First book of 2012. Imagine my huge disappointment when I saw the index itself! Its a collection of short-stories. I love short stories. Tagore's Tales inspired and mesmerized me. So did O.Henry. I built up a giant empire of goodness over them.
The cover art(photograph) of the book is beautiful. The Japanese wife promised a lot and delivered too little. The title story enthralled me with the husband and wife's letter writing scenes and the little gifts she sents him. The writing is magical. It possessed me and then the story abruptly came to an end. It could have been more. I am so curious to see the movie now.
And the other stories, Long Live Imelda Marcos- what's with the title? Just something that would entice the reader in going through the story first. I am so very disappointed. It could have been pleasant- all the stories- everything fell flat though. All the titles are so beautiful- Lenin's cafe, Snake charmer, Lotus Dragon- i wish the content lived up to its hype! Grateful Ganga- oh, it evoked all memories and images of the Ganges in my mind and where did it fit ultimately? The author could have easily used a better editor and being a much better narrator in the first place.

Mr. Basu! Why did you do this? You made my mind and heart fly high and then cut the strings so brutally! All bengali writers that i've read of, except Gurudev Tagore and Amartya Sen, have so far disappointed me! *Sighs* ( )

This book is a collection of 12 stories. "The Japanese Wife" being the best one, all the stories just pull a strange string in you. "Lenin's Cafe" was the story which went above my head, may be because it has to do something with communists:)...
Deep and thoughtful i finished the book. ( )

Finally I finished reading this book. It was not as bad as I had thought, perhaps influenced by reviews or the first story 'The Japanese Wife' I read. Some stories were good and some were plain bland, purposeless. Once read, I gave away the book to an elderly Swiss German lady on a train who was reading Mankell in English.

This is a series of very poetic stories. They are often of impossible loves. A couple managed to capture my imagination, but whether it was the flowery style, the complicated plots or the general foreignness of the decors, I was unable to delve into these stories and I suspect that they will be quickly forgotten. Not my cup of tea. ( )