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50th out of 93 books
—
6 voters
The Japanese Wife
by
Kunal Basu
‘It’s an improbable and hauntingly beautiful love story, almost surreal in its innocence. And I immediately knew that this was the film I had to make.’ – Aparna Sen
An Indian man writes to a Japanese woman. She writes back. The pen-friends fall in love and exchange their vows over letters, then live as man and wife without ever setting eyes on each other – their intimacy of...more
An Indian man writes to a Japanese woman. She writes back. The pen-friends fall in love and exchange their vows over letters, then live as man and wife without ever setting eyes on each other – their intimacy of...more
Hardcover
Published
2008
by Harper Collins
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First book of 2012. Imagine my huge disappointment when I saw the index itself! Its a collection of short-stories. I love short stories. Tagore's Tales inspired and mesmerized me. So did O.Henry. I built up a giant empire of goodness over them.
The cover art(photograph) of the book is beautiful. The Japanese wife promised a lot and delivered too little. The title story enthralled me with the husband and wife's letter writing scenes and the little gifts she sents him. The writing is magical. It p...more
The cover art(photograph) of the book is beautiful. The Japanese wife promised a lot and delivered too little. The title story enthralled me with the husband and wife's letter writing scenes and the little gifts she sents him. The writing is magical. It p...more
Actually this book should be in some website called badreads or something. Kunal Basu has a Chetan-Bhagat-ish style of writing, really kiddish and boring. It is a surprise that he can even think of a beautiful plot like this. Or maybe my judgement is colored by Aparna Sen's movie based on the book. If you have seen the movie, do NOT read the book, you will commit suicide.
The original title was 'The Japanese Wife and Other Stories' which was later changed to 'The Japanese Wife'. He fails badly a...more
The original title was 'The Japanese Wife and Other Stories' which was later changed to 'The Japanese Wife'. He fails badly a...more
Resensi buku ini begitu menarik, magnetnya adalah kata2 dari calcutta hingga yogyakarta. Aha...bagaimana seorang penulis dari nun jauh disana memiliki kesan tentang jogja. Jadilah buku ini ku bawa pulang. Cerpen pertama yang berjudul japanese wife sukses memberi kesan yang berbeda. Sederhana, klasik dan unik. Sederhana dari setting, alur, klasik dalam tutur namun begitu unik dari segi ide. Terbayangkankah menikahi seseorang hanya lewat surat. Dengan jarak yang tak alang kepalang karena si pria t...more
10 April 2009
I'm now more than mid-way through Kunal Basu's The Japanese Wife, another collection of short stories by another Bengali writer (they are India's most literate. Just think Tagore . . . ). This time the writer is based in Oxford -- the Indian writers' diaspora goes far and wide.
I think the collection builds up and particularly enjoyed Lenin's Cafe as it brought the Asian expat life of Moscow alive -- I could just see the apartments of Vavilova where most of them live! & his story...more
I'm now more than mid-way through Kunal Basu's The Japanese Wife, another collection of short stories by another Bengali writer (they are India's most literate. Just think Tagore . . . ). This time the writer is based in Oxford -- the Indian writers' diaspora goes far and wide.
I think the collection builds up and particularly enjoyed Lenin's Cafe as it brought the Asian expat life of Moscow alive -- I could just see the apartments of Vavilova where most of them live! & his story...more
Hampir saja saya berhenti membaca buku ini, karena banyak sekali kalimat yang membuat dahi saya berkerut karena tidak mengerti. Misalnya saja kalimat ini: "Aku bertemu ayahku sebelas tahun kematiannya"... Belum lagi berbagai kesalahan semacam Moskwa (saya pikir seharusnya Moskow). Namun, kisah-kisah yang ditulis Kunal Basu menarik. Awalnya agak membosankan memang, apalagi cerpen berjudul Kafe Lenin yang absurdnya minta ampun. Saya pikir penerjemahnya ngos-ngosan dalam menerjemahkan cerpen ini. C...more
On the one hand, I think Basu has a great ability to evoke setting: all of the places and people he describes are ones I can recognize or imagine. The course of different character's lives are also familiar, in that they reflect the disapora of the current age - immigration, cross-cultural exchanges, journeys to discover oneself. They're good, small stories, anecdotes. On the other hand, the stories told are very transient and lack substance for me... reading this book is for me like looking at...more
Absolutely horrible.
So so boring.
Basu tries to make his stories - ugh, how should I describe it - quietly poetic, with a relaxed but strong appeal to aesthetics. He strains to create the same atmosphere and attraction predominant in the movie "Hero" (sorry, I can't think of a book reference, forgive me ... great movie, by the way), failing utterly. Almost every line can be equated to a fluffy filler.
And the endings! Ugh! The endings are preferentially melodramatic, predicable, ridiculous, or...more
So so boring.
Basu tries to make his stories - ugh, how should I describe it - quietly poetic, with a relaxed but strong appeal to aesthetics. He strains to create the same atmosphere and attraction predominant in the movie "Hero" (sorry, I can't think of a book reference, forgive me ... great movie, by the way), failing utterly. Almost every line can be equated to a fluffy filler.
And the endings! Ugh! The endings are preferentially melodramatic, predicable, ridiculous, or...more
From the moment Aparna Sen announced that she would be making a literary adaptation of Kunal Basu’s The Japanese Wife, one saw an immense curiosity for the book. Not unexpectedly, copies of it were instantly lapped up at literary fests and now when it has finally hit book stores, business remains brisk as ever.
Now, firstly, this is a disappointment for people expecting to read a full-fledged novel on The Japanese Wife because it's a book of 13 short stories. The theme that runs here is that of u...more
4 likes · like · see review
This book is a collection of short stories by Kunal Basu. None of the stories caught my attention, imagination, but nonetheless,he is a good author.
My standards of authors of Bengal-origin has been greatly biased by Jhumpa Lahiri and Amitav Ghosh, whose imagination and stories are interesting and a quick easy read,probably that's why I didn't find this book as exciting.
No story gripped me, intrigued me. Unfortunately,after a point, I flipped the pages with half a heart to read more of the chara...more
My standards of authors of Bengal-origin has been greatly biased by Jhumpa Lahiri and Amitav Ghosh, whose imagination and stories are interesting and a quick easy read,probably that's why I didn't find this book as exciting.
No story gripped me, intrigued me. Unfortunately,after a point, I flipped the pages with half a heart to read more of the chara...more
A lovely book. After reading what others have to say - am not much bothered about the caste, state and creed of the writer. what matters to me is that Basu has vivid imagination, knowledge about cultures & relationships, and has narrated it in simple language. I liked more or less all the stories, the one which touched my heart was the Snake Charmer, followed by Long Live Imelda Marcos and Japanese Wife.
I'm not very partial to books of short stories, and I read this one slowly. As I went from one to the next, I began to realize this is a very 21st century book. It's about ordinary people who interact from all over the world, though mainly Asia. It's not the today of flashy technology or global politics, but it's very modern in how many peoples it spans. And each one becomes real. Oddly enough, the book's title story was my least favorite.
I loved the platonic love between the two who belonged to two different worlds yet had such a soulful relationship.. loved the way the rural life in Bengal has been shown. narrations are great. I saw the movie too though dint find it as good as the book may be because the things that can be best read cant be depicted on screen ...
The cover promised more than the book offered. It is very hard to tell that this is in fact a book of short stories and 'The Japanese wife' is only one of them......... and in my view the best one and strongest narrative .
The others were a motley mix of vaguely interesting stories which somehow I have completely forgotten.
The others were a motley mix of vaguely interesting stories which somehow I have completely forgotten.
after reading interpreter of maladies i had lost faith on short stories.. but thank god it was saved after reading this book.. though not many "great" stories but good ones.. kunal basu has a different style of writing and am yet to fathom it fully.. think will read the opium clerk again..
This book is a collection of 12 stories. "The Japanese Wife" being the best one, all the stories just pull a strange string in you. "Lenin's Cafe" was the story which went above my head, may be because it has to do something with communists:)...
Deep and thoughtful i finished the book.
Deep and thoughtful i finished the book.
A beautiful concept , unhinged however by plain bad writing . Was severely disappointed after having seen Aparna Sen's movie of the titular story , which actually captures the promise of the idea and moulds it to its proper form . Go see the movie , anyday !
Barring a couple of stories, the book did not appeal much to me. The characters and the scenario was described very well by Basu. However, I found a hard try to amalgamate different cultures and scenario in each story; I could not relate much to it.
Reread it again borrowing the book from Pleasa's shelf... and liked a couple of stories again... this time round, I went one story per day, there was more time to read and relate, a different strategy or so...
Pertama, saya 'tertipu' karena ternyata ini adalah kumpulan cerita pendek, bukan novel. Kedua, ternyata hanya cerita berjudul Japanese wife saja yang bagus...well, sebenarnya ada satu lagi tapi saya lupa judulnya :)
leaving the Japanese wife the rest of the stories were OK..the stories are very interesting in the beginning but somehow the end of each story was very haphazardly written and thus failed to live up to the impression created in the first half. There is nothing innovative in them.. sorry :(
I expected a long indepth story about a Japanese bride/wife...only to encounter a short story nd many short stories thereafter....its ok book-pass time, nothing great to write home about !!!!
This collection of short stories by Kunal Basu is really fascinating. With the exception of one i like all the other stories. After reading this, i feel an inclination to read his other works as well.
A collection of short stories set in various countries from India to China. I might like it better if the Javanese people in the Yogyakarta story aren't mostly used as props.
I have decided to only give one star to this book. The japanese wife is very good, most of the other stories are quite disappointing. Perhaps Tiger Tiger and the Pearlfisher have some interest. Might still try his other books, I will see
I took this book assuming it is a single story and later came to know that it is a set of short stories...
Some stories are interesting, some fails to make much impression..
I finally decided to return this book after skipping the last two stories...Didnt like it much..but the story 'The Japanese Wife' is really good
Some stories are interesting, some fails to make much impression..
I finally decided to return this book after skipping the last two stories...Didnt like it much..but the story 'The Japanese Wife' is really good
The movie by the same name based on the book is good too. The story seems like a throw back to times when life might not have been easy but was savored.
It needed a big effort to accomplished this book.
Too hard to enjoy every page.
Actually, the beginning story was ok, but it ended up tragically.
Too hard to enjoy every page.
Actually, the beginning story was ok, but it ended up tragically.
Twelve short stories, some easy to connect to, many poignant images, characters and situations, but some stories had a form I had difficulty in grasping.
Many stories deal with the implacable rules of life that defy reason, barriers that seem to be crossed but finally are not - between family and maid, or between american widow and village girl.
I enjoyed the pearlfisher and Long live Imelda Marcos the most.
I'm very curious what the Japanese Wife (first story) would be like as a film, I have liked...more
Many stories deal with the implacable rules of life that defy reason, barriers that seem to be crossed but finally are not - between family and maid, or between american widow and village girl.
I enjoyed the pearlfisher and Long live Imelda Marcos the most.
I'm very curious what the Japanese Wife (first story) would be like as a film, I have liked...more
this book is simply fabulous. If I had to pick my fav three...they'd be...
1. Japanese wife
2. Long Live Imelda Marcos
3. Greatful Ganga
all of them are nice........read it..don't go by my picking
1. Japanese wife
2. Long Live Imelda Marcos
3. Greatful Ganga
all of them are nice........read it..don't go by my picking
loved the stories but too much details in some of the stories kind of made them less likeable
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Kunal basu was born in Calcutta. Raised by unorthodox parents, both litterateurs and political activists, he developed an early love for the arts: painting, acting and writing.
Since 2001, he has published four novels, a collection of short stories, written a few screen plays and (mostly unpublished) poetry.
More about Kunal Basu...
Since 2001, he has published four novels, a collection of short stories, written a few screen plays and (mostly unpublished) poetry.
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Feb 17, 2013 03:37am