The characters are finely drawn, and the plot, though not "exciting," reflects the traumas of an ordinary man and his wife caught up in events and crises not of their own making. Wry and often humorous in its observations of people and circumstances, this early novel by Mistry has all the ingredients which make his later novels so memorable. Mary Whipple

Familiar human nature in an unfamiliar setting - Rated
This is the second Rohinton Mistry novel I have read ( also Family Matters) and I cannot recommend them too highly. In this novel ( which is about a bank clerk and his family; the doctor mentioned in the above synopsis is a minor character.)Mistry creates a group of characters and describes their interaction in an absorbing and convincing way. In some ways this is like a traditional 19th century English novel of family life, though set in India in the 1970s. When I read 'Family Matters', I had never been to India, but Mistry's descriptions enabled me to visualise it in a way few previous 'Indian' novels I had read had succeeded in doing. 'Such a long journey' I read during my first visit to India and I can now vouch for its authenticity and humour. The novel however is no travelogue; the characters are interesting because of their human nature. The ending was genuinely moving. A great writer.

A GREAT READ!! - Rated
Such a Long Journey is the first book I have had the pleasure of readingby Mistry and it has been a wonderful experience from start to finish! The culture and traditions are so alive in the book that they seem to jumpout at you and teach you something about life in India as a whole. A mostcaptivating book that I will definitely be reading again and again.

wonderfully human - Rated
Though lacking the dramatic power and the pessimistic philosophy of his later masterpiece 'A fine balance', 'Such a long journey' is a wonderful, extremely compassionate account of a family's struggle to maintain unity and moral integrity in the face of extraordinary circumstances: both external (the Emergency) and internal (father-son conflicts, disease etc.).
The political agenda in this novel is much reduced compared to Mistry's later work, and that perhaps renders 'Such a long journey' a less pressing and controversial book, removing some of the urgency and the vigour to concentrate instead on a very human (and universal) 'journey', which eventually leads to a very human (and universal) catharsis.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, and I rate it as highly as 'A fine balance' and perhaps higher that the latest, somewhat disappointing (to me!) 'Family matters'.

one of the best books in modern indian literature - Rated
I can't really say this is the best book in modern indian literature because my knowledge is not so deep, but you can trust me if I tell you to buy this book and throw yourself into it without esitation. You will cry ,you will smile, you will love the characters and, like me, you'll look forward for the next Mistry's novel.