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The Journey
After a decade in a suburban American world of shopping malls and fast-food restaurants, sisters Renu and Manx return to their childhood home, the island of Pi. A bit of India "torn free to float in the Bay of Bengal," its alien and yet strangely familiar landscape is defined by gardens and hillsides ablaze with surreal foliage, and ceiling fans that circle endlessly in the background. The sisters and their mother have returned because cousin Rajesh, always affectionately known as Renu's twin, has died. His death and their return mark the beginning of a curious journey, leading by unexpected routes toward revelation.
- GenresLiterature
186 pages, Paperback
First published June 30, 1990
About the author
Indira Ganesan
9 books31 followersIndira Ganesan's newest novel, As Sweet As Honey (NY: AlfredA. Knopf), was released in February, 2013. She is the author of Inheritance (NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1998) and The Journey (NY: Alfred A. Knopf,1990.) Her books are available in trade paper from Beacon Books, and have been translated into French, Japanese, Greek, and German. She is a 1998 Bunting Fellow.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 30, 2018
Pi in the Sky
It seems to me that everyone, from Hemingway to earnest writing instructors at state colleges, tells you that you should write about what you know. Given America's fascination with the drama of immigration---not so hard to explain seeing that most of us are descended from immigrants, willing or unwilling-a budding Indian-American author could have used her genuine experience as background for whatever she wanted to say. Instead she set her rather murky tale in a fictional country called Pi that (perhaps) many readers will confuse with India. Like the writings of authors who really hail from India, Ganesan's novel centers around a family. India is not a land where individual will and action loom large. That is true. But Ganesan does not know India; this keeps coming home to the reader dozens of times. Monkeys, flowers, heat, dust, and strange roots and herbs do not make India. India, above all, is in the behavior, language and attitudes of its people. Here the Indian characters are too American, or at least, they are not believably Indian. India itself, or "Pi" is too American--everything is too available, too free, too individually separate. The Krishnan sisters, arriving in Pi from Long Island at the beginning of the novel are solid characters, well-defined. However the others, local Pi-ites or expatriates are not. They remain rather like stick figures. In addition, there are a number of factual faux-pas. I found it rather annoying since it seemed to me that Ganesan has got talent; the philosophical side of the novel, if I may call it that, had potential, but the author does not join it well to the awkward "Pi" cultural atmosphere, which seems to be a jumble of anything the author wanted it to be at any moment. "A girl's search for self in two very different cultures", a phrase intoned on the back cover, is thus totally off the mark. The second culture is missing. This is a purely American book and unfortunately, not a very successful one. I would hope that the author does better next time around.
It seems to me that everyone, from Hemingway to earnest writing instructors at state colleges, tells you that you should write about what you know. Given America's fascination with the drama of immigration---not so hard to explain seeing that most of us are descended from immigrants, willing or unwilling-a budding Indian-American author could have used her genuine experience as background for whatever she wanted to say. Instead she set her rather murky tale in a fictional country called Pi that (perhaps) many readers will confuse with India. Like the writings of authors who really hail from India, Ganesan's novel centers around a family. India is not a land where individual will and action loom large. That is true. But Ganesan does not know India; this keeps coming home to the reader dozens of times. Monkeys, flowers, heat, dust, and strange roots and herbs do not make India. India, above all, is in the behavior, language and attitudes of its people. Here the Indian characters are too American, or at least, they are not believably Indian. India itself, or "Pi" is too American--everything is too available, too free, too individually separate. The Krishnan sisters, arriving in Pi from Long Island at the beginning of the novel are solid characters, well-defined. However the others, local Pi-ites or expatriates are not. They remain rather like stick figures. In addition, there are a number of factual faux-pas. I found it rather annoying since it seemed to me that Ganesan has got talent; the philosophical side of the novel, if I may call it that, had potential, but the author does not join it well to the awkward "Pi" cultural atmosphere, which seems to be a jumble of anything the author wanted it to be at any moment. "A girl's search for self in two very different cultures", a phrase intoned on the back cover, is thus totally off the mark. The second culture is missing. This is a purely American book and unfortunately, not a very successful one. I would hope that the author does better next time around.
June 1, 2017
Maybe it was the way I read this book. I read it in short burst going for days without reading it.
Therefore, I was confused about several characters and had to go back to figure out how they were related to others in the book. Never got into the rhythm of this book.
Therefore, I was confused about several characters and had to go back to figure out how they were related to others in the book. Never got into the rhythm of this book.
December 9, 2021
Infused with the cultural constructs the people. Good enough story.
September 6, 2014
Ganesan's debut novel is a melancholic coming of age story of a young woman who returns with her family to India following the death of her cousin. The writing is sensuous with beautiful imagery, but for me the characters never seemed to fully develop. While I didn't love it, I liked The Journey enough to give Ganesan's second novel, Inheritance, a chance.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews