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Summary: Short stories from the master storyteller of Bombay's Parsis
Review: A collection of interwoven tales told from the perspective of the different residents of Ferozsha Baag, an apartment building in Bombay. All the stories are good; some are outstanding. In particular, the story of the son who emigrates to Canada to become a writer has a uniquely autobiographical feel to it. =)
Rating:
Summary: CLASSY WORK OF A MINIATURIST, HARDLY READS LIKE A DEBUT!
Review: And I thought that "A Fine Balance" was Rohinton's best! Yet again, I find myself speechless in my admiration for his astute command of language. His precise and inventive prose never quits until he has portrayed an image in sentences. Images that I grew up with myself but never quite would have thought of expressing in the grippingly sensitive way he can.Swimming Lessons is a collection of such reminiscences from the author's childhood in a Parsi neighborhood in suburban middle-class Bombay. The setting itself may be confined to a particular community, but his compassionate brush carves such a wide sweep of the minutest of human emotions that the sheer force of this book is not in its plot or setting, but in its recognition of the universal bounty of life. Our quirky residents of 'Firozsha Baag' have every reason to be disconcerted and baffled with their difficult lives. The walls of their building complex are coming apart. Washroom flushes don't work. One family has the refrigerator that's shared by the entire colony, and another has the common telephone. Their lives are marred by simple everyday things, innocent infatuations, unconfessed fantasies, fatal jealousies, neighborhood bullies, petty thefts, memory lapses, shared newspapers, cultural/generational clashes, etc etc. Yet, beneath this veneer of this seeming hardships glimmers a subtle undercurrent of hope and happiness, of a bond that does not need expressing in the common social forms. The high praise that Mistry has garnered is not exaggerated. The man has a disarming sense of humor and a lingering sense of what makes literature great. I laughed, I cried, I sat back and pondered. I was especially stirred by the moving story "Of White Hairs and Cricket", and the cover story, which is saved for the last, "Swimming Pools." Couldn't recommend this brilliant compilation highly enough. It hardly reads like a debut.
Rating:
Summary: CLASSY WORK OF A MINIATURIST, HARDLY READS LIKE A DEBUT!
Review: And I thought that "A Fine Balance" was Rohinton's best! Yet again, I find myself speechless in my admiration for his astute command of language. His precise and inventive prose never quits until he has portrayed an image in sentences. Images that I grew up with myself but never quite would have thought of expressing in the grippingly sensitive way he can. Swimming Lessons is a collection of such reminiscences from the author's childhood in a Parsi neighborhood in suburban middle-class Bombay. The setting itself may be confined to a particular community, but his compassionate brush carves such a wide sweep of the minutest of human emotions that the sheer force of this book is not in its plot or setting, but in its recognition of the universal bounty of life. Our quirky residents of 'Firozsha Baag' have every reason to be disconcerted and baffled with their difficult lives. The walls of their building complex are coming apart. Washroom flushes don't work. One family has the refrigerator that's shared by the entire colony, and another has the common telephone. Their lives are marred by simple everyday things, innocent infatuations, unconfessed fantasies, fatal jealousies, neighborhood bullies, petty thefts, memory lapses, shared newspapers, cultural/generational clashes, etc etc. Yet, beneath this veneer of this seeming hardships glimmers a subtle undercurrent of hope and happiness, of a bond that does not need expressing in the common social forms. The high praise that Mistry has garnered is not exaggerated. The man has a disarming sense of humor and a lingering sense of what makes literature great. I laughed, I cried, I sat back and pondered. I was especially stirred by the moving story "Of White Hairs and Cricket", and the cover story, which is saved for the last, "Swimming Pools." Couldn't recommend this brilliant compilation highly enough. It hardly reads like a debut.
Rating: 
Summary: Tales from Firozeshah baag
Review: I am an Indian reader and have spent the first thirty years of my life in there. I read Mistry's books in reverse order, having become aware of him first through Fine Balance, then Such a Long Journey, and last the short stories of Ferozeshah baag.I enjoyed his short stories best. They have a clarity and freshness utterly lacking in the contrived reality of Fine Balance. Long journey also lost me when he went on about the RAW (intelligence forces of GOvt of India) -it became bizarre.I would love it if he told us more of the characters from the baag.They are honest, real and very comapassionately treated. His novels are commendable for their humanistic urges, but fail artistically and sound artificial. He is still one of the most readable and direct Indian writer in English, with no pretensions or literary pirouetting. And his descriptions of India are accurate.
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Summary: Mistry is a brilliant writer
Review: I picked up this book because I really enjoyed A Fine Balance. This book shows the same quality of writing. Mistry fits the lives of the Firozsha Baag residents together like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: I read A Fine Balance about a year ago and loved it. I just finished Swimming Lessons and I'm going out to buy Family Matters right now. He writes so beautifully and descriptively that you feel that you lived alongside the characters in his books.He's my favorite author right now.
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Summary: Captures Interest and keeps it
Review: I really enjoyed this book of interwoven stories. While reading this book, it is easy to think to yourself...I wonder what my neighbor is up to? What is going on in their lives?
I compare this book to living outside an apartment building and becoming invisible and being able to visit a different family each night of the week.
The characters are very well developed, and it is so interesting to see so many different, social and economic classes living together. You dont get bored with the book because, it doesnt stay on one family long enough for you to say "ugggh, enough of this!" Youre always peeping into someone elses life. I believe the book "Bombay Time" was greatly influenced by this book.
The last chapter is my favorite, an experiment or sorts, looking through a window to see another window and a window through that window. Simply wonderful.
I enjoyed these stories, I think you will also.
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Summary: Pleasing stuff
Review: I thought that this was a good collection of short stories by Rohinton Mistry. Set in a Parsi community in Bombay, they reflect the lives of a selection of the inhabitants. Mistry's tales are interlinked not only by the fact that the characters form part of the same community, but by time too - the children in the early stories pop up later as adults, the author having the opportunity to reflect on the how the passing of time has affected the characters and their views of India. Mistry displays a wide range - his stories centre on children, young people, adults and the old - and are in turn poignant and amusing - there's even a ghost story (of sorts). Mistry does not limit himself to Bombay - life for an immigrant in Toronto forms the subject of one of the stories, albeit one of comparison (life in Canada compared to life in India, and how time spent in the West changes one's view of home). Perhaps in the end, Mistry says that you can take the Indian out of India, but you can never take India out of the Indian? Those (like me) who enjoyed Mistry's novels I am sure would enjoy this collection. Also, look out for Thrity Umrigar's "Bombay Time", on a similar theme but worth a read in its own right.
Rating:
Summary: Touching stories, unforgetable characters
Review: Mistry shows the world once again why he is one of the treasures of world literature. "Swimming Lessons", although taking place entirely in an apartment block in Bombay offers characters, stories, and sentiments that everyone can appreciate. These stories are timeless and can communicate their emotions even to those of us who have never been to India. Filled with characters who are both absurd and familiar (I think we've all known a Rustomji the Curmudgeon in our time) you cannot but help feel compelled and connected with each of their lives. I highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys a good story.
Rating:
Summary: Touching stories, unforgetable characters
Review: Mistry shows the world once again why he is one of the treasures of world literature. "Swimming Lessons", although taking place entirely in an apartment block in Bombay offers characters, stories, and sentiments that everyone can appreciate. These stories are timeless and can communicate their emotions even to those of us who have never been to India. Filled with characters who are both absurd and familiar (I think we've all known a Rustomji the Curmudgeon in our time) you cannot but help feel compelled and connected with each of their lives. I highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys a good story.
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