Such a Long Journey by Rohinton Mistry
Rohinton
Mistry's Such a Long Journey is one of remarkable confluences
of astonishingly beautiful writing and fully developed characterization.
There is no major crisis that takes place, no earth-shattering destruction
of place or person, there is a sustained tension throughout the novel. The
protagonist is Gustad Noble. The novel is set during the rule of Indira Gandhi,
and is a damning indictment of both her government and American foreign policy
of the time. The journey is both a physical and metaphorical one, of Gustad's
bedside visitation of a friend he thought had betrayed him and of Gustad's
eventual realization that there are few absolutes in life beyond that
of death, that for every face there are a myriad of facets. There are
several but subtle poignant metaphors woven, the most memorable being the
character of Tehmul, who is a physically and mentally disabled man with the
character of a boy and it is this pull of the innocent versus the carnal that mirrors
much of the political and social turmoil of the novel. This book was
shortlisted for the 1991 Booker Prize. It was pulled from the University of
Mumbai's English Curriculum because of protests from the family of Hindu's
nationalist- Bal Thackeray. Through this book, we come to know about the
journey of Parsis and their culture and the problems they faced.
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