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: Tales of life
Review: Misty shows his brilliance in revealing the engaging lives of fascinating characters. His stories hint at the larger world of responsibility, family bonds and self-discovery, while his characters push ahead in their quirky everyday lives in Firozsha Baag. And Mistry's narrating character of Kersi, an immigrant Parsi like himself, reflecting on the extraordinary lives of ordinary people in his native Bombay, allows the reader to reflect upon his own relationships with friends, neighbors and family with more sympathy and caring. Mistry fans will enjoy this book as well as his two novels and the film version of Such A Long Journey.
Rating:
Summary: Insightful potrayal of multiple dimensions of life in Bombay
Review: Rohinton Mistry's short stories are brilliant. Written in simple English without any pretentious embellishments, these stories vividly bring to life the characters described. Being an Indian myself and having moved to the US in the last few years, his two stories about an Indian youth moving to Canada seemed very beleivable and accurate representation. I would be surprised if these stories are not based on someone the author knows / has heard about -although I believe that Mistry also writes stories using news articles he reads in Indian newpapers these stories seem too real for the author not to have known someone like the characters he describes.Reading the book made me feel as if the author were telling the story himself..in a very modest tone..yet the stories show a tremendous understanding of human character and human life. Mistry realizes that small and almost non-significant incidences are the heart of life in the apartments in India. Fortunately, in this book, he does not dwell on the fact that life in a third-world country can be tough. His tone is optimistic and non-judgemental - sometimes humurous - and sometimes a little serious. The stories made my hair stand out. I would recommend it highly
Rating:
Summary: Mistry's Best Book
Review: This collection is better than either of his novels, it stays clear of the overwriting and preachiness of novels like A Fine Balance. The charcters are well drawn out, more complex than the simple "good" people that I kind of tired of in the novel. Certain images, like unwrapping and cracking a cricket bat, parading a thief, cursing out people at the bus, are written descriptively with Mistry's characteristic humour and sympathy. The last story about Canada is also great, and the real "tales" like Squatter are also funny. The Collectors may have been my favorite story, and there is interesting intensely sexually frustrating imagery which is very sublime and hidden in these stories of adolescents in the complex. Sometimes its out in the open. Overall, Mistry is a very realist writer and does best when he stays away from being judgemental, when he creates characters that I imagine are from his life, not from his research. I enjoyed this book thoroughly.
Rating:
Summary: Mistry's Best Book
Review: This collection is better than either of his novels, it stays clear of the overwriting and preachiness of novels like A Fine Balance. The charcters are well drawn out, more complex than the simple "good" people that I kind of tired of in the novel. Certain images, like unwrapping and cracking a cricket bat, parading a thief, cursing out people at the bus, are written descriptively with Mistry's characteristic humour and sympathy. The last story about Canada is also great, and the real "tales" like Squatter are also funny. The Collectors may have been my favorite story, and there is interesting intensely sexually frustrating imagery which is very sublime and hidden in these stories of adolescents in the complex. Sometimes its out in the open. Overall, Mistry is a very realist writer and does best when he stays away from being judgemental, when he creates characters that I imagine are from his life, not from his research. I enjoyed this book thoroughly.
Rating:
Summary: excellent, excellent, excellent
Review: What a fabulous story teller Mistry is! I could not put this book down. It was written with humour, insight and sensitivity. The characters are so developed, the stories so compelling I immediately searched out his other works and I wasn't disappointed!
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