Call number
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Publication
New York : St. Martin's Griffin, 2008.
Description
Shortlisted for the 2009 Commomwealth Writers' Prize Shroff's vibrant narratives in this concept collection of 14 stories set in contemporary Bombay feature a range of beautifully drawn characters in fascinating situations: from the laundrywallas' water shortage problems, to the doomed love affair of a schizophrenic painter and his Bollywood girlfriend, to the wandering thoughts of a massagewalla at Chowpatty Beach, to the heart-warming relationship of a carriage driver and his beloved horse. Each of these stories is richly crafted and arrangedagainst the grand chaotic backdrop of life that is Bombay. Shroff's love for his hometown shines through, but so does his deep understanding of its challenges and problems. The reader is afforded an insider's view of this pulsating city, and through an unforgettable emotional and cultural journey comes to care for the characters presented in these stories.… (more)
Awards
Commonwealth Writers' Prize (Shortlist — 2009)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2008-02
ISBN
9780312372705
Library's review
_Breathless in Bombay_ is a set of thematically loosely connected short stories, sharing the setting (as the title would suggest) of modern Bombay. The stories are sufficiently small-scale, focused intensely on the struggles of an individual or a family, that the picture of the city is built up
The final story, following a wealthy businessman, provides a coda of sorts to the others -- while there are no direct connections between any stories this one is best appreciated where it is, at the end.
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slowly out of tiny vignettes, rather than seen in a wide-angle view. While the characters are richly varied (a taxi driver, a launderer, a beachside masseur) the same themes of poverty in the face of encroaching modernity and societal limitations. Little is resolved and little changes, but this collection provides a fascinating set of glimpses into a place and time that seems to be changing even faster than it can be described.The final story, following a wealthy businessman, provides a coda of sorts to the others -- while there are no direct connections between any stories this one is best appreciated where it is, at the end.
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User reviews
LibraryThing member A_musing
This is a solid, well written book that offers a series of short stories and vignettes about life in contemporary Bombay. The writing is for the most part strong and straightforward, with the tone mixing the tragic, the melodramatic and the amusing.
For me, the best parts of this book are the
On the other hand, in the title story and in other stories Schroff indulges himself in an excess of melodrama; the rich/poor contrasts and comparisons become too easy to anticipate as you read through the stories. He needs to take them a level deeper in a number of places. The result is a series of good stories with occassionally memorable images that, in the end, fall a bit short of what we hope for them.
I enjoyed this book; I hope to enjoy his next even more.
For me, the best parts of this book are the
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places where the author lets himself go and takes a few risks. The best example is a story ("The Queen Guards Her Own") that revolves around a retired champion horse that now pulls a tourist cart and his owner, as well as a couple of small girls lost in the world, one the daughter of a wealthy tourist who the cart driver has in his carriage and one who is the daughter of a prostitute whom the cart-driver has befriended. This story weaves from image to image, a sort of verbal montage, to build toward its conclusion. It deftly mixes humor, sometimes ironical, sometimes slapstick, to keep the situations from declining into the overly melodramatic. This writing has the mark of greatness on it.On the other hand, in the title story and in other stories Schroff indulges himself in an excess of melodrama; the rich/poor contrasts and comparisons become too easy to anticipate as you read through the stories. He needs to take them a level deeper in a number of places. The result is a series of good stories with occassionally memorable images that, in the end, fall a bit short of what we hope for them.
I enjoyed this book; I hope to enjoy his next even more.
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LibraryThing member shawnd
At the end of the introduction to Breathless in Bombay, the author says ‘the story of Bombay is the story of struggle and sacrifice.” And while the title might imply a sense of wonderment or pace, the book is really a treatise on struggle in that city. In fact, a better title might be Bombay
The book’s writing style is solid without gratuitous prose. Imagine an admixture the following books: a meandering sociological case history such as Poor People by William Vollmann, a travel story by Paul Theroux, and some tragic short stories by Guy de Maupassant. Breathless in Bombay does manage to convey the sense of size, breadth, and natural beauty of Bombay in all aspects: people, wealth, commerce, and energy. It conveys a sense of unity of community among the people—all the while they are being fragmented by the city.
Contrasting village life in India with Bombay in a story called Maalishwalla: “But Bombay: it was different. Demanding? Yes! Life sapping? Yes! You had to have alliances and a ready salute for those in power.” With protagonists as varied as the elderly wife of a military officer; an oceanside masseuse; a taxi driver; a horse groom; and a rich entrepreneur, the author paints a mural of the struggle across Bombay to keep up with the heavy weight of the city’s progress. Without a sense of redemption or a Hollywood ending, this perhaps depressing book is best for someone looking to view contemporary Bombay through the eyes of the least visible citizens.
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Sorrows. Across fourteen stories, the author touches on how families and individuals try to make a life and not lose ground in the face of hardship. As if the city itself was foisting some inertia toward destruction, the characters try to stay above water and retain their dignity, standard of living, and happiness. The book touches on tragedies such as betrayal, corruption, poverty, addiction, and simple bad luck.The book’s writing style is solid without gratuitous prose. Imagine an admixture the following books: a meandering sociological case history such as Poor People by William Vollmann, a travel story by Paul Theroux, and some tragic short stories by Guy de Maupassant. Breathless in Bombay does manage to convey the sense of size, breadth, and natural beauty of Bombay in all aspects: people, wealth, commerce, and energy. It conveys a sense of unity of community among the people—all the while they are being fragmented by the city.
Contrasting village life in India with Bombay in a story called Maalishwalla: “But Bombay: it was different. Demanding? Yes! Life sapping? Yes! You had to have alliances and a ready salute for those in power.” With protagonists as varied as the elderly wife of a military officer; an oceanside masseuse; a taxi driver; a horse groom; and a rich entrepreneur, the author paints a mural of the struggle across Bombay to keep up with the heavy weight of the city’s progress. Without a sense of redemption or a Hollywood ending, this perhaps depressing book is best for someone looking to view contemporary Bombay through the eyes of the least visible citizens.
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LibraryThing member zak1013
I was a bit disappointed by Shroff's book. I found the dialogue a bit stilted; it was almost as though I was reading a work in translation rather than one written in English. It's a cliche, but one always hears that writers should "show" rather than "tell," and I felt Shroff's descriptive language
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was a bit too heavy on the showing. Still, the stories are interesting in that they are obviously the product of someone deeply knowledgeable about the city of Bombay, and in that sense, I found the book edifying. Show Less
LibraryThing member Oberon
Breathless in Bombay is an entertaining and occasionally challenging look at the daily lives of various segments of the population of a thriving, rapidly changing metropolis. A theme of collision between traditional and contemporary values runs through most of the stories. Shroff does an admirable
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job of depicting the personal views of residents as they watch their ways of life vanish in the name of progress. This struggle to adapt to a world fundamentally changed lends much of the drama to the individual stories. Whether it is the man hand washing clothes competing against the shiny washing machine or the residents of a decrepit flat fighting a bureaucracy in league with powerful developers, the stories put a human face on the remarkable transformation that is modern India. Show Less
LibraryThing member AzureMountain
Breathless in Bombay accompanied me on a long train journey recently. During the trip, I read the book in two sittings. For me, the true test of any writing about a country I have never seen is that the writing transports me there. Instantly. I want to see it. Hear it. Smell the scents on the air.
Breathless in Bombay did all that for me from the opening scene. Each story brings a different view of contemporary life and living in Bombay. I went places with this book I am certain never to go in "real life."
There were a few tales that fell a little short of the mark. One that I felt might have been set in almost any large city. But for the most part, they held me captive.
This is an author I will look for again.
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Be able to walk outside the stories and down the street to explore a little bit.Breathless in Bombay did all that for me from the opening scene. Each story brings a different view of contemporary life and living in Bombay. I went places with this book I am certain never to go in "real life."
There were a few tales that fell a little short of the mark. One that I felt might have been set in almost any large city. But for the most part, they held me captive.
This is an author I will look for again.
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LibraryThing member LiteraryFeline
Author Murzban F. Shroff attempts to capture the dichotomy of Bombay, both the beauty and the ugliness, and he succeeds. Fourteen short stories offer a glimpse into the cultures and lives of every day people in Bombay, from the rich to the working class to the poor.
Often my biggest complaint about
Among my favorites was the story of Chacha Sawari and his horse Badshah in The Queen Guards Her Own. Chacha was a man who took pride in his work and loved his horse. He did not have much in the later years of his life, and yet he made the best of it, always looking out for Badshah. Even amidst the poverty and prejudice of the wealthy, Chacha remained hopeful. Then there was the story, The Great Divide, about an elderly woman and her husband who had taken in a servant. A recent rash of murders of elderly by their servants set Mrs. Mullafiroze on edge and she feared for her own life and that of her husband. A Different Behl and This House of Mine demonstrated the depth of good friendships while Jamal Hoddi's Revenge showed a man with nothing to lose in his darkest hour. There was a story of love lost in Traffic, and love found in Breathless in Bombay, the final story of the book.
Murzban did not hesitate to paint a colorful picture of Bombay throughout his stories, including the warts of the disparity between the poor and the wealthy, prejudice, the clash of tradition and progress, as well as the corruption and greed. And yet, woven within the stories was also hope, the love of family and the power of friendship and community. Breathless in Bombay took me right onto the streets of Bombay and into the lives of the various characters.
Often my biggest complaint about
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short stories is reaching the end and wondering, "That's it?" That was not the case with Murzban F. Shroff's collection of stories. Each story stood on solid ground, the characters well developed in their complexities and lifestyles and the stories quickly and effectively established. There was not one story that I did not like, each a stand out in its own way. The fourteen stories that made up the collection were varied, some dark and sad while others more hopeful. Each of them was about the struggles of survival in a city where people flocked to for a better life and fought to survive in at the darkest of times.Among my favorites was the story of Chacha Sawari and his horse Badshah in The Queen Guards Her Own. Chacha was a man who took pride in his work and loved his horse. He did not have much in the later years of his life, and yet he made the best of it, always looking out for Badshah. Even amidst the poverty and prejudice of the wealthy, Chacha remained hopeful. Then there was the story, The Great Divide, about an elderly woman and her husband who had taken in a servant. A recent rash of murders of elderly by their servants set Mrs. Mullafiroze on edge and she feared for her own life and that of her husband. A Different Behl and This House of Mine demonstrated the depth of good friendships while Jamal Hoddi's Revenge showed a man with nothing to lose in his darkest hour. There was a story of love lost in Traffic, and love found in Breathless in Bombay, the final story of the book.
Murzban did not hesitate to paint a colorful picture of Bombay throughout his stories, including the warts of the disparity between the poor and the wealthy, prejudice, the clash of tradition and progress, as well as the corruption and greed. And yet, woven within the stories was also hope, the love of family and the power of friendship and community. Breathless in Bombay took me right onto the streets of Bombay and into the lives of the various characters.
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LibraryThing member Margalioth
This is a beautiful, lyrical, ugly, harsh, sensuous, raw, heartrending book. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
As someone who knows little about Indian society and culture in general, and even less about Bombay in particular, I feel like I have been given a glimpse of a wholly unfamiliar world. Yes, the
Shroff's writing appears tantalizingly transparent, but it becomes increasingly clear that he is indeed playing with language(s). There are moments when the characters switch from language to language and comments on and in English, Hindi, Gujarati, etc that remind us of the polyglot world of his birthplace, of the linguistic possibilities and the opportunities for linguistic inventiveness inherent in that sort of milieu. His judicious use of non-English words, words that are not defined (and whose meaning is not always clear from their contexts, at least not immediately) adds to the whirlwind sense of being a newcomer in the maelstrom that his Bombay appears to be, enhancing (rather than detracting from) the success of this collection.
As someone who knows little about Indian society and culture in general, and even less about Bombay in particular, I feel like I have been given a glimpse of a wholly unfamiliar world. Yes, the
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emotions and human interactions are a part of the human condition, but their context (so far from my own) makes them strange, opens them up to fresh investigation. The end of every story left me deep in thought, having to clear my head before reading the next one.Shroff's writing appears tantalizingly transparent, but it becomes increasingly clear that he is indeed playing with language(s). There are moments when the characters switch from language to language and comments on and in English, Hindi, Gujarati, etc that remind us of the polyglot world of his birthplace, of the linguistic possibilities and the opportunities for linguistic inventiveness inherent in that sort of milieu. His judicious use of non-English words, words that are not defined (and whose meaning is not always clear from their contexts, at least not immediately) adds to the whirlwind sense of being a newcomer in the maelstrom that his Bombay appears to be, enhancing (rather than detracting from) the success of this collection.
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LibraryThing member jfurshong
Avid readers of fiction have their favorite Indian authors. The sub-continent has provided English readers with some of the best fiction of the last 30 years: Rushdie, Mistry, Desai, Seth to name a few. These authors have opened our eyes to a fascinating culture and landscape, seemingly another
Murzban provide characters, backgrounds and story lines in14 deftly expressed stories. One story, titled The Queen Guards Her Own, contains as many vivid characters as if it was written by Dickens: Chacha the carriage driver, Simran the young prostitute, Amir Jwaab the beggar. This House of Mine, tells the story of a houseful of tenants who unite to save their homes from demolition, each tenant a completely portrayed individual. In Maalishwaala, the Hindi term for masseuse, we learn the complex story, past and present, of a young man from a rural village trying to earn money to support his wife back home. Each story delivers, none disappoints.
The most fascinating character of course is Bombay itself, the city that is the home to these characters and millions of others. Dense neighborhoods that were rural 30 years ago are now being leveled for high-rises. Many thousands live and work in slums with corporate headquarters as the backdrop of their labors. The new Indian and the India of centuries of tradition rub shoulders continuously every day. The tension and the contrast between the ancient and the modern, rural and urban, Muslim and Hindu, affluence and poverty are all here. Murzban F. Shroff is a skillful and accomplished writer who has won recognition for his short stories. I believe that this collection heralds the wider arrival of his unique voice and ample talent. He is deserving of taking his place among his worthy contemporaries.
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world. We will soon be adding Murzban F. Shroff to the list of exemplary fiction writers and his first collection of short stories, Breathless in Bombay, will prove that his inclusion is deserved.Murzban provide characters, backgrounds and story lines in14 deftly expressed stories. One story, titled The Queen Guards Her Own, contains as many vivid characters as if it was written by Dickens: Chacha the carriage driver, Simran the young prostitute, Amir Jwaab the beggar. This House of Mine, tells the story of a houseful of tenants who unite to save their homes from demolition, each tenant a completely portrayed individual. In Maalishwaala, the Hindi term for masseuse, we learn the complex story, past and present, of a young man from a rural village trying to earn money to support his wife back home. Each story delivers, none disappoints.
The most fascinating character of course is Bombay itself, the city that is the home to these characters and millions of others. Dense neighborhoods that were rural 30 years ago are now being leveled for high-rises. Many thousands live and work in slums with corporate headquarters as the backdrop of their labors. The new Indian and the India of centuries of tradition rub shoulders continuously every day. The tension and the contrast between the ancient and the modern, rural and urban, Muslim and Hindu, affluence and poverty are all here. Murzban F. Shroff is a skillful and accomplished writer who has won recognition for his short stories. I believe that this collection heralds the wider arrival of his unique voice and ample talent. He is deserving of taking his place among his worthy contemporaries.
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LibraryThing member vegetrendian
I liked this book, I didn't love it, but I liked it. I have read a lot of novels and stories set in India, and even had the good fortune to visit a number of years ago. He did manage to capture some of the flavour of India, and Bombay in particular; but all in all it felt a little lacking.