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East Into Upper East: Plain Tales from New York and New Delhi
Hailed as one of the best books of 1998 by the Los Angeles Times , this group of twelve short stories was written over the past twenty years. From the steamy streets of New Delhi to New York's tony Upper East Side, Jhabvala's characters grapple with the universal quandaries of the human experience–jealousy, passion, temptation, and deception–truths of life and love that follow no matter where we wander.
314 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
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190 people want to read
About the author
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
58 books187 followersRuth Prawer Jhabvala was a British and American novelist and screenwriter. She is best known for her collaboration with Merchant Ivory Productions, made up of film director James Ivory and producer Ismail Merchant.
In 1951, she married Indian architect Cyrus Jhabvala and moved to New Delhi. She began then to elaborate her experiences in India and wrote novels and tales on Indian subjects. She wrote a dozen novels, 23 screenplays, and eight collections of short stories and was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the Diplomatic Service and Overseas List of the 1998 New Years Honours and granted a joint fellowship by BAFTA in 2002 with Ivory and Merchant. She is the only person to have won both a Booker Prize and an Oscar.
In 1951, she married Indian architect Cyrus Jhabvala and moved to New Delhi. She began then to elaborate her experiences in India and wrote novels and tales on Indian subjects. She wrote a dozen novels, 23 screenplays, and eight collections of short stories and was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the Diplomatic Service and Overseas List of the 1998 New Years Honours and granted a joint fellowship by BAFTA in 2002 with Ivory and Merchant. She is the only person to have won both a Booker Prize and an Oscar.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
January 23, 2019
One of the best short story collections I've read in awhile. I'm really surprised (on reading the reviews here) that I am one of the few who feel this way.
A theme and a glaring one at that in these collection of stories is the bond that develops among humans that is viewed by most if not all as unnatural. Be it the un-familial that become family or love between those of the same sex. Or in the case of "Expiation" kin that remain kin no matter what they've done.
Her skill is the short story is unparalleled. I've heard of her compared to Alice Munro but she has something Munro doesn't: Diversity in content. For which this book is exemplary.
A theme and a glaring one at that in these collection of stories is the bond that develops among humans that is viewed by most if not all as unnatural. Be it the un-familial that become family or love between those of the same sex. Or in the case of "Expiation" kin that remain kin no matter what they've done.
Her skill is the short story is unparalleled. I've heard of her compared to Alice Munro but she has something Munro doesn't: Diversity in content. For which this book is exemplary.
January 5, 2021
The stories here are highly descriptive about families and relationships. There is a common thread- money is a feature in many of these relationships. Money, the desire for it, the need for it; the shifts and changes within relationships between parents, spouse, children, employees, servants, lovers, aides, friends. There are the old moneyed class, the nouveau riche, the manipulators, the spendthrifts, the destitute... v astute observations about people.
April 21, 2008
Absolutely chilling.
November 4, 2023
One of those books you're sad to finish... what will you do with your life now??
The stories sometimes have no point or moral, but the actions and dialogue seduce you into thinking they may, or that you know these people, or stories, and so it doesn't matter that there's no point, you just want them to be alright. We are all so flawed, and these stories highlight some flaws, without judgement or commentary.
The stories sometimes have no point or moral, but the actions and dialogue seduce you into thinking they may, or that you know these people, or stories, and so it doesn't matter that there's no point, you just want them to be alright. We are all so flawed, and these stories highlight some flaws, without judgement or commentary.
August 7, 2021
O course these stories are well-written.
Detailed and observant, they all bring the reader into a different world.
However, I nearly didn't finish it because of the unrelenting dreariness of each of the stories.
The characters are weak or irritatingly unpleasant in one way or another.
The situations are unremittingly emotionally claustrophobic. I had to escape!
Detailed and observant, they all bring the reader into a different world.
However, I nearly didn't finish it because of the unrelenting dreariness of each of the stories.
The characters are weak or irritatingly unpleasant in one way or another.
The situations are unremittingly emotionally claustrophobic. I had to escape!
January 14, 2025
Read this as a wee teen. And I haven’t stopped revisiting this book ever since. Absolutely enthralling and gripping. RPJ makes you want to pack your bags and books, move to a new city up North, surrounded by loud chai walas, or a scenic snow clad cabin. This book moved me a lot with its duality and dichotomy of life both at East and Upper East.
September 10, 2017
2.5 New Delhi better than New York.
April 14, 2020
Brilliant stories with sometimes startling and often unusual characters who show the light, the darkness, and the foibles of being human.
July 20, 2021
Very thoughtful stories with memorable characters. Each story placed me completely in its world, and the quality of the stories was uniformly high.
November 5, 2025
i really don't know how to feel about this one.
March 7, 2016
I'm giving this a three, although at times I thought it was more of a two, and now I'm not sure if it shouldn't be a four. These are very dense, complicated stories, dealing with human relationships and human needs, and the sacrifices we are willing to make to get what we need. The book is divided into two parts - East and Upper East. The East stories are all set in India and involve mostly Indians, and the Upper East are set mostly in New York and involve mostly Americans or European immigrants, although there is an English protagonist in a story in the first part, and an Indian major character in the story in the second.
The East stories I found held my interest but I didn't become emotionally invested. The Upper East stories I found fascinating - "The Temptress", "Two Muses" and frustrating - "Summer by the Sea", "Great Expectations". There is a constant exchange in these stories - people giving money or shelter in exchange for companionship, people devoting themselves to others with little more return then that they are needed. Most marriages are broken, most women are raising children with nominal assistance from their exes. There are recurring themes of people marrying above themselves or below themselves, marrying people of a higher or lower class, usually ending disastrously. People making compromises with themselves in order to accommodate companions - aunts, spouses, children, partner's children. No relationships are easy or happen in a vacuum.
It's not an easy book and I often found myself frustrated with the characters, but there is a lot going on and in the end, I felt that I was better off for having read it.
The East stories I found held my interest but I didn't become emotionally invested. The Upper East stories I found fascinating - "The Temptress", "Two Muses" and frustrating - "Summer by the Sea", "Great Expectations". There is a constant exchange in these stories - people giving money or shelter in exchange for companionship, people devoting themselves to others with little more return then that they are needed. Most marriages are broken, most women are raising children with nominal assistance from their exes. There are recurring themes of people marrying above themselves or below themselves, marrying people of a higher or lower class, usually ending disastrously. People making compromises with themselves in order to accommodate companions - aunts, spouses, children, partner's children. No relationships are easy or happen in a vacuum.
It's not an easy book and I often found myself frustrated with the characters, but there is a lot going on and in the end, I felt that I was better off for having read it.
April 23, 2013
I have read only few stories till now from this wonderful book. Most of the stories end when you least expect them to. Most of them end, whether unhappily or not, I do not know, but there is a desire that they should have continued a little further and ended happily. The stories thus end in incompleteness. On second thoughts, that is what life is. It always remains incomplete and desires more, longing and craving infinitely to attain completeness. But it seldom happens rather never. The stories make your realise the how vulnerable a human is and it specially points to one’s own vulnerability.
How much had I hoped that stories must have ended happily. But this is a feature of them all. When the stories close, each one leaves you staring at infinity. I just hope that it gives me energy enough to complete my story!
It is a good book. My rating 4/5.
#Cross-posted from here.
How much had I hoped that stories must have ended happily. But this is a feature of them all. When the stories close, each one leaves you staring at infinity. I just hope that it gives me energy enough to complete my story!
It is a good book. My rating 4/5.
#Cross-posted from here.
December 11, 2014
Found this book at the amazing Florentine Youth hostel, in Tel Aviv, on their crazy cool book-trading shelf! (Hollah!)
Another reviewer said that this book was bringing them down and I absolutely felt the same way. The stories were all too dark and ended gloomily. One of them made me sick to my stomach. The writing itself was great and the topics, interesting. However, many of the stories felt the same after awhile and they were just so dreary. I would call the "unfinished" feeling at the end of the stories, typical of ninties everything... films, books, sometimes music. In other words, these stories don't feel timeless, but stuck somewhere. It is hard to believe they were written over twenty years.... Surely the authors written voice would fluctuate in that time? Pity it did not.
Another reviewer said that this book was bringing them down and I absolutely felt the same way. The stories were all too dark and ended gloomily. One of them made me sick to my stomach. The writing itself was great and the topics, interesting. However, many of the stories felt the same after awhile and they were just so dreary. I would call the "unfinished" feeling at the end of the stories, typical of ninties everything... films, books, sometimes music. In other words, these stories don't feel timeless, but stuck somewhere. It is hard to believe they were written over twenty years.... Surely the authors written voice would fluctuate in that time? Pity it did not.
August 19, 2008
This is a book of short stories, all taking place in India. The stories detail cultural and political life in India at different periods of time. One negative about this book is that the stories end abruptly and kind of leave the reader hanging to figure out how things turned out. But...if you like books about different cultures, this is worth reading.
November 21, 2012
I HATE leaving books unfinished, but life is too short and this one was bringing me down - way down. The Indian stories were pretty good, and I was hopeful. But, the "upper east side"/American stories were AWFUL. Ms. Jhabvala should have stuck with what she knows best - being desi. So, this one returns to my bookshelf - and I will likely not pick it up again...
October 9, 2014
I'm quite a fan of Jhabvala but this is not her strongest work; the stories felt oddly incomplete and were unsatisfying. 'Farid & Farida', 'Husband & son' and 'The Temptress' stand out but would be hard pushed to recommend this to anyone.
May 24, 2016
It's a collection of different short stories few of which impress one, the remaining don't. To me it seemed that boredom was added on purpose to make the book look gloomier which didn't work for me
April 4, 2013
Loved these stories, so Upper West Side. Love the writing of Ruth Prawer Jhabvala.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews