Product Description

Set in (what was then) Bombay against the backdrop of war in the Indian subcontinent and the birth of Bangladesh, telling the story of the peculiar way in which the conflict impinges on the lives of Gustad Noble, an ordinary man, and his family.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12103 in Books
• Published on: 2006-10-19
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
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.

Review
"'One of India's finest living novelists.' Observer"

Customer Reviews

"Luck is the spit of gods and goddesses."
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

A beautiful and sensitive book
Notes on "Such a Long Journey" Gustad Noble is a quiet family man, living in the Khodadad apartment buildings in the bustling Indian city of Bombay in the 1970's. He is a devout Parsi, and tries to live by the rules of his faith .and is well respected by the tenants of the flats,, but suddenly his orderly world begins to disintegrate. His elder son, Sohrab refuses to go to the college for which he has been offered a place, his small daughter, Roshan, falls sick with a mysterious illness, and a letter from a friend ( Major Bilimoria ) whom he hasn't seen in ages leads him to participate in a clandestine money laundering scam. The background to all this personal turmoil is the teeming city of Bombay, a termite's nest of perpetual motion, full of weird and wonderful characters, decaying streets and dilapidated buildings. The main thread of the story, and the reason Gustad becomes involved in the money transfers is the intense political crisis, where not for the first time, India and Pakistan are at loggerheads and on the brink of war over East Pakistan, which because of the conflict is destined to become Bangladesh. Mistry meshes all these situations together beautifully and in addition gives a long overdue insight into Parsi life, Gustad emerges as the epitome of a good Parsi: caring, philanthropic, loyal and generous. It is clear his family in his grandfather's day, under the British, was affluent, but circumstances have deteriorated. He works for a modest salary in the bank and has to put up with the inadequacies of a city apartment, in which the services and utilities are unreliable, but he does not seem resentful., despite the odd assortment of neighbours in the block. Despite his personal family problems, Gustad is bound by loyalty to his friends and complies with their requests against his better judgement. He has his doubts about the course he is taking, but in the end , his loyalty is justified. Gustad's wife Dilnavez, from whom he hides nothing, has her own way of dealing with the family crisis and is very much under the influence of Miss Kutpitia and her spells and potions. in the hope of alleviating their misfortunes. (which in the end do actually seem to work!!) There are numerous well drawn characters and incidents in the book, which bring out the humour in Mistry's writing. and there are also many incidents of Gustad's caring qualities to the people around him. eg. the pavement artist; Telum and the beggar children. I found the funeral scenes particularly moving. It is perhaps, to Western eyes a somewhat gruesome and barbaric way of disposing of the dead, but the "Towers of Silence" have been a part of Parsi / Zoroastrian culture for centuries and Mistry explains the ritual very sympathetically The book is an interesting insight into the ancient beliefs of the dwindling Parsi communities and also a well observed critical comment on the political situation on the sub continent in the 1970's Mistry threads a .subtle allegory into the story to make a telling comment on human nature. "The Wall" of the compound, used as a stinking urinal, attracting flies and mosquitoes, to say nothing of the stench, is transformed into a sweet smelling shrine when Gustad. invites the pavement artist to make use of the black expanse of wall. He draws pictures of deities from all religions and the people unite as one when the council arrive to pull down the wall, thus illustrating that the ordinary citizens have learned to live with and tolerate each other's differences, whereas those involved in high level, high profile, propaganda politics are beyond reconciliation. Needless to say, the council knocks down the wall. A well written, often humorous, book, of one man's ability to cope with a multitude of problems, which suddenly disrupt his ordinary life.

Familiar human nature in an unfamiliar setting
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.