In these eleven stories, Rohinton Mistry opens our eyes and our hearts to the rich, complex patterns of life inside Firozsha Baag, an apartment building in Bombay. Here are Jaakaylee, the ghost-seer, and Najamai, the only owner of a refrigerator in Firozsha Baag; Rustomji the Curmudgeon and Kersi, the young boy whose life threads through the book and who narrates the final story as an adult in Toronto. We see their passions, their worst fears, their betrayals, and their humorous acts of revenge. Witty and poignant, in turns, these intersecting stories create a finely textured mosaic of lives and illuminate a world poised between the old ways and the new.
Tales from Firozsha Baag
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Tales from Firozsha Baag is Rohinton Mistry's best, but least-known, book. Other strengths aside, Mistry is plodding as a novelist. Here, in this collection of interrelated short stories, Mistry is at his most natural, showing us the actions and thoughts of characters while never condescending to tell us their theme or import. Each of the 11 linked stories is set in a different apartment in the shared Firozsha Baag (Fur-oh-shaw Bog) complex, where more than cooking odours and telltale noises travel from apartment to apartment. Joggers visible out a window in "The Collectors" later become inspiration, liberation and, arguably, temptation for young Jehangir in the aching "Exercisers."
In Mistry's dexterous hands, the apartment complex is not just a clever device for uniting stories that made their debuts independently in Canada's best literary magazines. Firozsha Baag is a gossamer antenna tuned to the barely detectable human stories haunting our peculiar spaces: "No ayah [nanny/maid]," Mistry knows, "gets key to a flat. It is something I have learned, like I learned forty-nine years ago that life as ayah means living close to floor. All work I do, I do on floors.... Food also is eaten sitting on floor, after serving them at dining-table." A uniquely accomplished first book. --Darryl Whetter --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Review
“A writer of formidable strength and imagination…these stories are like little bits of life glistening on the page.”
–Toronto Star
“A fine collection…informed by a tone of gentle compassion for seemingly insignificant lives.”
–New York Times
“The crowded, throbbing life of India is brilliantly captured in this series of stories.…”
–Sunday Times, London (U.K.)
“Rohinton Mistry explores quicksand territory with intelligence, compassion, wit, and memorable flair.”
–Los Angeles Times Book Review
–Toronto Star
“A fine collection…informed by a tone of gentle compassion for seemingly insignificant lives.”
–New York Times
“The crowded, throbbing life of India is brilliantly captured in this series of stories.…”
–Sunday Times, London (U.K.)
“Rohinton Mistry explores quicksand territory with intelligence, compassion, wit, and memorable flair.”
–Los Angeles Times Book Review
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Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By "tanaz_sa"
Format:Paperback
Of all the books by Rohinton Mistry, I liked this one the best because, it isn't as depressing as the others. Its a tale about the people of a Parsi Colony in Bombay, called Firozsha Baag; their experiences, triumphs and misfortunes. Characters such as Rustomji-the-cur, Nariman Hansotia and Jaykaylee the Aya (maid) are amusing and bring about a pleasant sense of deja-vu.
Being a Parsi myself, I couldn't stop laughing when Mistry depicted our "normal", rather idiotic behaviour. Strangely, a lot of old Parsi women (like Najamai in the book)complain about their cataracts!!
Mistry is a good author who dwells too deeply in the depressing aspects of life at times. But, then again, this is my personal opinion. If you would like to read about the reality of Parsis in Bombay...pick up Tales from Firozsha Baag.
Being a Parsi myself, I couldn't stop laughing when Mistry depicted our "normal", rather idiotic behaviour. Strangely, a lot of old Parsi women (like Najamai in the book)complain about their cataracts!!
Mistry is a good author who dwells too deeply in the depressing aspects of life at times. But, then again, this is my personal opinion. If you would like to read about the reality of Parsis in Bombay...pick up Tales from Firozsha Baag.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By Paul Brians
Format:Paperback
This is a fine collection of early short stories, but note that it was reprinted in the U.S. as Swimming Lessons and Other Stories from Firozsha Baag; so if you have one book, you don't need the other.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.4 out of 5 stars
7 reviews
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Tales from Firozsha Baag is Swimming Lessons
Dec 28 2002
By Paul Brians
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
This is a fine collection of early short stories, but note that it was reprinted in the U.S. as Swimming Lessons and Other Stories from Firozsha Baag; so if you have one book, you don't need the other.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Funny and Interesting
Jan 4 2003
By "tanaz_sa"
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
Of all the books by Rohinton Mistry, I liked this one the best because, it isn't as depressing as the others. Its a tale about the people of a Parsi Colony in Bombay, called Firozsha Baag; their experiences, triumphs and misfortunes. Characters such as Rustomji-the-cur, Nariman Hansotia and Jaykaylee the Aya (maid) are amusing and bring about a pleasant sense of deja-vu.
Being a Parsi myself, I couldn't stop laughing when Mistry depicted our "normal", rather idiotic behaviour. Strangely, a lot of old Parsi women (like Najamai in the book)complain about their cataracts!!
Mistry is a good author who dwells too deeply in the depressing aspects of life at times. But, then again, this is my personal opinion. If you would like to read about the reality of Parsis in Bombay...pick up Tales from Firozsha Baag.
Being a Parsi myself, I couldn't stop laughing when Mistry depicted our "normal", rather idiotic behaviour. Strangely, a lot of old Parsi women (like Najamai in the book)complain about their cataracts!!
Mistry is a good author who dwells too deeply in the depressing aspects of life at times. But, then again, this is my personal opinion. If you would like to read about the reality of Parsis in Bombay...pick up Tales from Firozsha Baag.
9 of 11 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Tales from Firozsha Baag
April 5 2001
By Carmelo Tropiano
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
This book is an excellent discussion on the human condition and its universal relevance. Rohinton Mistry weaves together the struggles of everyday life of an apartment complex in Bombay. As the book progresses, the universal problems of life becomes very clear...death, sorrow, poverty, superstition, and love. It describes the pertinence of existentialism in a quasi religious district. An excellent read for all those who wish to understand how human life progresses, and how it matters little where you live it. Touching and compassionate, and as historical fiction, a very compelling read!
›
Go to Amazon.com to see all 7 reviews
4.4 out of 5 stars
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