Like Heaven

by Niala Maharaj

Book Overview

Like Heaven is a vivid and evocative portrait of an Indian family in Port of Spain, Trinidad. Ved Saran is forced to leave his childhood behind when he takes on the family business, sacrificing his own personal desires to make it a success. As he prospers, he is pulled further away from the ramshackle carnival culture that has sustained him and thrown instead into a world of politics and corruption which finally threatens his personal happiness...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 009949227X
• ISBN13: 9780099492276
• Release Date: June 2007
• Publisher: Arrow
• Length: 480 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.1" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

An excellent read with the bonus of enlightenment

Congratulations. `Like Heaven' is a work of art which ranks among the absolute best of the best. It is timeless and riveting. It is smooth and easy to read. It is entertaining and serious. Within its pages are mirror reflections of everyone who seek truth. It is a silent witness. It captured and unpretentiously revealed a family's rise to material prosperity through the application of two approaches which more or less defined two types of people within this family and everywhere else. Using artistry and common, current, real life scenarios the author reaches into every area of the lives of this often typical family. On the one hand is a brother whose management direction of his work and life bypasses intellectualizing. He does not have higher formal education. His direction seeks to results from obedience to the urgings of (loving) intuitions which arises naturally and spontaneously within his inherent spirit (or heart) for those specific people, things and circumstances in his environment. Essentially he is in touch with and applies wisdom in the form of urgings from within, as people, things and circumstance presents them selves. On the other hand is another brother who uses a totally intellectual approach to manage his work and personal life. He is possessed of formal higher education. His wisdom is acquired from without. And he is urged into all actions of his life after due intellectualizing. With respect to the family business, his action is founded on `bottom line' management. This approach naturally and spontaneously recognizes and addresses only material parameters and material gratification. Every thing, including employees, associates and even relatives are seen as factors which must be exploited to the fullest or eradicated if necessary so as to materially enrich his company and himself. One approach becomes autocratic, confrontational and even violent. The other is essentially peaceful. Both approaches win abundant material wealth and precipitate problems. However, only one delivers returns on critical non material levels. Therefore one is holistic and one is not. Additionally one approach is seriously subservient. It is unrecognized by `the many' in the family and in the wider environment. In fact in the governmental and general public domain one approach is shown to be well accepted, entrenched and all pervading. Its workings are revealed in full and clear glory as it dominates and easily undermines anything in its quest for success. One brother seems more relevant to the prevailing reality than the other. One rides more or less alone while Heaven limps along unseen. Hell unwittingly dominates at the forefront. Yet sooner or later circumstances unfold to enable enlightenment to prevail where it should. And the chips fall into place. Everyone seems to reach a place that befits their actualizations and needs. However, around the bend, trouble loom for those with insecure able liabilities which inevitably become unpaid debt

Entertaining and profound

What a great read. Lovely lively characters, a lot of entertaining stories and a subtle plot with a profound twist that takes your breath away, worthy of the best literature. My friends had better prepare: `Like Heaven' is going to be my standard birthday gift for some time to come...

What a new entry!!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The way that the author captured all of the subtlties of Trinidad life made me feel so connected with her characters. I really enjoyed reading about the exploits of Ved Saran and his band of followers. The book is so.... Trinidad; written in such a light yet still compelling way. I felt like I was there, in the Saran house- in the Croissee listening to Mrs. Saran and her humor filled tirades about the stupidity of just about everyone. I also loved how well rounded and well finished the entire premise of the story was. It was absolutely addictive, exploring the whole range of human emotion- from the absolutely ridiculous, to the brink of tears, and back again. I can't wait for her next book to be published.

A powerful new voice

This is a first novel from a writer I think we will be hearing a good deal more from. I'd recommend it strongly for anyone with an interest in the real life of today's Caribbean, or who enjoys good comic storytelling. Ved Sant, the protagonist of "Like Heaven", comes from a Hindu family in Trinidad, a family every bit as horrendous as the one in V.S. Naipaul's classic "A House for Mr Biswas". (Descendants of Africans and Indians each make up about 40% of the national population.) Trinidad and Tobago, here and in reality, is a society moving fast into modernity and wealth from oil and gas. Ved's attempts to run his family business without getting dragged into corruption and political intrigue, and to keep his many human relationships honest and authentic, are not always successful. But they reflect the struggles of a small nation engaged on a similar quest. Maharaj's theme - the nightmares of an evolving nation and the people whose lives are bound up with it - is deadly serious, and will be recognised by readers far beyond the Caribbean. But at the same time this is not a book that takes itself too seriously. It is often very funny, with crackling dialogue, and it is always readable and fast-moving. Not all readers will like the way Maharaj has constructed her story. It is a straightforward chronological narrative. You don't get a teaser of an opening chapter, followed by extended flashbacks; there are no fancy tricks with alternating time frames, multiple narrators or viewpoints. This seems almost quaint in the world of contemporary fiction writing. Some readers may even heave a sigh of relief. But if you're the impatient sort who wants to get at the meat of the story right away, and you start wondering early on whether the book is going anywhere, just stay with it. "Like Heaven" takes its time, and so must the reader.

A must read

The power of the novelist is to introduce the reader to a new world. With Like Heaven, my world changed. Maharaj has transformed a blob on a world map into a vibrant community. When oil is found, the once poor island of Trinidad transforms before our eyes into a community struggling to incorporate easy money into family life, politics, relationships and even into a simple swim in a river. The tropical paradise, the land of milk and honey; Maharaj takes us to the heart of the uncertainty of a world that can't make sense of what it is like to have the thing you longed for. I read Like Heaven compulsively, urgently moving from one chapter to the next. It is a complex and intriguing novel. It should head up everyone's summer reading list.