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Summary: Truth Power Love Money Peace: all this in a group of stories
Review: Chandra's first book, Love and Longing in Bombay, is a collection of short stories all linked through a framing device of one character, or one storyteller. The tales he spins are an interwoven mass of Indian spirituality, English language, and American pop culture. This collection is an inherently accessible and inviting piece with a great deal to say from the standpoint of postcolonial theory. The stories are beautiful, and Chandra's toying with language quite literally knocked my socks off. Even better, this stellar prose is truly telling the story of a people, of a country, of a way of life that has been irrevocably altered by the invasion of the West. Yet there is no judgement, only a vision of the world as it is and as it can be.
Rating: 
Summary: Original but not engaging
Review: Definitely one for the critics but not so much the mainstream. The characters could be described as refreshingly non-stereotypical ... my only problem was that I didn't find them that refreshing. Sure, he writes capably in contemporary urban Indian settings and picks up on religious and racial tensions without merely vilifying one party. There's also something that reminds me of Kipling in the style of short story - a detachment? The supernatural leanings?
Whatever, while it was anything but cliché most of the time, the stories never really got me in. I didn't really identify with or even like any of the central characters - perhaps I'm just the wrong audience for this one. The pages took a while to get through, I didn't really care that much about the outcomes - especially in the `Dynasty' style high-business/social machinations of `Shakti' - the heroes and their quests made them look pathetic to me. And I suppose the final story that's supposed to be the real emotional love story clincher just left me fairly blasé: the fantastic stories within the stories that navigate the blossoming romance simply weren't that fantastic for me - they didn't begin to overwhelm me the way they apparently overwhelmed the beloved.
So, no. It's not badly written, and I suppose I can see why it's received critical acclaim ... but if you find yourself agreeing with my preferences in other reviews, I wouldn't be chasing down this one.
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Summary: Fantastic stories of ordinary people!
Review: Five stories, with a common narrator, and a common city: Bombay. Each story is gripping and astonishingly well-written. While someone here commented that the praise is overblown, I feel its greatly deserved. Since the tale is set in an Indian city, with Indian characters, perhaps one needs to be a little aware of our social and cultural beliefs and lifestyle. Other than that, one finds the stories to be global and timeless, with fleeting feeling of pain and longing, and a certain satisfaction in reading superbly narrated stories about what we encounter so often. The stories are written in an uncommon but erudite style, and I find myself returning to re-read the stories every now and then. For someone who loved Vikram Seth, this another Vikram provides another masterpiece handpicked from the ordinary lifes of ordinary men.
Rating: 
Summary: Good
Review: I am not a sophisticated reader. I expected, from the title, a heavy backdrop of Bombay . But was disappointed to not find `that' Bombay culture. The characters do not seem to have much life and neither is the culture and peculiarities of Bombay very apparent. May be I haven't read the book properly but at the end of the day I did not find it engrossing at all. Not one of those books for which u would miss meals and miss sleep. More of a story book.
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Summary: readable but not exactly worth the praise
Review: I found the stories by Vikram Chandra readable but that's about it. They are not particularly gripping or engrossing or moving. Most of the stories are same kind of stories that you would read about in any 'police story' vernacular magazine (for example, 'Dakshata' in Marathi) and about the same appeal. Also, the selection of the first story (about the ghost) is really bad. It turned me off completely, but I plodded on. Fortunately, the stories get a little better as the book progresses and a couple of them I remember even after 2 weeks (!) If you are looking for Bombay backdrop, I would any day recommend Rohinton Mistry.
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Summary: The promise continues
Review: In LOVE AND LONGING IN BOMBAY, Vikram Chandra builds upon the extraordinary promise shown in his first novel RED EARTH AND POURING RAIN. This is a collection of five stories (actually three stories and two novellas) that are very loosely connected. (I did not buy the connection, by the way.) Each is set in a different social milieu, revealing a very broad spectrum of modern Indian life. The first story, about an amputee army veteran exorcising a ghost, is expendable. The second story, a comic take on Indian high society, is much more entertaining. The book really takes off, though, with the third story (really a novella), which is a riveting sex/noir police story. But the best selection is the long story dealing with a gay computer mechanic and his nouveau riche business partner (a female programmer) and their tangled love lives in Bombay's bohemian and business worlds. The final entry is a melancholy story set in 1945 which tells how an innocent village man woos a young war widow who will not give up hope of finding her missing (and presumed dead) husband. The collection's total effect is pretty dazzling. I hope Mr. Chandra will continue to write in a realistic style. This book is far more interesting than the fantastical RED EARTH AND POURING RAIN, which became tiresome because there was no earthly logic involved in its development. In this collection Chandra is also more focused than he was in the novel. This is incisive and poetic language from a mind that has observed two cultures both objectively and empathetically. The book is not without its flaws. The first story, apart from the descriptive language, is a string of cliches. The final story has a Chinese-puzzle structure similar to RED EARTH AND POURING RAIN's that would have become very tiresome had it been any longer. But I think Chandra has the potential to be a great writer. He's on the right track. I very much look forward to his next book.
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Summary: Dirty city, boring book
Review: Mr. Chandra's creation, from the title onwards, is a ruefully falsified description of the city of Bombay, one of the most banal and dirtiest cities in Asia, as is well known. The author's words and ideas apply to any reasonably peaceful, affluent Latin or South American city, which can given scale and space to the fanciful stories contained in this collection. Bombay has no such capacity; it only breaks down people into miniatures of themselves, to the level of the grim and the persistent human defecation abound in public places. Frankly, very few Indian people would bestow Bombay its own book. They know how dehumanizing the city has become, and perhaps always was. It is perhaps the most emblematic Asiatic city. Read Mr. Chandra's book, but know that it contains no truth.
Rating:
Summary: Dirty city, boring book
Review: Mr. Chandra's creation, from the title onwards, is a ruefully falsified description of the city of Bombay, one of the most banal and dirtiest cities in Asia, as is well known. The author's words and ideas apply to any reasonably peaceful, affluent Latin or South American city, which can given scale and space to the fanciful stories contained in this collection. Bombay has no such capacity; it only breaks down people into miniatures of themselves, to the level of the grim and the persistent human defecation abound in public places. Frankly, very few Indian people would bestow Bombay its own book. They know how dehumanizing the city has become, and perhaps always was. It is perhaps the most emblematic Asiatic city. Read Mr. Chandra's book, but know that it contains no truth.
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Summary: Brilliantly written! Creates an enchanting glimpse of Bombay
Review: Rarely have I enjoyed a book of short stories as much as I did "Love and Longing in Bombay" I was so captivated by all the stories that putting the book down once I started was impossible!....and infact have re-read the murder-mystery and climbing up the social ladder in Bomday stories twice! He captured emotions and the energy in the characters superbly! The vivid style of writing made me feel like I was living in Vikram Chandra's Bombay. I felt the surges of pain, love and excitment he portrayed through his cahracters. Loved the book so much that I immediately raced to the store to get his "Red earth and pouring rain" Highly recommend to anyone! I am sure you will enjoy the enigmatic path he paves as much as I did!
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Summary: Challenging
Review: The stories in this collection are not an "easy read", however, once you are in and underway each is gripping. I enjoyed the Bombay setting, usually the upper class or newly emergent middle class (computer programmers for example) - something that is different to the usual view of India. Nevertheless, each had something to say about the state of India: the lost world of detatched housing, which reminded me of the "History House" in God of Small Things, police brutality, secret homosexualand inter-religious love for example. I thought the story about social climbing was hilarious. The book-keepers in the computer story reminded me so much of the tailors in A Fine Balance. Not as much a tour de force as A Fine Balance, but an enjoyable, and at times very poignant read.
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