Customer Reviews (1)

Loved it.
Found it by chance at a used bookstore and wasn't able to put it down. Not sure why more people haven't heard of her in the US. Just ordered another one of her books from amazon. ... Read more

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Paperback edition of the 1999 hardcover that introduced U.S. readers to a distinguished Indian writer and garnered praise from the New York Times Book Review, Publishers Weekly, and many others."The novel's rich, nuanced prose weaves the tale of four generations of women into a complex tapestry," wrote Ms. Magazine of this tale of familial break-up, reconcilation, and renewal. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

The wonderfully complex hearts of women
As a writer, Deshpande speaks with the voice of truth. The core of her talent is a profound understanding of the layered complexities of women's familial interactions, the nurturing friendships and smoldering silences of past deeds. She weaves the story of four generations of Indian women caught in the "metaphor of silence".

When Gopal, in a rush of existential angst, tells his wife, Sumi, that he cannot stay married, he makes this decision in good faith. Unable to find joy in the small moments of family, he is hyper-aware of the fleeting nature of happiness. With the simple intention to be true to himself, he sets in place a series of events with tragic consequences. The most wrenching change is for Sumi, Gopal's beautiful still-young wife, who must return to live in her parents home with three young daughters. In her struggle for a new definition of herself, Sumi grieves and accepts the loss of her marriage, discovers untapped strengths within herself and possibilities for her future. Sumi begins anew knowing that "where I stand is always the center to me". Of the girls, Anu, the oldest, struggles hardest to understand how her everyday simplicity could change so drastically. She watches the grownups carefully: her mother, Sumi, her grandmother, Kalyani, and distant grandfather, Shripati. And Anu listens to old family stories in an attempt to comprehend the intricacies of the women's subtle alliances.

No one is prepared for tragedy as they attempt to reassemble their hopes and dreams with an eye to the future. But life is ever unpredictable and this Indian family is dealt a blow that leaves them staggering for balance. In her powerful, quiet way, Deshpande lovingly renders her complex characters, bringing the reader into their home just long enough to love these women too, and mourn their loss, a rare gift in a writer.

A Journey into boredom
I confess I could not even complete the book. There are too many characters and it was hard to keep track of everybody. I had to go back many times to check whether the character was really introduced before. The description of places was remarkable. I felt I was physically 'seeing'them. The story might be enlighetening to some but Shashi Deshpande must keep the pace and interest of the reader. There were hardly any dramatic happenings in the first half which I read. Do the readers feel compel to read? My definite answer was big NO. Unless the reader feels compulsion to turn over the page and reach the last page neither entertainment nor enlightenment will be experienced.

ENNUI
This must have been the most boring, hard to follow book I have read in my life.
There was not enought substance to hate it or to love it...just plain boring.

Rich in Detail...
This book is fantastic!Deshpande uses such incredible imagery, such rich detail, I felt like I was part of the book.While exploring the inner workings of the Indian brain, this book also deals with the strength andpower of Indian family life.I read this book from cover to cover in onesitting, and would gladly read it again.I absolutely loved it!

Deshpande's new novel is a complex, but enlightening work
Shashi Deshpande's book "A Matter of Time" is a "must" book for all those who are interested in the Indian way of thinking. In her book Deshpande tries to answer some very important questions like, "What is a relationship?", "What is life?", "Whatis death?", "Is death the final act which wipes out all that hasbeen?" - questions that have bothered human beings from timeimmemorial. Seeped in Indian thoughts and philosophical thinking, rich inIndian images, the novel is a tapestry of human relationships. It is quiteunconventional in the way it uses the relationships within a family toexplore the ways open to a man who is disenchanted with the material world.Gopal who he is haunted by a feeling of emptiness walks out of his familylife leaving behind his young and beautiful wife, Sumi and three daughters.Sumi accepts his decision even if she does not understand it, andconcentrates on continuing to live. It is as if within her heart she knowsthat no human being has the right to chain up another one, that each personhas to travel the path of life alone. Aru, the eldest daughter does nothave this ripeness of outlook. Just 17 years of age, she thinks thatjustice is something which can be obtained in a court of law. She divideslife into fair and unfair zones. Kalyani, the grand mother has led amacabre married life.Her husband has not talked to her for decades, andleads a solitary life in a room built on the top of the house. But the factthat he is there in the house seems to lend an air of respectability toKalyani's life. She does not understand the loneliness of the heart, andneither understands why Gopal has walked out nor why Sumi takes it socalmly. Thus in this novel Shashi Deshpande brings together women of threegenerations and shows their different outlooks on life. As with her otherbooks, a variety of experiences await the reader of this novel. What areader gets out of this book very much depends on the his/her own mentalframe work. This novel is not meant to entertain, but to enlighten. ... Read more

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Sahitya Academy award winning novelist. She lives in Bangalore. 2003 2nd edition. Author's unadorned style directs the reader's attention to the inner lives of her characters. In this psychological thriller Shashi Deshpande demonstrates the versatility of her award winning literary skills. ... Read more

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A critical analysis of foremost Indian novelist Shashi Deshpande writing in English, accessible to students and offering a new insight into the methodologies of reading an Indian woman writer. ... Read more

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Contributed articles. ... Read more

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“There can be no vaulting over time,” thinks Urmila, the narrator of Shashi Dephpande’s radiant novel. “We have to walk every step of the way, however difficult or painful it is; we can avoid nothing.” After the death of her baby, Urmi’s grief is boundless. She resists the well-intentioned care of her mother and her best friend. As the stories of these women unfold, so does a tale of quiet courage and faith.

The women who unexpectedly touch Urmi’s life are powerfully present, though one of them is physically absent, and another is silenced by violence. Urmi finds, in notebooks she discovers by chance in a dusty storage trunk, the journals and poetry of her long-dead mother-in-law, Mina, who was trapped in an unhappy, arranged marriage. She was a gifted writer whose work remained secret and unread, perhaps because she was a woman. Kalpana, a victim of rape who hovers between life and death in a hospital ward, has also been silenced. Urmi forms a bond of mutual support with Kalpana’s impoverished mother.

The miracle of The Binding Vine, and of Shashi Deshpande’s deeply compassionate vision, is that out of this web of loss and despair emerge strands of life and hope—abinding vine of love, concern, and connection that spreads across chasms of time, social class, and even death. In moving and exquisitely understated prose, Deshpande renders visible the extraordinary endurance and grace concealed in women’s everyday lives. ... Read more

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On Kauòtalya, ancient Indian writer on statecraft. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

INteresting
I am an ardent Shshi Deshpande fan. I liked the book as I do all her other books. This is the only collection of essays I could find. ... Read more

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Drawn from the wondrous tales told to Kipling as a child by his Indian nurses, Just So Stories creates the magical enchantment of the dawn of the world, when animals could talk and think like people.

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