Family Matters – Rohinton Mistry

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Book #23

Reviewer: Inspirationalreads

Set in modern day Mumbai, the family matters at hand are those of Nariman Vakeel, his two step-children, his daughter and her family.  Currently living with his step-children Coomy and Jal, the ageing Nariman falls and breaks his ankle causing an increase in his care and an increase in resentment from Coomy and Jal, with Coomy becoming more and more desperate to be rid of the old man.  Roxana, Coomy and Jal’s half sister and Nariman’s daughter, lives with her husband and two children in a tiny apartment, and it is here that the scheming Coomy successfully off-loads Nariman.

When the two week stay becomes four and then six, family relations become strained.  Roxana’s husband Yezad becomes increasingly suspicious of Coomy and Jal.  Roxana is torn between the love and obligation she feels towards her father and understanding her husband’s frustration, their living arrangements less than ideal before Nariman arrived and the strain of another mouth to feed and body to house proving too much.  For Coomy, it is the desperation at stopping her step-father from returning that takes her schemes to new heights and her brother Jal, an unwilling participant in all of these plans is guilt-ridden about the whole thing.  At the centre of it all is Nariman; with his body betraying him, it is his mind that he lets wander, remembering his past and the road to his current situation.

There is so much that is familiar in this story and so much that is exotically foreign to me.  Mistry’s words creates so vividly the colour, smell and feel of Mumbai.  Beyond the physical surroundings,  the Zoroastrian religion plays a big part, what it means to them to maintain their Parsi heritage and all that this involves.  In creating this setting we also have our colourful side characters adding levity with their humourous idiosyncrasies and each playing their role in contributing to the turn of events.  The world created is full and distinct, where I felt that I was plunged into somewhere that I could clearly imagine despite never having stepped foot in India, never having known about the  Zoroastrian religion, so much of it alien to what I know and have experienced.

For all this difference to me and my physical world, there is much of the actual family issues that I could relate to. Nariman also has Parkinson’s and as he ages and starts to fail physically it isn’t rage and anger he feels but the need for reflection and from this regret.  His awareness of how burdensome he has become is heartbreaking, as is the toll that his presence is taking on Roxanna and her family.  The financial struggle of this family is all too familiar.  As is the idea of dashed dreams, wanting more for your children and being worn down by the daily grind.  These are not themes particular to this part of the world; these are some of the most basic of human concerns. Yet for all this understanding of their situation, it is never allowed to become mundane and too commonplace as there are still touches of melodrama, especially with Coomy and her scheming. She is a great character, faintly ridiculous but ultimately proving to be the antagonist of our story.

This is a very full and rich novel.  Complex in some respects but simple and familiar in others, all things that can describe families everywhere.  Highly recommended to those who love India, enjoy great characterisation or who have family matters of their own.

Aesop’s Fables – Aesop

Ms Oh Waily1 Comment

Book # 1001

Reviewer: Ms Oh Waily

Well, here is a milestone of sorts.  The eponymous Book 1001 is finally, after nearly 90 books, being reviewed.

I come to be reviewing this particular book because I have been reading it to my children for the past couple of weeks.

It is hard to emphasize just how important and pervasive Aesop the slave’s, not-so-little book of fables is to western society.  At least, that is how it feels as you read your way through the huge number of these tales.  I have the Wordsworth Classic version at home, and it contains a smidgen over 200 fables.  They are all swift reading with the morals obvious in most.  You can also source them online at websites such as this one.

Aesop reputedly lived between 620 and 560 BCE, and like many ancient works it is dubious how much is actually attributable to an individual versus a collective gathering of fables over an extended period of time.  No matter the truth of their origins, or the likelihood or not of the existence of an individual “Aesop”, they have been gathered together under his name and continue to delight us today with their sharp observations.

Perhaps some of these titles ring a bell with you?

  • The Fox and the Grapes
  • The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg
  • The Wolf in Sheeps Clothing
  • The Hare and the Tortoise
  • The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse

If the titles of others do not seem familiar, their impact and moral will be well known to you, for example The Milkmaid and Her Pail is the fable associated with “don’t count your chickens” and The Shepherd’s Boy and the Wolf is where we get the saying “don’t cry wolf”.

If you asked me, “Is it worth my time to read this?”,  I would have to say “yes, it is”.  You don’t need to read it all in one or two sittings, and the length of the fables naturally lends itself to dipping in to whenever you feel like it.  Some are not so memorable, but some will strike a chord with you immediately.  If you have children, it is possible to teach many ideas and morals of behaviour using the ever present foxes, lions, mice and dogs as your friendly guides.  Not all of the fables contain animals, although the majority do.  Here is a taster of the sorts of fables in my version.

The Two Bags

Every man carries two bags about with him, one in front and one behind, and both are packed full of faults.  The bag in front contains his neighbours’ faults, the one behind his own.  Hence it is that men do not see their own faults, but never fail to see those of others.

The Man and the Satyr

A man and a satyr became friends, and determined to live together.  All went well for a while, until one day in wintertime the satyr saw the man blowing on his hands. ‘Why do you do that?’ he asked. ‘To warm my hands,’ said the man.  That same day, when they sat down to supper together, they each had a steaming hot bowl of porridge, and the man raised his bowl to his mouth and blew on it. ‘Why do you do that?’ asked the satyr. ‘To cool my porridge,’ said the man.  The satyr got up from the table. ‘Goodbye,’ said he, ‘I’m going: I can’t be friends with a man who blows hot and cold with the same breath.’

The Stag and the Lion

A stag was chased by the hounds, and took refuge in a cave, where he hoped to be safe from his pursuers.  Unfortunately the cave contained a lion, to whom he fell an easy prey.  ‘Unhappy that I am,’ he cried, ‘I’m saved from the power of the dogs only to fall into the clutches of a lion.’

Opening Lines

Ms Oh Waily4 Comments

Welcome to a new feature here at 1001 Books blog, the Opening Lines.
It is exactly as it sounds, the opening lines from a 1001 Book, only we won’t be telling you which novel, novella or short story it comes from.

If you think you know*, just leave a comment and we’ll let you know if you are right.

Here is our very first Opening Line,

On a spring afternoon in 19-, the year in which for months on end so grave a threat seemed to hang over the peace of Europe, Gustav Aschenbach, or von Aschenbach as he had been officially known since his fiftieth birthday, had set out from his apartment on the Prinzregentenstrasse in Munich to take a walk of some length by himself.

* no Googling if you’re planning to leave a guess.  😉