Rating: 
Summary: brilliantly confusing
Review: i never was able to figure what this book was about. Having never read a book of Mr.Ghosh, I started this book with an open mind.Its a miracle I managed to finish it. I do not know whether I am mentally retarded not to find this book a compelling read, like the many who recommended it. But I do feel that the characters lacked depth, the story lacked logic and the ending was downright sadistic.I mean the way he linked the many characters was splendid, but then the ending was a real let-down. It was asif somebody had torn the last few pages of the novel.
Rating:
Summary: Nicely written, pointless story
Review: I read this book on a plane flight from India to the US. The story moves forward briskly and held my interest, so I'd definitely recommend the book to anyone who likes mysteries, the supernatural, or "India-ana" (I'm less sure that science fiction fans would like it). At the same time, the subplots get very tangled, and some sections have no clear point (the "ghost train" chapter is truly creepy but doesn't have any connection to the storyline). Even worse, no character except Murugan is well-developed, and the story seemed more and more implausible (almost ludicrous) as it unfolded -- leaving me disinclined to read the book a second time. Maybe I like things too neat and tidy, but I think Ghosh needed to flesh out the details of the conspiracy and do a much better job of developing the idea of soul transmigration via malarial infection.
Rating:
Summary: Yr basic double helix....
Review: I really wanted to like this book in which the writer bounces cleverly between different points in time and locations. There are nifty medical/genetic notions, and the descriptions of India were intriguing. It's written in a more literate style than I usually encounter in a sci-fi novel. As I read on, however, I began to feel dragged under by too clever twists, and the strands of the plot eventually became hopelessly entangled in this confused reader's head. By the end, I wanted to grab the author and ask him "what was THAT about?" Maybe if I reread it again slowly and patiently, a notepad at the ready, I would figure it all out. But then again, maybe there has been too much chromosone damage already. Also, the book ends just like this.
Rating: 
Summary: Predictable and Amateurish
Review: I really wanted to like this book. I bought it on the way back from a trip to India and I like science fiction. I'm not sure if predictable is the right word for this book, but everything one of the main characters theorizes about the mystery is true. You're never left wondering if some of the information is false. In most thrillers, things are slowly revealed to the main character through twists and turns and false leads. Not here - the main character somehow postulates the exact theory behind all the mystery and reveals it all to us. And he's never wrong. He is really a plot device to tell us the backgound and solve the mystery. It's not very fun to have the story spoon fed to you. This book seems like it was a first novel written by someone just graduated from college. I give the book 2 stars (instead of one) because I still had a hard time putting the book down at the end even if I didn't like it. I'd rather have spent the time on another book though.
Rating: 
Summary: My opinion
Review: Mildly interesting science-fictional ideas in the service of an uninteresting novelist. Cardboard characters who do nothing but tell each other very long stories. Over-clever and disorienting plot structure. I couldn't get into this book and I don't understand the good reviews it received.
Rating: 
Summary: A Intriguing incomplete book
Review: Mr Ghosh creates an intriguing history envolving malaria,religion,transmigration of souls and other stuff but with an incomplete and disapointing ending. If you like mystery,science fiction,history,complex narrative lines and an abrupt ending this book is for you.
Rating: 
Summary: The Ultimate Consipiracy
Review: Structurally Brilliant, Gosh's novel spins around a complex conspiracy involving high technology, antrophology, medical science history and compelling anecdotes, all written with exceptional lucidity. There is also an implied certain joy in the almost unsolved mistery. Urmila, Murugan, Antar and Sari, as much as the evasive Laakham will remain in the readers memory for a long time.
Rating:
Summary: At the end you very probably will say Huu! What ?
Review: The book is fun to read undoubtedly. But the "conspiracy theory" seems to lack a clear motive. Some may argue that is the quest to be immortal but even immortality must have a purpose, otherwise, why bother to achieve it. I was also troubled by the apparent circumstantial events which lead to the connectivity of the characters. It felt to forced and artificial, and the author is aware of that that is why he tries to explain it as pre arranged destiny. But again, if someone can dispose and control at will others even when the parties involved do not know each and live in different continents, then why does it need to enact a charade to achieve its goals? That is why, when I reached the last word of the novel, interrogation signs appeared all over my mind, and although I enjoyed the suspense, I truly did not get what this book is about.
Rating:
Summary: What a confusing, delightful book!
Review: The Calcutta Chromosome is impossible to categorise. It is partly a thriller, partly science fiction, partly (imaginary) medical history. It moves back and forth in time and in place, from colonial India to near-future USA. After a slow start, the book absorbs the reader in a confusing and multi-layered story. Ghosh writes in an engaging manner, with lots of humour. The protagonist, Murugan, grows on you and you start to sympathise with the poor man's quest. For sure, this book is not for everyone, but I personally regretted when it was finished.
Rating:
Summary: Calcutta Chromosome: eerily good
Review: The Calcutta Chromosome is incredibly constructed. So well, in fact, that it gives the reader the feeling that it actually turns in on itself. In the beginning there are a few seemingly unrelated plotlines that merge gracefully until they become one at the end of the book and leaving the reader want much more (and a warm bed with tea!). If you like Michael Crichton, Jon Grisham, and the X- Files, this book is for you.
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