Jasmine

Rating:
Summary: OK book on an immigrant's experience by an Indian lady
Review: Good study on the transformation of people. Old lives shed as new ones are developed. Good for those interested in the Indian/immigrant experience

Rating:
Summary: Defines 'American'
Review: I agree that a ten is a lofty rating...but this book deserves it. Mukherjee writes with such emotion and such power that certain scenes from the book will stay in my mind forever. This book examines the American experience with wit, heartbreak, love and fear. Read it!

Rating:
Summary: The American Identity
Review: I am a high school sophomore at a boarding school. I read Jasmine by Bharati Mukherjee as an independent reading assignment. This is a story of a young girl forced to grow up, while trying to find who she is.
Throughout the novel, we become acquainted with five women who are one and the same. We watch as Jyoti goes from the young, timid village girl to the strong American Jase, who knows exactly want she wants. She goes through many obstacles before she can just be happy. Through these obstacles, she also takes on different personas.
I think Mukherjee had Jasmine go through everything she did for a reason. There is a purpose for everything in life. Jasmine's long journey made her stronger in the end.
I think that the story is very well written and it gives young people, woman in particular, hope. Even if things don't seem to be going the way you think they should, you can overcome. That's what this book says to me. I would recommend this book to teenage girls that are searching for an identity.

Rating:
Summary: an excellent book for school
Review: I am a Sophomore in high school and I and some other students had to read it for our Final. We enjoyed it so much that we had the best presentation out of the class. I recommended it to anyone.

Rating:
Summary: Tale of a Modern Immigrant
Review: I bought this book after I read Bill Moyers' interview of Bharati Mukherjee in his "World of Ideas" (vol. 2, I think). I read this book while in India, visiting the cities of Calcutta and Bhubaneswar. Her story of the plight of a woman in India is real. Women are oppressed, and must learn to survive. The flight to America seemed a tad far-fetched, with the brothers willingly coming up with big bucks. But the journey itself was quite powerful to read. It is credible. Why only three stars? Too much time talking about transitions: from Jyoti to Jasmine to Jase to Jane. Supposedly there are changes, but in the end the character running away does so perhaps less out of fear, but is still running. The ungluing from Bud is hard to fathom. Is she running because she sees what kind of businessman he is, or for the sheer excitement of being with Taylor? And with Bud's baby? But I loved the flow of the story. I like her style of writing. There is the evident humble manner of Mukherjee which is part of the beauty of an Indian woman. She is very human. She is simply telling her story, as an immigrant, a runaway. To demand a complicated plot with deep character development would make the story unreal. Yes, the whole story is untidy and loose, the end is unclear. That is what makes this book real.

Rating:
Summary: It was alright
Review: I didn't really like this book 'coz I felt it was far too "planned". No one has a "planned" life. It's too unreal in many ways. I wouldn't call it "an immigrants tale of woe and hope". I don't know - I'm still sitting on the fence on this one!

Rating:
Summary: Interesting . . . but . . .
Review: I found the mythic element interesting, but the development of character lacking. It was all so mechanical, not human almost. A disappointing book.

Rating:
Summary: Remarkable!
Review: I found this book incredible! Although, it is confusing at first, the pieces slowly knit together into a delightful story of hope and love. Living in Iowa, I found the details wonderfully accurate.

Rating:
Summary: A good effort
Review: I found this to be an interesting take on the American dream from the viewpoint of an illegal immigrant. Jasmine evolves from a poor girl in India to a nanny in NYC to the "wife" of a banker in middle America. Jasmine is not an altogether sympathetic character, but she is enthralling. A quick read that I highly recommend.

Rating:
Summary: A good effort
Review: I found this to be an interesting take on the American dream from the viewpoint of an illegal immigrant. Jasmine evolves from a poor girl in India to a nanny in NYC to the "wife" of a banker in middle America. Jasmine is not an altogether sympathetic character, but she is enthralling. A quick read that I highly recommend.