Rating: 
Summary: Dreamy,blurry writing by Indian newcomer
Review: A sister dies but her newly-born baby lives . That same night her brother sits in front of his desk and starts unfolding their common memories . Raj Kamal Jha has a weird way of telling his story . He prefers before actually telling a fact ,to make circles around it and slowly reveal some of it's plot and images . Although sporadically beautifull , his book is tirering and hard to read . And while the reader cant't help but feeling bored , after 180 pages or so comes a schocking twist about the relationship between the sister and her husband's mother . After that everything starts to be a lot more interesting. The third act of Kamal's first published work mixes gore with genuin romantism . At some points kinky , at others simply sick it eventually wins the reader with it's rewarding final 50-60 pages . If this was a movie it would be a M.Night Shyamalan one .
Rating: 
Summary: A sad and disturbing little book...
Review: Having read "The God of Small Things", "A Fine Balance", and "Interpreter of Maladies", I felt the urge to continue on the road to better understanding the genre of Indian authors. This small novel is both disturbing and sad, but is also written in a beautiful manner - almost compelling the reader to continue even though the air of pending shock hovers between the lines.
One evening, a middle-aged man gets a phone call from a hospital saying that his sister has dies in childbirth, the child had been arranged for adoption but the adoptive family cannot take the child (a baby girl) until the following day. The man agrees to take the child for the night and during the course of the night (sleepless for the man) he proceeds to write non-stop to the child, weaving the stories of the family from whom she comes. As she sleeps and occasionally wakes and cries - lying on a blue bedspread, the stories he scribbles out furiously fall into patterns by person: mother, father, sister, and brother. And they are not particularly lovely tales - in fact, they are full of the painful things that families sometimes do to one another under the guise of "love".
It can be tiring, sometimes, to read book after book in which families and supposed loved ones abuse others, usually the women, of the household. Although I realize that this is the way of the world - there is a certain exhaustion that comes from reading book in which you spend emotional time wishing that people wouldn't be so damn mean to other people - including their own children. Unlike some other reviewers, I did not find much redemption in the characters, only pain, and a good deal of sadness.
Rating: 
Summary: captivating story
Review: I know that this is Raj Kamal Jha's first book, and after reading it, I know I'll be a fan of his beautiful prose for many years to come. Jha tells the story of a brother and sister with tenderness and compassion and, above all, urgency. Once I started this book, I only put it down once--briefly--because I couldn't imagine what the final moment of truth would reveal. I admit, I was somewhat disturbed, but I think that's a natural reaction to this subject matter. After a few minutes, though, I realized that Jha's startling conclusion makes this a story that will stay with me for quite some time--I would recommend it to anyone who loves a carefully crafted story and who can appreciate a new talent when they read one.
Rating:
Summary: I WANTED TO LIKE IT, BUT IT WAS WAY TOO CONFUSING
Review: I read many of the reviews on this book, and while it has been well received, it was difficult and confusing to read, way too disjointed for me. There was no cohesive quality to this book, and yet some of the writing was very beautiful. In the end, I'm left wanting something better written than what this was.
Rating: 
Summary: huh?
Review: Jeez, I guess anything can be printed these days. Indian authors seem to be popular now - maybe that's it. Jha seems to be trying to be disturbing and avant-garde but just ends up with a poor writing style and bizarre yet dull plot. I'm amazed that so many reviewer's have given this one high marks.
Rating:
Summary: I have certainly read better!
Review: Raj Kamal Jha's debut novel has been compared to Raymond Carver's work. First of all, I happen to think that The Blue Bedspread isn't worthy of such comparison. The writing is bland, the characters are boring, the story isn't particularly shocking -- which surprises me, for the serious issues in this novel, such as abuse, betrayal and incest, could make even the most experienced reader cringe -- and the surprise ending isn't so, well, surprising. In the end, I feel as though I have wasted hours on a book that should have been kept on the store's shelf. ... Whatever you do, skip this one!
Rating: 
Summary: Lovely prose and a confusing style
Review: The Blue Bedspread is a beautifully written book, calling to mind the exquisite prose of Arundhati Roy. It is, however, somewhat bizarre, and that's why I did not give it the full five stars. I'm not one who demands that everything be spelled out for me clearly when I'm reading, but there were times as I was reading The Blue Bedspread that I was just plain confused. I wouldn't have minded the confusion if the author had cleared it up later, but he never did. But enough about that. The book is a fast read, easily read in one sitting. The plot is held together by a middle aged bachelor who retrieves his newly orphaned niece from the hospital, her mother -- his sister -- having died while giving birth. During the night that follows, the man writes down a collection of stories for the baby so that she can read them when she's older and know who she is and where she came from. The stories are written from different points of view, with no proper names given to anyone, and focus mainly on the childhood of the boy and his sister. I see that the reviews are quite mixed. People either loved the prose or hated the book because of it's unorthodox style and saddenning subject matter. Reader, it's up to you. If you don't mind a challenge, give the book a try. If you like things pretty cut and dry, this book isn't for you.
Rating:
Summary: honestly, it is very bad
Review: This book, made me yawn and yawn. Somehow, the poor use of language and imagery failed to impress me. Since the whole story is about incest, I fail to understand why this was pitched as an intensely erotic novel. The sex here is boring and unerotic; the characters are one dimensional and overall it is a sad, bad book.
Rating:
Summary: boring and contrived
Review: This is a bad book written in a confusing manner to create a false pretense of being arty. I put in a tremendous effort to read it but failed every ten minutes. The theme of incest is certainly hot. But the execution is poor and weak; the story line contrived. And the entire effort banal. How did it get past the honourable editors of the publishing house? In the end this is as one critic put it " bad writing and just good networking." There is more to Indian writing as Vikram Seth and Shobha De have shown. On the other end writiers like jah need to be avoided.... unless of course u want to end up with a headache. My recommendation--- avoid this. Even one star is too high a rating for this...
Rating:
Summary: Bizarre Tale
Review: This story definitely qualifies for the term "bizarre tale". From beginning to end; it's unique & mysterious. These qualities keep you reading up until the most suspenseful page of all- the last. However, the last page leaves something to be desired.
At times this tale that is woven for a baby of a sister, is hard to grasp. Other times things seem to come into focus. Through out all of the stories of sisters, brothers, mothers & fathers, the ending is looming and is what the reader anxiously awaits- in order to get some clarification on events. Unfortunately, I felt that clarification never did come.
I enjoyed the book, but was extremely dissapointed with the ending. I felt like I was left hanging, waiting for answers that never came. I don't think I would recommend this book to anyone. The only reason I gave it three stars was because I did enjoy the stories so much and the suspense. But overall whatever the author was trying to pull off did not work for this reader.
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