http://waternoice.com/2008/12/04/book-review-a-good-indian-wife/ Online magazine for Indian Americans in the Bay Area Wed, 17 Mar 2010 19:00:13 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 http://waternoice.com/2008/12/04/book-review-a-good-indian-wife/comment-page-1/#comment-2969 Vidya Pradhan Tue, 07 Apr 2009 21:39:42 +0000 http://waternoice.com/?p=1243#comment-2969 Good sleuthing, Manish! Yet the most important quality of literature is to be timeless. Even if Ms. Cherian was trying to recreate a bygone era, some universal truths should have emerged and I did not get that feeling with this book. For example, the movie "Parineeta" was about Bengal several decades ago, but it resonated with us because our hearts were touched by the sorrow of a misunderstood and powerless woman in a patriarchal, feudal society. Another masterpiece is "Pride and Prejudice" which I thoroughly enjoyed in the authentically recreated BBC version even though it was hardly contemporary. Jane Austen began her classic with these words - "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." This sharp, satirical look at the human condition, which does not mellow or diminish with age, is what is missing from "A good indian wife." If I were to be really cruel, I would say that the book panders to the Occidental love of all things exotically Asian. And since modern Indian society is slowly shedding all the quirks that made it fascinating to the Western world, the author had to go back a couple of decades to make it interesting enough. Good sleuthing, Manish! Yet the most important quality of literature is to be timeless. Even if Ms. Cherian was trying to recreate a bygone era, some universal truths should have emerged and I did not get that feeling with this book. For example, the movie “Parineeta” was about Bengal several decades ago, but it resonated with us because our hearts were touched by the sorrow of a misunderstood and powerless woman in a patriarchal, feudal society. Another masterpiece is “Pride and Prejudice” which I thoroughly enjoyed in the authentically recreated BBC version even though it was hardly contemporary. Jane Austen began her classic with these words – “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” This sharp, satirical look at the human condition, which does not mellow or diminish with age, is what is missing from “A good indian wife.”
If I were to be really cruel, I would say that the book panders to the Occidental love of all things exotically Asian. And since modern Indian society is slowly shedding all the quirks that made it fascinating to the Western world, the author had to go back a couple of decades to make it interesting enough.

]]> http://waternoice.com/2008/12/04/book-review-a-good-indian-wife/comment-page-1/#comment-2968 Manish Tue, 07 Apr 2009 17:34:42 +0000 http://waternoice.com/?p=1243#comment-2968 What you and most reviewers miss is this: the story takes places circa 1982 so it is 27 years out-of-date. How do you know that it takes place around 1982. Neel's grandfather mentions that Neel was born right after Independence, meaning sometime in late 1947 and Neel is 35 years old in the book. Do the math and the year is 1982. What you and most reviewers miss is this: the story takes places circa 1982 so it is 27 years out-of-date. How do you know that it takes place around 1982. Neel’s grandfather mentions that Neel was born right after Independence, meaning sometime in late 1947 and Neel is 35 years old in the book. Do the math and the year is 1982.

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