With imaginative lushness and narrative elan, Mehta provides a novel that combines Indian storytelling with thoroughly modern perceptions into the ...
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reviews
Jun 16, 2008
Jennifer
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This book is nominally about an Indian clerk who has retired to the Narmada River, but it reads as a collection of stories more than a single cohesive book. This isn't too much of a flaw, though, since each of the stories is lovely and could stand up on its own. Each story is about someone the clerk meets or is told about, and each of these people has some connection to the holy river. A few of the tales are happy, and several of them end in tragedy, but they all have some sort of moral (with
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Jan 21, 2012
Reid
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This is a very clever, fascinating book which uses the device of a frame story, allowing the author to relate several different short tales through the expedient of their discovery by the protagonist. In this case, a government bureaucrat takes a position as manager of a vacation bungalow nestled on the banks of the river Narmada in rural India. He has been many years in the big city, is childless and a widower; he thinks it high time he went into semi-retirement to contemplate the world.
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Sep 08, 2009
Christine
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This was an interesting book if only for the fact that I am always curious about other cultures. This book is set on the Narmada river in India and is told by a man who is trying to pull himself away from the world. He is met by some very interesting people with even more interesting stories that help explain religions, culture and mythology that I was previously unfamiliar with. A lot of it was entertaining and some of it fascinating in the fact that some of the stories represented such a forei
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Sep 08, 2009
Ilana
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The narrator of the book was a bureaucrat. He travels through out India to find knowledge and good in this world. The narrator listens to people's stories about how they found religion, and how they became to worship this sacred river called the Narmada. His main goal is to find serenity and peace, but a lot of the stories he hears from people, do not involve serenity and peace. Some conflicts are, that all the stories people tell him about their life, is usually very tragic and terrible. So, th
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Jun 26, 2008
Jarome
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A nicely written, peek into a somewhat different world. Smooth and easy to digest. I found myself trying to actually see the bungalow, the jungle and more importantly the river, in my mind. The chapter about the poor, little singing child really threw me at the end.
All in all, makes me want to read more Indian literature.
All in all, makes me want to read more Indian literature.
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Nov 22, 2008
Nikki Faith
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Of the many stories and themes that flow through A River Sutra, one stands out above all: passion. The individual stories that are told alongside this river are both awe-inspiring and heartbreaking. Altogether, these stories of passion, the story of A River Sutra, function to demonstrate the functions of mythology as set by Joseph Campbell. Here, I will focus on the first and fourth function of mythology.
The pain that is seen throughout A River Sutra points to the metaphysical function More...
The pain that is seen throughout A River Sutra points to the metaphysical function More...
Aug 27, 2010
Aban (Aby)
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What a delightful read! This book helped transform a tedious journey from London (England) to Saskatoon into hours of pleasure.
This is a collection of short stories, with a common thread running through them. An aging bureaucrat decides to retire from a hectic life in the city to one of peace and contemplation, running a guest-house on the banks of the River Narmada, one of India's holiest rivers. There he meets a variety of fascinating people and narrates their stories. Each story i More...
This is a collection of short stories, with a common thread running through them. An aging bureaucrat decides to retire from a hectic life in the city to one of peace and contemplation, running a guest-house on the banks of the River Narmada, one of India's holiest rivers. There he meets a variety of fascinating people and narrates their stories. Each story i More...
Apr 30, 2009
Dee
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A government bureaucrat retired from the world to run a rest house on the banks of the Narmanda River, the holiest river in India, meets travelers, ascetics, mendicants and the troubled. The background is holy sites, glimpses into cultures and peoples and life lessons that usually take a lifetime to understand. It is an exotic glimpse into the holy river and it's mythology and an interesting take on the human condition. While it was not a long book, it was a book that took a lot of thought and a
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Jul 11, 2010
Christine
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I read this book while traveling through India and it made me want to visit all the places Mehta writes about and explore more of India - its folklore, history, culture, and religion. It didn't hurt that I started reading it right before we did a backwater trip in Kerala, which evoked the spirit of the Narmada River she writes about in the book. I was so drawn into all of the stories - a Jain mendicant, a Muslim music teacher, a wandering ascetic, a courtesan seeking her kidnapped daughter, a v
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Jan 30, 2012
Mike
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A River Sutra is a little like Slumdog Millionaire. It tells a harsh story of India. It is about a man who had retired from life to sit by the river and only watch the world pass by. It is also about an ascetic who is living in the dirt of self denial until he discovers the old Buddhist truth: "First they are mountains, then they are not, finally they are mountains again." I will not give away the ending, but it is about the simplicity of enlightenment that comes without you ever knowi
Jun 18, 2008
PC
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Another one from the Indian Canon:
I had high hopes for this book, and perhaps that contributed to my disappointment when I finished it. The novel progresses by using a main character - a retired bureaucrat who is looking for the peace and ascetic lifestyle of those who renounce life - as the vehicle for a series of other stories. This main character encounters other characters who feel compelled to relate their stories to him, all of which are somehow intertwined to the running thread of More...
I had high hopes for this book, and perhaps that contributed to my disappointment when I finished it. The novel progresses by using a main character - a retired bureaucrat who is looking for the peace and ascetic lifestyle of those who renounce life - as the vehicle for a series of other stories. This main character encounters other characters who feel compelled to relate their stories to him, all of which are somehow intertwined to the running thread of More...
May 16, 2011
Damita
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A River Sutra was an interesting book because of its stories about the lives and experiences of its characters set in India. It reminded me of the Canterbury Tales in that most of the book is comprised of a set of stories told to the main character by different people who he meets while stationed near the river Narmada. I enjoyed the rich description of the landscape surrounding the river.
Aug 25, 2011
Walter
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A modern day "Arabian Nights" by a writer who knows how to tug at a reader's heartstrings. Lovely prose lift the interwoven stories into a larger portrait of a time and place as remote but familiar as our heart. Ms. Mehta's stories of love, loss, and the search for meaning in our life are small gems that stay with us long after the last story is told.
Dec 08, 2011
Jane
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These stories transport one to the world of India along the Narmada River. The stories within the story as told to the main character reveal different experiences and life lessons of various individuals that result in changing the perspective and view of the main character as well.
Nov 04, 2011
Benjamin
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This is one of the books most heavily ear-marked in my private library. So many passages of simple but startling clarity.
The book is built from four seemingly disparate narratives. Take it like a collection of short fiction and then brace yourself for the ending! Oh, India!
The book is built from four seemingly disparate narratives. Take it like a collection of short fiction and then brace yourself for the ending! Oh, India!
Nov 11, 2010
Eve
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An Indian bureaucrat retreats from society to run a guest house along a sacred river. The book is a series of stories about the people who show up there on pilgrimage. Great pretext for telling a crazy mixture of wild, weird and often moving stories.
Aug 18, 2010
Jenny
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A beautiful set of interlocking stories about the Narmada, India’s holiest river. The main character is a bureaucrat who has retired to run a guesthouse on the banks of the Narmada, and the stories are told by those who cross his path.
May 13, 2009
Lynnea
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A book of nested short stories. I'm not a big short story reader but this one has such a fascinating setting. A river in India and people pursuing differing religious or mystical or artistic practices raised to the level of religion.
Aug 28, 2011
Ilene
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I liked this book It was a quick read but well-written and I enjoyed the many short stories and folklore about India and life along the Narmada (sp?) river. It was different from anything I have read before and am glad I picked it up from the library.
Aug 10, 2011
Rosalita
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Gita Mehta is top of the list as one of my favorite writers. Her style reads like poetry and flows like a beautiful melody. This is my number ONE favorite book and is the only book I have read more than twice.
Apr 05, 2009
Moira
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Book of short stories told by travelers to the sacred Narmada River that evokes the cultures, folklore, and religions of India. Fascinating stories told in first person to a retired civil servant. Nice glossary in back.
May 06, 2011
Tim
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When this first came out it quickly became my favourite book. The cover speaks volumes about the richness of the insides. I do need to reread this -hey where is the rereading button on Goodreads?
Apr 29, 2009
Lesandre
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Didn't get to finish this book. It literally grew legs and walked away as I was eagerly anticipating the final 100 pages. Great stories that intertwine... need to get it from the library.
May 19, 2008
David
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First let me say that I reserve the right to change my rating (upward) on this book. I just finished it and I am having a hard time deciding how I feel about it on many levels. To this extent alone, it must be a pretty good book as I am done with it but still thinking about it. It is well written and interesting (if you are interested in East Indian culture, religion, and psychology - which I am). It is a swift read and seems like more of a series of semi-related vignettes than anything else. T
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Dec 10, 2010
I met Gita Mehta and told her I was a fan of A River Sutra. She said thank you.
Then I told her I was a fan of Shah Rukh Khan and she said who isn't!
Then I told her I was a fan of Shah Rukh Khan and she said who isn't!
Mar 11, 2011
Hope4flowers
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A quiet look at love and spirituality set along the Narmada river in India; beautiful imagery; reads like a set of parables
Nov 16, 2011
Shanti
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Exquisitely written in an authentic voice that captures the flavor of the Narmada's ancient culture.
Nov 25, 2011
Jacqueline
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It is among the best stories that I have ever read. It is so refreshingly original.
Feb 10, 2012
Daisy
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Personally, I loved this book. The description throughout was amazing, and perfectly written. Every chapter holds something new, another story, another life. Yet they all link together to give the narrator, and the reader, an understanding of religion and spirituality. The reasons why people search for a meaning to life are discovered in this book, it's peaceful, tranquil, down to the last detail.
Jul 28, 2011
Colin
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One of my all-time favorite works. I am going to assign it to my Hinduism students.
