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And Laughter Fell from the Sky
“A timely story about what matters most deeply: our quest for love and acceptance….Jyotsna Sreenivasan’s writing speaks straight to the heart.”
—Kim Barnes, author of In the Kingdom of Men
And Laughter Fell from the Sky, the enthralling first novel from Jyotsna Sreenivasan, is a stirring contemporary love story about two young Indian-Americans trying to find love and their place in the world, while dealing with the confines and pressures of their culture and their families. A remarkable literary journey that carries the reader from the American heartland to the Pacific Northwest and into the teeming heart of India, And Laughter Fell from the Sky is a magnificent debut by a fresh and exciting new voice, immediately placing Sreenivasan alongside Jhumpa Lahiri, popular author of The Namesake, as an expert chronicler of the Indian-American cultural experience.
—Kim Barnes, author of In the Kingdom of Men
And Laughter Fell from the Sky, the enthralling first novel from Jyotsna Sreenivasan, is a stirring contemporary love story about two young Indian-Americans trying to find love and their place in the world, while dealing with the confines and pressures of their culture and their families. A remarkable literary journey that carries the reader from the American heartland to the Pacific Northwest and into the teeming heart of India, And Laughter Fell from the Sky is a magnificent debut by a fresh and exciting new voice, immediately placing Sreenivasan alongside Jhumpa Lahiri, popular author of The Namesake, as an expert chronicler of the Indian-American cultural experience.
336 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1994
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714 people want to read
About the author
Jyotsna Sreenivasan
11 books38 followersJyotsna Sreenivasan, the daughter of Indian immigrants, was born and raised in Ohio. She earned an M.A. in English literature from the University of Michigan. Her short fiction has appeared in numerous literary magazines, and she has received literature grants from the Washington, D.C., Commission on the Arts and Humanities. She currently lives and works in Columbus, Ohio.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews
June 19, 2012
I don't think I can put into words how much I enjoyed this book. I'm not sure if it's because of my eclectic taste or because I can relate to it, either way, And Laughter Fell from the Sky has a special place in my bookshelf.
Where do I even begin? Abhay and Rasika are two very different people. Rasika has always been the pretty, obedient, smart, classy and prized daughter that would make any parent (especially Indian) proud, whereas Abhay, despite being a genius, is a guy that opposes everything his parents (and society) tells him to do/believe and hasn't found any direction in his life.
I can't point out just one particular thing that I liked about this book. Jyotsna Sreenivasan has perfectly captured the mentality of a lot of Indian families that have immigrated to the US. I'm not kidding, she got it spot on. From the closed society, frequent visits to India, reason for moving (high-paying job) to arranged marriages - this book certainly gives you an insight into Indian culture, although it can't be generalized.
Rasika and Abhay are both from Indian families who've moved from India to the US. Despite living in the US for years, their parents still tell themselves it's not permanent to make themselves feel better and have formed a closed society of Indians to feel at home in a foreign country. The problem is, these parents/families don't realize the what goes on in the minds of their children.
Born in the US, Abhay feels no attachment to his Indian heritage, despite being pressured by his family to confine to his culture, and he has never pretended otherwise.
Rasika has done everything she could to please her family and finally, around the time she turns twenty six, she agrees to an arranged marriage. After all, it's what's expected of her. Rasika has tried to rebel, tried to find love on her own but her gut has only led her to make bad choices in men so eventually, she just decides to go with what her family wants. However, call it fate or destiny, she runs into Abhay before her engagement and as the blurb describes, sparks fly. That night turns into the start of a secret love affair between Abhay and Rasika.
Abhay and Rasika just..fit. He's erratic, without a clue about what he's going to do and Rasika, while on the surface looks like she has it all figured out, is still trying to find out who she really is, without her family telling her what she's supposed to do; and some how you just know that they're perfect for each other right from the start. Although flawed, he's the guy that makes her question her thoughts, actions and even her intentions; the guy that makes admit who she really is, instead of who she tries/pretends to be.
Although Abhay's not a guy I'd pick for myself, I loved Rasika as a protagonist. Her thoughts, doubts and insecurities touched me and it was amazing watching her grow into more throughout the novel.
However, it's not all perfect. Abhay annoyed me. Frequently. Like I said, he's not a character I'd pick for myself; his thoughts and way of speaking didn't seem natural because realistically, no one's so..in your face as soon as you meet them. I just didn't find him very appealing but I could overlook those flaws because I understood Rasika and her world.
And Laughter Fell from the Sky is a sweet, wonderful love story about two people trying to make their relationship work in a judgmental society. I honestly enjoyed this more than I can express.
For those of you who have no clue about Indian culture, Jyotsna's vivd descriptions, lively weddings, unique characters and secret love affairs will have you captivated.
Where do I even begin? Abhay and Rasika are two very different people. Rasika has always been the pretty, obedient, smart, classy and prized daughter that would make any parent (especially Indian) proud, whereas Abhay, despite being a genius, is a guy that opposes everything his parents (and society) tells him to do/believe and hasn't found any direction in his life.
I can't point out just one particular thing that I liked about this book. Jyotsna Sreenivasan has perfectly captured the mentality of a lot of Indian families that have immigrated to the US. I'm not kidding, she got it spot on. From the closed society, frequent visits to India, reason for moving (high-paying job) to arranged marriages - this book certainly gives you an insight into Indian culture, although it can't be generalized.
Rasika and Abhay are both from Indian families who've moved from India to the US. Despite living in the US for years, their parents still tell themselves it's not permanent to make themselves feel better and have formed a closed society of Indians to feel at home in a foreign country. The problem is, these parents/families don't realize the what goes on in the minds of their children.
Born in the US, Abhay feels no attachment to his Indian heritage, despite being pressured by his family to confine to his culture, and he has never pretended otherwise.
Rasika has done everything she could to please her family and finally, around the time she turns twenty six, she agrees to an arranged marriage. After all, it's what's expected of her. Rasika has tried to rebel, tried to find love on her own but her gut has only led her to make bad choices in men so eventually, she just decides to go with what her family wants. However, call it fate or destiny, she runs into Abhay before her engagement and as the blurb describes, sparks fly. That night turns into the start of a secret love affair between Abhay and Rasika.
Abhay and Rasika just..fit. He's erratic, without a clue about what he's going to do and Rasika, while on the surface looks like she has it all figured out, is still trying to find out who she really is, without her family telling her what she's supposed to do; and some how you just know that they're perfect for each other right from the start. Although flawed, he's the guy that makes her question her thoughts, actions and even her intentions; the guy that makes admit who she really is, instead of who she tries/pretends to be.
Although Abhay's not a guy I'd pick for myself, I loved Rasika as a protagonist. Her thoughts, doubts and insecurities touched me and it was amazing watching her grow into more throughout the novel.
However, it's not all perfect. Abhay annoyed me. Frequently. Like I said, he's not a character I'd pick for myself; his thoughts and way of speaking didn't seem natural because realistically, no one's so..in your face as soon as you meet them. I just didn't find him very appealing but I could overlook those flaws because I understood Rasika and her world.
And Laughter Fell from the Sky is a sweet, wonderful love story about two people trying to make their relationship work in a judgmental society. I honestly enjoyed this more than I can express.
For those of you who have no clue about Indian culture, Jyotsna's vivd descriptions, lively weddings, unique characters and secret love affairs will have you captivated.
June 18, 2012
Jane Eyre has been a perpetual favorite, but 2012 seems to be the Summer of Edith Wharton. Francesca Segal has written The Innocents, a novel set in modern London and a retelling of Wharton's The Age of Innocence. Claire McMillan modernizes The House of Mirth in The Gilded Age, set in Cleveland.
Jyotsna Sreenivasan also took inspiration from The House of Mirth for her debut novel, And Laughter Fell From The Sky, about Indian immigrants trying to maintain their culture and lifestyle in modern Ohio.
Rasika is a 25-year-old daughter of Indian immigrants. She is a college graduate, has a good job at a bank, and tries to be everything that her family wants her to be; yet she is unhappy. By chance she runs into Abbay at the Oberlin College campus. Abbay was her younger brother's childhood friend, and she hasn't seen him in awhile.
Abbay seems a bit lost, having spent some time at a commune, but he has returned home to his family, hoping to find his place in this world. Running into Rasika rekindles his romantic feelings for her, but she is looking for a successful Indian man to marry, someone of whom her family would approve.
Although she is physically attracted to Abbay, he is not someone she would marry. He doesn't have a good career, and not many prospects for one. To the outside world and her family, Rasika appears happy, but she is not. She invites Abbay to meet her at a hotel in Cleveland for a secret rendezvous, where he learns that he is not the only man she has ever invited there.
By chance they run into distant family members attending a wedding, and Rasika panics that her family will find out about her affair with Abbay. She ends their relationship before it can begin, and Abbay is disconsolate.
Rasiks is living two lives; one in which her family is actively seeking a successful Indian man as her husband, and one in which she makes her own choices. You can feel her agony as the stress is tearing her apart.
Abbay declares his love for her, and tells her that she can make her own choices, her parents love her and will understand. Rasika can't disappoint her parents, and allows them to arrange a marriage for her after gossip starts buzzing in the Indian community about Rasika and her relationships with other men. They must marry her off before no respectable man will have her.
I learned so much about the Indian culture, from food to dress to the changing caste system. I particularly enjoyed the scenes set in India, and this book has encouraged me to discover more about it.
This is a wonderful debut novel, full of heart and soul, familial and romantic love, and the search for happiness. My favorite passage is Abbay speaking to Rasika:
"We've both been looking for an ideal. You think your life will be perfect if only you can be the kind of person your parents seem to want. I thought my life would be perfect if only I could find a place on earth that touched the utopia in my imagination. We're both searching for something we've built in our own brains."
I happily fell into the world of And Laughter Fell From The Sky, surrendering myself to this Indian immigrant culture about which I knew little. Rasika is such a vivid heroine, and her struggle moved me so. She wants to be a good daughter, but she also wants more for herself. It is something that many immigrants have dealt with for many years, but also something that many young people, not only immigrants, can relate to. I loved how Sreenivasan makes Rasika's timeless story seem fresh.
This is one of the best books I have read this year, and clearly the best debut novel I have read in awhile.
Jyotsna Sreenivasan also took inspiration from The House of Mirth for her debut novel, And Laughter Fell From The Sky, about Indian immigrants trying to maintain their culture and lifestyle in modern Ohio.
Rasika is a 25-year-old daughter of Indian immigrants. She is a college graduate, has a good job at a bank, and tries to be everything that her family wants her to be; yet she is unhappy. By chance she runs into Abbay at the Oberlin College campus. Abbay was her younger brother's childhood friend, and she hasn't seen him in awhile.
Abbay seems a bit lost, having spent some time at a commune, but he has returned home to his family, hoping to find his place in this world. Running into Rasika rekindles his romantic feelings for her, but she is looking for a successful Indian man to marry, someone of whom her family would approve.
Although she is physically attracted to Abbay, he is not someone she would marry. He doesn't have a good career, and not many prospects for one. To the outside world and her family, Rasika appears happy, but she is not. She invites Abbay to meet her at a hotel in Cleveland for a secret rendezvous, where he learns that he is not the only man she has ever invited there.
By chance they run into distant family members attending a wedding, and Rasika panics that her family will find out about her affair with Abbay. She ends their relationship before it can begin, and Abbay is disconsolate.
Rasiks is living two lives; one in which her family is actively seeking a successful Indian man as her husband, and one in which she makes her own choices. You can feel her agony as the stress is tearing her apart.
Abbay declares his love for her, and tells her that she can make her own choices, her parents love her and will understand. Rasika can't disappoint her parents, and allows them to arrange a marriage for her after gossip starts buzzing in the Indian community about Rasika and her relationships with other men. They must marry her off before no respectable man will have her.
I learned so much about the Indian culture, from food to dress to the changing caste system. I particularly enjoyed the scenes set in India, and this book has encouraged me to discover more about it.
This is a wonderful debut novel, full of heart and soul, familial and romantic love, and the search for happiness. My favorite passage is Abbay speaking to Rasika:
"We've both been looking for an ideal. You think your life will be perfect if only you can be the kind of person your parents seem to want. I thought my life would be perfect if only I could find a place on earth that touched the utopia in my imagination. We're both searching for something we've built in our own brains."
I happily fell into the world of And Laughter Fell From The Sky, surrendering myself to this Indian immigrant culture about which I knew little. Rasika is such a vivid heroine, and her struggle moved me so. She wants to be a good daughter, but she also wants more for herself. It is something that many immigrants have dealt with for many years, but also something that many young people, not only immigrants, can relate to. I loved how Sreenivasan makes Rasika's timeless story seem fresh.
This is one of the best books I have read this year, and clearly the best debut novel I have read in awhile.
January 19, 2023
I made it to page 22 and gave up. There are too many great books waiting for me.
The writing seemed amateurish: characters who make speeches, unnatural conversation, too much telling and not enough showing, and lack of subtlety. This also isn't a book where I'd be underlining beautiful language.
The bizarre asides bothered me. The narrator interrupts a serious conversation to draw our attention to a scene that has nothing to do with the story: "In the middle of the room, a waiter pushed three tables together. A dozen overweight, middle-aged people dragged out chairs, seated themselves, and starting shouting out drink orders." A few pages later: "An overweight couple in shorts and flip flops lumbered by, each holding thirty-two ounce plastic cups filled with bubbly brown soda." So what?
Notice the language choices: "overweight," "middle-aged," "dragged" versus "pulled," "seated themselves" versus "sat down," and "shouting." And "overweight" again, "shorts and flip flops," "lumbered," "32-ounce plastic cups," and "brown." I felt the narrator's disgust and contempt in these descriptions, which were not considerations of the characters. It wasn't as if it read: "Abhay still couldn't get used to the excess of Americans." Why turn away from the story and risk momentum for these digressions?
I am not a reader that has to like the characters to like a story. But I need to care enough about the characters to keep reading. In this case, I don't.
The writing seemed amateurish: characters who make speeches, unnatural conversation, too much telling and not enough showing, and lack of subtlety. This also isn't a book where I'd be underlining beautiful language.
The bizarre asides bothered me. The narrator interrupts a serious conversation to draw our attention to a scene that has nothing to do with the story: "In the middle of the room, a waiter pushed three tables together. A dozen overweight, middle-aged people dragged out chairs, seated themselves, and starting shouting out drink orders." A few pages later: "An overweight couple in shorts and flip flops lumbered by, each holding thirty-two ounce plastic cups filled with bubbly brown soda." So what?
Notice the language choices: "overweight," "middle-aged," "dragged" versus "pulled," "seated themselves" versus "sat down," and "shouting." And "overweight" again, "shorts and flip flops," "lumbered," "32-ounce plastic cups," and "brown." I felt the narrator's disgust and contempt in these descriptions, which were not considerations of the characters. It wasn't as if it read: "Abhay still couldn't get used to the excess of Americans." Why turn away from the story and risk momentum for these digressions?
I am not a reader that has to like the characters to like a story. But I need to care enough about the characters to keep reading. In this case, I don't.
September 19, 2012
I wanted to like this one, I really did. It is a genre I love (the Indian-American experience), but the writing was so.so.bad. I hung in there until the last 75 pages and then decided I didn't really care enough about any of the characters to see how it ended.
April 12, 2013
LOVE LOVE LOVE! So not what I expected. I didn't expect to like this book that much!!
I loved both of these characters. Opposites attract eh!
Rasika is a 20-something young lady with no boyfriend or husband yet. So she agrees to go along with her culture and traditions and an arranged marriage.
Abhay is the opposite! He doesn't care about traditions, the rebellious man he is!
So the two are friends, but end up becoming more. Will Rasika go against her parents and marry Abhay? Abhay is SO not what her parents want for her. They want a man that will carry on the traditions of their family. But is that what is best for these two?
Find out, you will adore this book!! I hope Sreenivasan continues to write. I thought she wrote so wonderfully, this book ended way too soon for me.
One sentence from the book sums it up. "She wanted to be honorable."
Love it and you will too!!!
I loved both of these characters. Opposites attract eh!
Rasika is a 20-something young lady with no boyfriend or husband yet. So she agrees to go along with her culture and traditions and an arranged marriage.
Abhay is the opposite! He doesn't care about traditions, the rebellious man he is!
So the two are friends, but end up becoming more. Will Rasika go against her parents and marry Abhay? Abhay is SO not what her parents want for her. They want a man that will carry on the traditions of their family. But is that what is best for these two?
Find out, you will adore this book!! I hope Sreenivasan continues to write. I thought she wrote so wonderfully, this book ended way too soon for me.
One sentence from the book sums it up. "She wanted to be honorable."
Love it and you will too!!!
April 7, 2012
I was expecting another "My family is so wonderful, but I have other desires and they support me fully once I explain myself"
This was so much more realistic. No family is perfect and Sreenivasan doesn't try to pretend that Indian families are any better than American. They have expectations, they argue, they love, and they learn to move past things. Sometimes I wanted to slap the female lead in this book, but I can almost understand where she's coming from.
All things said, this book is very human.
This was so much more realistic. No family is perfect and Sreenivasan doesn't try to pretend that Indian families are any better than American. They have expectations, they argue, they love, and they learn to move past things. Sometimes I wanted to slap the female lead in this book, but I can almost understand where she's coming from.
All things said, this book is very human.
February 18, 2020
I wanted to like this, I really did. I didn't get too far in before I realized the author was TELLING the story through dialogue and it wasn't particularly interesting either. The characters didn't catch my interest so I didn't care to see what happened to them.
July 31, 2023
A too-easy read, with very clunky writing. Descriptions of scenes that added nothing to the overall story, incredibly unlikable characters, a resolution that revealed the absence of any growth or change among the main characters - what was the point of the middle when this was the end, obvious from the very beginning? It was difficult to understand why characters fell in love with each other - it all seemed random and how were they not seeing what I, the reader was, about how annoying these two were? Terrible events happened to a character twice, without any sort of resolution or even growth around what these things meant, or how they added to the story in anyway - they were just random things that happened. This could be a B movie, a fluff to throw on in the background while you went about your day. It all seemed contrived and unnecessary. Also please take any comparisons with Jhumpa Lahiri (which I just noticed in the description of this book) with a grain of salt...
June 11, 2020
Not far into this book, I found that I was saying "oh, grow up!" to the main characters regularly. A very disappointing read, because I think the plot idea was a good one - it could have been written so much better.
I haven't read many books set in India or showcasing Indian culture, so I was hoping this would teach me something. But no - people are biased, child/parent conflicts exist, learning to "adult" is a problem. Duh.
I haven't read many books set in India or showcasing Indian culture, so I was hoping this would teach me something. But no - people are biased, child/parent conflicts exist, learning to "adult" is a problem. Duh.
June 8, 2017
Going back to the library....couldn't read past the first chapter....
February 2, 2018
Excellent. I will read House of Mirth, but do not see that it could possible be better. Nice slice of life of interesting characters.
October 11, 2018
Entertaining.
September 17, 2019
This book was badly written and was a waste of my time
May 23, 2020
Awesome story...
Awesome story. Loved the characters and flow of the book. Will read more books by this author in the future.
Awesome story. Loved the characters and flow of the book. Will read more books by this author in the future.
February 5, 2021
A delightful story about love across caste lines and the lengths that people go to be with the one they love
January 24, 2026
dnf 1%. writing was sophmoric and caricaturish
December 30, 2020
It was a sweet love story... and love storys really aren't usually my thing, but I really enjoyed this.
December 23, 2020
Off the bat I have to say that the writing style isn't my favorite. It's hard to pinpoint what exactly made me dislike it, but I think overall it felt a little too simple and plain for me. However, the POV shifts between the two characters (Abhay and Rasika) were done clearly, and I was rarely confused as to who was narrating.
I liked the story itself because of how relatable I found the story's setting. Sreenivasan portrayed the constant familial pressures really well: in some portrayals it can be almost exaggerated or extreme, or be given with so little context that it's off-putting ("doctor, lawyer, or disgrace!" is a phrase that came to mind). Sreenivasan does an excellent job with giving context as she weaves the immigrant struggles, marriage contexts, and even the classism and conservative culture into the overall story, which gives desi/south asian readers the ability to relate to the story and empathize with the characters. I also like how Abhay was portrayed as feeling disconnected from both Indian and American culture, and Rasika for her struggle to please others over pleasing herself.
Even with that, I would say that I still had a lot of frustration with Rasika and her treatment of Abhay, and also Abhay for how he kept choosing to look past it. I also wish that there was more content and story between the climax and the conclusion/epilogue, as I would have been interested in seeing the process that led to the ending moreso than the ending itself (to keep this spoiler-free, I'll leave it at there were a lot of relationships and tension that magically mended by the last chapter)
I would say a South-Asian American reader may enjoy this book for its ability to portray themes that are unique to the diaspora, and those coming from different backgrounds may enjoy it if they are curious to learn more about Indian-American culture and struggles.
I liked the story itself because of how relatable I found the story's setting. Sreenivasan portrayed the constant familial pressures really well: in some portrayals it can be almost exaggerated or extreme, or be given with so little context that it's off-putting ("doctor, lawyer, or disgrace!" is a phrase that came to mind). Sreenivasan does an excellent job with giving context as she weaves the immigrant struggles, marriage contexts, and even the classism and conservative culture into the overall story, which gives desi/south asian readers the ability to relate to the story and empathize with the characters. I also like how Abhay was portrayed as feeling disconnected from both Indian and American culture, and Rasika for her struggle to please others over pleasing herself.
Even with that, I would say that I still had a lot of frustration with Rasika and her treatment of Abhay, and also Abhay for how he kept choosing to look past it. I also wish that there was more content and story between the climax and the conclusion/epilogue, as I would have been interested in seeing the process that led to the ending moreso than the ending itself (to keep this spoiler-free, I'll leave it at there were a lot of relationships and tension that magically mended by the last chapter)
I would say a South-Asian American reader may enjoy this book for its ability to portray themes that are unique to the diaspora, and those coming from different backgrounds may enjoy it if they are curious to learn more about Indian-American culture and struggles.
March 11, 2017
I didn't love this book. I didn't hate it either.
The writing style was easy enough to read but I didn't connect with the characters. I'm not sure why.
The writing style was easy enough to read but I didn't connect with the characters. I'm not sure why.
July 2, 2012
I have mixed feelings about this book. I liked reading about the dilemma that two young Indian-Americans, Rasika and Abhay, faced when dealing with their culture's traditions and pressures, but I disliked Rasika's character and was frustrated throughout my reading of this novel. Rasika is a twenty-five year-old beautiful woman, living at home in a wealthy family. She comes across as vain, spoiled and aloof. Abhay is a smart young man who doesn't know what he wants to do with his life, much to the disappointment of his father. Although he has nothing in common with Rasika, who thinks he is not good enough for her, he falls in love with her and pursues her even as she agrees to an arranged marriage with a suitor chosen by her parents.
It quickly becomes clear that Rasika doesn't know how to deal with the pressure of an arranged marriage. The only reason she agrees to it is because she will have the ideal husband—handsome, well-educated, and doting. She thinks she has good values because she has grace, dresses well and is beautiful. However, she is promiscuous and has short-lived relationships with men to get away from the pressures of her parents. This is what she does with Abhay too. She sleeps with him and then wants nothing to do with him because she doesn't want her parents to find out about her double life, and besides, he is from a different caste and therefore would never be accepted by her parents as an acceptable husband.
Abhay, on the other hand, understands why Rasika acts the way she does, why she is so messed up, and even though he knows she only used him for sex, he still wants her. I kept wondering what would make these two get together in the end, if at all, since they were so different and it would take a big change in Rasika's way of thinking to even accept Abhay as an acceptable mate by her standards. The ending, although a happy one, was disappointing to me as a reader because the author took the easy way out where Rasika did not have to deal with her problem. Instead, a situation took care of that and the ending was too neatly tied up with a big red bow.
There was no resolution for me, just a quick-fix ending. The only reason that kept me reading this book was the psychological aspect of how children from two cultures deal with being from two different worlds. Okay, Rasika's coping mechanism is destroying her, so how does she finally confront the cause of her dilemma? How does she change? How does she grow as a person? Would she resort to the same tactics when things would get difficult in the future? None of this is clear by the end of the book.
So although I enjoyed the setting and the Indian culture, I had mixed feelings when reading this book, especially at the end when things became convenient for everyone. And I'm still trying to figure out the book's title, if that expression is significant in the Indian culture.
It quickly becomes clear that Rasika doesn't know how to deal with the pressure of an arranged marriage. The only reason she agrees to it is because she will have the ideal husband—handsome, well-educated, and doting. She thinks she has good values because she has grace, dresses well and is beautiful. However, she is promiscuous and has short-lived relationships with men to get away from the pressures of her parents. This is what she does with Abhay too. She sleeps with him and then wants nothing to do with him because she doesn't want her parents to find out about her double life, and besides, he is from a different caste and therefore would never be accepted by her parents as an acceptable husband.
Abhay, on the other hand, understands why Rasika acts the way she does, why she is so messed up, and even though he knows she only used him for sex, he still wants her. I kept wondering what would make these two get together in the end, if at all, since they were so different and it would take a big change in Rasika's way of thinking to even accept Abhay as an acceptable mate by her standards. The ending, although a happy one, was disappointing to me as a reader because the author took the easy way out where Rasika did not have to deal with her problem. Instead, a situation took care of that and the ending was too neatly tied up with a big red bow.
There was no resolution for me, just a quick-fix ending. The only reason that kept me reading this book was the psychological aspect of how children from two cultures deal with being from two different worlds. Okay, Rasika's coping mechanism is destroying her, so how does she finally confront the cause of her dilemma? How does she change? How does she grow as a person? Would she resort to the same tactics when things would get difficult in the future? None of this is clear by the end of the book.
So although I enjoyed the setting and the Indian culture, I had mixed feelings when reading this book, especially at the end when things became convenient for everyone. And I'm still trying to figure out the book's title, if that expression is significant in the Indian culture.
August 7, 2012
Jyotsna Sreenivasan's And Laughter Fell From The Sky, a modern story paying homage to Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth, was a worthwhile read -- one that started slow but gradually picked up pace until I was hanging on by fraying fingernails.
Rasika is Sreenivasan's stand-out character: a woman torn between two very different worlds. There's her traditional side, her very Indian side -- the one in which she does as her parents ask. Obsessed with the fineries of life, Rasika knows her good job and social standing are crucial to maintaining her image. But spin around and see the rebellious, hiding-a-smirk-behind-her-hand Rasika: the one that understands her family's viewpoints but doesn't agree. That side that sneaks around behind their backs, shimmying out of her skirt when they're not looking. The Rasika that wants to do only as she wishes.
I could relate to that, honestly. Not in a tawdry way -- just in the way that we all wear different hats, so to speak, and represent different things to different people. While outsiders might views arranged marriages with a skeptical eye, Rasika is very respectful of her parents' wishes -- and knows this arrangement would make them happy. Though Abhay is a charming guy, a nice kid, it can't go anywhere. Besides, they're not equals . . . not even in America. The die has been cast.
Or has is it?
So much of And Laughter Fell From The Sky centers on tension. Sexual, romantic, familial, job-related . . . obligation and love and obsession are all cast into one flavorful stew, and Sreenivasan's thought-provoking novel is the main dish. Beyond the "getting to know you" exposition in the beginning, the novel's pace is brisk and reflective. I felt the plot could veer in any number of different directions, which kept the experience fresh for me. And I really felt I'd climbed inside the heads of Rasika and Abhay, muttering under my breath when they were acting stupid.
Because they just did sometimes. Act stupid, that is. I was often frustrated by the pair and wondered why they couldn't just work things out, though Sreenivasan did an admirable job of explaining cultural conventions and the perspectives influencing their decisions. So even though I wanted them to just fix things, I understood why it was far more complicated than that. And I liked that there were no easy answers.
Fans of contemporary fiction, second-generation stories and glimpses of modern families will find plenty to ponder in And Laughter Fell From The Sky. Though the story occasionally raised my blood pressure, I found it realistic -- and you know, I just really liked it. It worked for me.
Rasika is Sreenivasan's stand-out character: a woman torn between two very different worlds. There's her traditional side, her very Indian side -- the one in which she does as her parents ask. Obsessed with the fineries of life, Rasika knows her good job and social standing are crucial to maintaining her image. But spin around and see the rebellious, hiding-a-smirk-behind-her-hand Rasika: the one that understands her family's viewpoints but doesn't agree. That side that sneaks around behind their backs, shimmying out of her skirt when they're not looking. The Rasika that wants to do only as she wishes.
I could relate to that, honestly. Not in a tawdry way -- just in the way that we all wear different hats, so to speak, and represent different things to different people. While outsiders might views arranged marriages with a skeptical eye, Rasika is very respectful of her parents' wishes -- and knows this arrangement would make them happy. Though Abhay is a charming guy, a nice kid, it can't go anywhere. Besides, they're not equals . . . not even in America. The die has been cast.
Or has is it?
So much of And Laughter Fell From The Sky centers on tension. Sexual, romantic, familial, job-related . . . obligation and love and obsession are all cast into one flavorful stew, and Sreenivasan's thought-provoking novel is the main dish. Beyond the "getting to know you" exposition in the beginning, the novel's pace is brisk and reflective. I felt the plot could veer in any number of different directions, which kept the experience fresh for me. And I really felt I'd climbed inside the heads of Rasika and Abhay, muttering under my breath when they were acting stupid.
Because they just did sometimes. Act stupid, that is. I was often frustrated by the pair and wondered why they couldn't just work things out, though Sreenivasan did an admirable job of explaining cultural conventions and the perspectives influencing their decisions. So even though I wanted them to just fix things, I understood why it was far more complicated than that. And I liked that there were no easy answers.
Fans of contemporary fiction, second-generation stories and glimpses of modern families will find plenty to ponder in And Laughter Fell From The Sky. Though the story occasionally raised my blood pressure, I found it realistic -- and you know, I just really liked it. It worked for me.
July 23, 2012
Rasika has a secret life. To her family and friends she is a dutiful Indian daughter, stylish and beautiful with a great career, living at home with her parents and agreeing to an arranged marriage--which for good luck, her horoscope says needs to happen before her looming twenty-sixth birthday. The secret that would shock her family is that she sneaks away on occasion to have brief affairs with unsuitable men, something she vows she will stop once she is married and living the life her parents want her to have. Abhay, a childhood friend of Rasika's younger brother, can't seem to commit to anything after college and lived in a commune following graduation. He is back at home with his parents, working as a temp and taking on assorted dead-end jobs, trying to figure out what to do with his life.
Rasika and Abhay reconnect by chance in and find an attraction quickly brewing. It turns to love for Abhay, but Rasika wants to deny her feelings, finding him immature and unsophisticated, plus his caste makes him a choice that her family would never approve of. Will these two lovers be able to find their places in the world and discover the strength to make a lasting relationship? I love a good romance--especially one where there are a lot of obstacles to the couple getting together and Rasika and Abhay certainly have a lot of obstacles.
Although I appreciated the storyline right off the bat and the book moves along quickly, going back and forth between the perspective of the two main characters, it took some time for me to connect with Raskia and Abhay. I found them in the beginning to be hard for me to relate to--even somewhat unlikeable at first. The book's setting moves from Kent, Ohio to Portland Oregon to India, and I found myself not fully committed to the book until we reached Portland--where Abhay goes to live and Rasika makes a secret trip to visit. Since The City of Roses is my old hometown, I loved the author's descriptions of the city and some of my favorite places and it was also the point where I started to like the two main characters and the book flowed from there. This book is a well-written look at Indian-American culture and the challenges of wanting to take another path than the one your family expects you to take or even completely laid out for you. A good summer read, not too heavy and good for vacation days and the beach.
*Note: I was given a copy of the advance proof of this book by the publisher to review. My opinion and thoughts are however, my own.
My review and a recipe inspired by the book can be found here: http://kahakaikitchen.blogspot.com/20...
Rasika and Abhay reconnect by chance in and find an attraction quickly brewing. It turns to love for Abhay, but Rasika wants to deny her feelings, finding him immature and unsophisticated, plus his caste makes him a choice that her family would never approve of. Will these two lovers be able to find their places in the world and discover the strength to make a lasting relationship? I love a good romance--especially one where there are a lot of obstacles to the couple getting together and Rasika and Abhay certainly have a lot of obstacles.
Although I appreciated the storyline right off the bat and the book moves along quickly, going back and forth between the perspective of the two main characters, it took some time for me to connect with Raskia and Abhay. I found them in the beginning to be hard for me to relate to--even somewhat unlikeable at first. The book's setting moves from Kent, Ohio to Portland Oregon to India, and I found myself not fully committed to the book until we reached Portland--where Abhay goes to live and Rasika makes a secret trip to visit. Since The City of Roses is my old hometown, I loved the author's descriptions of the city and some of my favorite places and it was also the point where I started to like the two main characters and the book flowed from there. This book is a well-written look at Indian-American culture and the challenges of wanting to take another path than the one your family expects you to take or even completely laid out for you. A good summer read, not too heavy and good for vacation days and the beach.
*Note: I was given a copy of the advance proof of this book by the publisher to review. My opinion and thoughts are however, my own.
My review and a recipe inspired by the book can be found here: http://kahakaikitchen.blogspot.com/20...
November 3, 2014
And Laughter Fell from the Sky: A Novel by Jyotsna Sreenivasan is the author’s first book. I thought that it was a very good first novel. It kept my interest from the first page and it was rich with details about Indian culture and had some information about Hinduism.
In the back of the book, the author says that she took inspiration from Edith Wharton’s “The House of Mirth”. She altered the female role of Lily Bart from a woman living in the Gilded Age who aspired to make a good marriage and the male role from changed from a self-confident man to Indian American who had doubts about himself and what he should choose as career.
My feelings are that I identified with Abhay, the smart, indecisive Indian American but not all with Rasika, the beautiful, successful twenty-five year old Indian American but very self-centered woman. I didn’t like her character at all and could not understand why Abhay feel in love with her. I was not bored by this book at all. There was a lot of family drama and discussion by the women in the book about arranged marriages.
Rasika tries to be an obedient daughter, she tells herself that she will not get involved with men when her family thinks that she in not even dating. But like in school, she cheats on the exams and lies to herself about why she has to do that. She wants to please her parents but she finds herself failing. As a result, she ends up leading a double life.
Abhay always good exceptional grades and is curious about everything but cannot figure out what career to pursue. This reminds me of myself in college. I was so interested in so many things that I could not make up my mind what to learn about next. He had tried living in a commune but something was not quite right about his experience.
I did enjoy this book and hope that the author writes more but it would be better if she found the core idea from her own experience rather than a book that she has read. My only negative criticism is that I really didn’t like Rasika. I am eager to read and learn more from this talented new author.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in learning about people with an Indian background living in United States.
I received this book as a giveaway from Library Thing and that in no way influenced my review.
In the back of the book, the author says that she took inspiration from Edith Wharton’s “The House of Mirth”. She altered the female role of Lily Bart from a woman living in the Gilded Age who aspired to make a good marriage and the male role from changed from a self-confident man to Indian American who had doubts about himself and what he should choose as career.
My feelings are that I identified with Abhay, the smart, indecisive Indian American but not all with Rasika, the beautiful, successful twenty-five year old Indian American but very self-centered woman. I didn’t like her character at all and could not understand why Abhay feel in love with her. I was not bored by this book at all. There was a lot of family drama and discussion by the women in the book about arranged marriages.
Rasika tries to be an obedient daughter, she tells herself that she will not get involved with men when her family thinks that she in not even dating. But like in school, she cheats on the exams and lies to herself about why she has to do that. She wants to please her parents but she finds herself failing. As a result, she ends up leading a double life.
Abhay always good exceptional grades and is curious about everything but cannot figure out what career to pursue. This reminds me of myself in college. I was so interested in so many things that I could not make up my mind what to learn about next. He had tried living in a commune but something was not quite right about his experience.
I did enjoy this book and hope that the author writes more but it would be better if she found the core idea from her own experience rather than a book that she has read. My only negative criticism is that I really didn’t like Rasika. I am eager to read and learn more from this talented new author.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in learning about people with an Indian background living in United States.
I received this book as a giveaway from Library Thing and that in no way influenced my review.
November 27, 2012
In the acknowledgments at the end of the book, Ms. Sreenivasan writes that And Laughter Fell from the Sky was inspired by The House of Mirth. While I didn't clue into that while I was reading the book, I can see what she meant now that I know. One of the reasons I love The House of Mirth is because it's about a time when society had very clear rules and expectations. And Laughter Fell from the Sky is set in present day but the parents in the Indian community in America also have clear rules and expectations for their children.
Rasika thinks she wants an arranged marriage but always seems to do something to mess it up before it can happen. Her motivation for wanting an arranged marriage was unclear to me. I think part of her wanted it to please her parents but I think also she thought it would be an easy way to ensure that she had a good-looking husband who makes a lot of money. She is more concerned with appearances than with substance.
It was hard for me to understand why Abhay was attracted to Rasika when she is pretty shallow and materialistic and he is almost the complete opposite. I think it was probably due to the fact that he thought he could save her from herself. I didn't care for Rasika very much but I did like Abhay so I wanted him to be happy. There are also some fun (and not so fun) secondary characters. Abhay's mother gets roped into a network marketing company that sounds suspiciously like Discovery Toys. That subplot was humorous.
Sometimes books about different cultures will either have explanations about the culture that sound text-book like and take the reader out of the story or no explanation at all, leaving the reader to wonder why characters are behaving in certain ways. The author of this book did a good job of weaving in explanations of the rules of Indian society into the story in a natural way that made them a part of the narrative.
And Laughter Fell From the Sky is a great modern day version of a Victorian romance novel. I'm looking forward to seeing what Ms. Sreenivasan comes out with next.
Rasika thinks she wants an arranged marriage but always seems to do something to mess it up before it can happen. Her motivation for wanting an arranged marriage was unclear to me. I think part of her wanted it to please her parents but I think also she thought it would be an easy way to ensure that she had a good-looking husband who makes a lot of money. She is more concerned with appearances than with substance.
It was hard for me to understand why Abhay was attracted to Rasika when she is pretty shallow and materialistic and he is almost the complete opposite. I think it was probably due to the fact that he thought he could save her from herself. I didn't care for Rasika very much but I did like Abhay so I wanted him to be happy. There are also some fun (and not so fun) secondary characters. Abhay's mother gets roped into a network marketing company that sounds suspiciously like Discovery Toys. That subplot was humorous.
Sometimes books about different cultures will either have explanations about the culture that sound text-book like and take the reader out of the story or no explanation at all, leaving the reader to wonder why characters are behaving in certain ways. The author of this book did a good job of weaving in explanations of the rules of Indian society into the story in a natural way that made them a part of the narrative.
And Laughter Fell From the Sky is a great modern day version of a Victorian romance novel. I'm looking forward to seeing what Ms. Sreenivasan comes out with next.
June 28, 2012
I love a book where I can be entertained and learn something at the same time. I knew very little about Indian culture when I started and now I feel as if I have lived with a family for a bit as the story takes place in an Indian-American household where the daughter, Rasika, while born in India is really quite American in her thoughts and ideas. Her deepest wish is to be appreciated for her style and glamour; does it get any MORE American than that? She is reaching the age where her horoscope says it's ideal for her to marry so despite her feelings she is agreeing to an arranged marriage to maintain her image as a good daughter. But she manages to somehow destroy any match brought to her.
Her childhood friend is also removed from what is expected from him by his family. He is very smart yet cannot decide on what he wants to be. He floats through life like a lost frat boy/hippy type with no real purpose. The complete opposite of Rasika with her banking job and glamorous aspirations. But opposites attract, don't they?
It takes a while and a rather contrived and rushed ending to get these two together but they do overcome various familial objections to realize that perhaps they are meant for each other. It was a quick and easy to read book that took some odd detours along the way to the ending. Our hero seems to have a thing for women that can't or won't be monogamous so one must wonder what he sees in Rasika unless it is her penchant for hotel rendezvous with various men.
So I guess I am a bit mixed on this one; I did enjoy reading it but when I stop to think about it I wonder why.
Her childhood friend is also removed from what is expected from him by his family. He is very smart yet cannot decide on what he wants to be. He floats through life like a lost frat boy/hippy type with no real purpose. The complete opposite of Rasika with her banking job and glamorous aspirations. But opposites attract, don't they?
It takes a while and a rather contrived and rushed ending to get these two together but they do overcome various familial objections to realize that perhaps they are meant for each other. It was a quick and easy to read book that took some odd detours along the way to the ending. Our hero seems to have a thing for women that can't or won't be monogamous so one must wonder what he sees in Rasika unless it is her penchant for hotel rendezvous with various men.
So I guess I am a bit mixed on this one; I did enjoy reading it but when I stop to think about it I wonder why.
May 11, 2012
This is Sreenivasan's first novel, and I think it's a good start. The world she created was believable, and I cared about what happened to her characters. Rasika and Abhay live completely different lives with mindsets worlds apart, but you can see why they're drawn to each other. This isn't a love story that happens in a minute; they don't see each other and fall in love immediately. It's a slow, gradual thing: predictable but beautiful in its determination.
My problems with the novel were that the characters were flat, the dialogue was stilted, and the sentence structure and descriptions were on the sophomoric side. Rasika and Abhay seem to each have one main thing that drives them: for Rasika, it's being perfect in the eyes of her parents and peers; for Abhay, it's finding the perfect environment and living in it harmoniously. People should be more complex than that. The dialogue didn't feel authentic which I think had something to do with Sreenivasan's sentence structures. She recycled the same structures over and over again. People don't really talk like that. Her characters were talking like she wrote; they didn't seem to have their own voices.
This was a quick, enjoyable read, and I'm looking forward to seeing Sreenivasan's next attempt--I would expect her style to be more developed by then.
Received through Goodreads First Reads.
My problems with the novel were that the characters were flat, the dialogue was stilted, and the sentence structure and descriptions were on the sophomoric side. Rasika and Abhay seem to each have one main thing that drives them: for Rasika, it's being perfect in the eyes of her parents and peers; for Abhay, it's finding the perfect environment and living in it harmoniously. People should be more complex than that. The dialogue didn't feel authentic which I think had something to do with Sreenivasan's sentence structures. She recycled the same structures over and over again. People don't really talk like that. Her characters were talking like she wrote; they didn't seem to have their own voices.
This was a quick, enjoyable read, and I'm looking forward to seeing Sreenivasan's next attempt--I would expect her style to be more developed by then.
Received through Goodreads First Reads.
August 1, 2012
This is a novel of two Indian families who immigrate to American. The families follow the same traditions of their heritage and culture. The story focuses on the relationship of an American-born adult child from each family.
Rasika is beautiful, smart, and the pride of her parents. Abhay is also intelligent, but rebellious to not only his parents, but society in general. He feels no responsibility or ties with his parent’s traditions.
Rasika agrees to an arranged marriage but then meets Abhay. This changes everything for Rasika, as they begin a secret love affair. As their relationship grows, so does Rasika’s self-esteem and confidence.
This is a book that offers a clear glimpse into a closed culture, arranged marriages and forbidden love. It is also about two people who meet in the real world and connect in a genuine way. In spite of the odds against them, fair or not, they try to make it work.
This makes for an interesting read, from someone with knowledge of this heritage and its customs.
Rasika is beautiful, smart, and the pride of her parents. Abhay is also intelligent, but rebellious to not only his parents, but society in general. He feels no responsibility or ties with his parent’s traditions.
Rasika agrees to an arranged marriage but then meets Abhay. This changes everything for Rasika, as they begin a secret love affair. As their relationship grows, so does Rasika’s self-esteem and confidence.
This is a book that offers a clear glimpse into a closed culture, arranged marriages and forbidden love. It is also about two people who meet in the real world and connect in a genuine way. In spite of the odds against them, fair or not, they try to make it work.
This makes for an interesting read, from someone with knowledge of this heritage and its customs.
February 21, 2014
When the author wrote this she was living in the town where I live, Moscow, Idaho. That is why I read this book in the first place. I am so glad I did. The conflict of a first generation Indian American in wanting to be the perfect daughter and obey her parents with the true leanings of her heart and hope for the future is a wonderful conflict around which to build this novel. The confusion of the young man, Abhay, in trying to decide the perfect future for himself also leads to a journey of self-discovery or, at least, a clue as to how to proceed with his life. There are many glimpses into Indian American family life and attitudes with the bonus of a trip to India to get a sample of life there. No matter what the ethnic background, the story of immigrant life in America is fascinating. I hope you like this novel, too.
June 20, 2012
This is a very charming, direct-and-smart novel. A love story! --very unlike what I usually read. I won't rehash the plot elements; others have done a much better job of describing the cultural issues that complicate Rasika's and Abhay's relationship, but I did want to underscore my appreciation for Sreenivasan's sense of place as the story moves from Northern Ohio to Oregon to India--she has a light touch that is utterly believable. Another stand out feature of the novel is in the dialogue, of which there is plenty. It's crisp and sensitive. I happen to like a talky book very much--lots of natural, honest dialogue helps me trust and appreciate the quiet parts so much more.
I received this book in a goodreads giveaway.
I received this book in a goodreads giveaway.
May 20, 2018
I'm only halfway through but I don't know if I can finish this book. The main characters are both insufferable, like caricatures. Bah.
Update: I did end up finishing the book. I wasn't crazy about it. It was a romance novel (or at least a romantic novel), but I was never rooting for the male and female characters to fall in love. They seemed to be polar opposites, but not in a good "opposites attract" kind of way. They had no shared interests or values, or anything that could convince me that they would ever want to be together. Maybe more to the point, the main characters were both so wholly unlikeable that when they professed not to be in love with one another, I fully believed and supported them. Anyway, not a great book.
Update: I did end up finishing the book. I wasn't crazy about it. It was a romance novel (or at least a romantic novel), but I was never rooting for the male and female characters to fall in love. They seemed to be polar opposites, but not in a good "opposites attract" kind of way. They had no shared interests or values, or anything that could convince me that they would ever want to be together. Maybe more to the point, the main characters were both so wholly unlikeable that when they professed not to be in love with one another, I fully believed and supported them. Anyway, not a great book.
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