Riot: A Love Story

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant novel!
Review: This book is amazing. Tharoor narrates the story through journal entries and interviews with various people. We come to understand the circumstances of a riot through the eyes of extremely different people - each with their own perspectives. Each giving a version of the "truth" and each with a valid argument. Very meaningful after Sept. 11 - helps to understand the position of Muslims in India. Tharoor is brilliant!

Rating:
Summary: A Below Average Affair
Review: This is an ambitious book that succeeds. Based on several real events, it encompasses the Hindu-Muslim conflict, centuries old, the history of India itself, American naivete, corporate behavior in foreign countries, and the tragedy of people deeply emotionally ... involved in a relationship that has no future. The author leaves the reader with the hope that diverse peoples in the same country won't end up the same way. The style, with multiple points of view and "chapters" in different formats, e.g., diaries, newspaper articles, narratives, dialogues as in a play, is very difficult to pull off, and most writers don't succeed. They end up losing and confusing the reader. This author makes it work. I give a book 5 stars when it provokes thought and curiosity, tells me about something new, and makes me want to learn more. This book did it all.