Red Earth and Pouring Rain

by Vikram Chandra

Book Overview

Combining Indian myths, epic history, and the story of three college kids in search of America, a narrative includes the monkey's story of an Indian poet and warrior and an American road novel of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0316132934
• ISBN13: 9780316132930
• Release Date: January 1995
• Publisher: Back Bay Books
• Length: 560 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 5.3" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Contemporary masterpiece

It is quite unbelievable that this novel is the first novel published by Vikram Chandra and, furthermore, that this is a novel born of a writer with a birth date post 1960. Midnight's Children, Shame and Tharoor's Show Business are the only 'Indian' novels of such incredible scope which succeed in conveying such vision as that conveyed by Red Earth, Pouring Rain. Like the above mentioned novels, this novel has humour and lightness of touch and can be read on numerous levels. As Hanuman says, the greatest pleasure in life is a good story and Red Earth, Pouring Rain has many. Stories within stories...for this alone, a novel worthy of comparison to Potocki's Manuscript Found in Saragossa (and this, for those who have not read Potocki's novel, is high praise indeed). Nevertheless, in addition to the pure bliss of reading a wonderfully constructed series of tales, Red Earth, Pouring Rain has the advantage of juxtaposing contemporary 'myth' with ancient, has post-colonial commentary and has extensive historical content. An exceptional novel by all means - to read such a novel is a godsend...the sort of novel that one cannot wait to read further but one dreads finishing because then, the pleasure would end. Such a novel cannot be too long.

Magic Realism within an Amazing Epic

I love this book! It pulled me in and wouldn't let go. The main narrative follows the story of three "brothers" in their journeys of life, where magical --and mythical-- influences abound. It begins in ancient India, and ends in modern times. The sub-story captures the malaise of a modern young adult who isn't sure where he fits in the world.In the first reading, I got a little lost in the story within a story, within a story, within a story ....you get the idea. Stick with it -- it isn't critical to enjoyment that you keep it all straight.Good book for those who like a little magic in their stories, who want insight into the Indian culture and perspectives, who like a rousing tale of love, longing, battles, sacrifices, and consequences of personal choices, and the possibility to do better the next time around.I read, and then re-read this book. Enjoyed it even more the second time!

On Being Enchanted

I am your basic omnivorous reader. I delight in stories of almost any kind (certain genres excluded) that are well-told. I make my living in the creative arts and so honor imagination wherever I find it.Two weeks ago, while at the library, I searched the fiction shelves looking for treasure. As usual, I started at the top of the alphabetical arrangement of authors methodically pulling out titles and reading flyleaves. (I hope this technique will afford me a chance to read all of the great works of fiction. So far I haven't managed to get past the "C's" and I've been doing this for over 15 years.)Chandra's book seemed to leap into my hands. I felt as if I should hug it or cradle it or in some other way protect it lest some other reader's psychic need draw it from my grasp into theirs. Without even reading the flyleaf I was certain I had found a book of serious magic.As I will, I found two other books as safeguards against the possibility that I wouldn't enjoy Red Earth and Pouring Rain. I could have saved the effort.For two weeks now I have devoured the book. I read excerpts to everyone I can tie down. I laugh out load if not at some humorous segment then simply in outright delight. I cry as I identify with the sorrows Chandra so perfectly portrays.This is a steller work. Vikram Chandra has here worked a piece of art in mixed media. It is both realism and abstraction. It is infinitesimally jewel-like and thunderously monumental.I am a 62 year old male. I have been feeling my age of late. September 11th sorrowed me for my country and my feelings for all humanity. Two things have restored my hope: the 2002 Winter Olympics and Vikram Chandra's wonderful gift.

GREAT BOOK!!

What's not to like? An historical warrior romance and a road trip with reincarnation and a sentient beastie holding the great god death at bay!! A big windswept novel to curl up in with lots of little paths and byways to meander into. I liked the slipping between "cultures" and historic times. I found a strength there not present in straight forward narratives. Maybe it's generational thing, the channel surfers versus those who watch TV programs from start to end, but to my mind this novel had more "reality" in it due to the switching from one voice to a different one. I found the sense of tropics was as strong and alive and present as the slightly dislocated U.S. highway. Hey, the jet is a time machine and modern life happens in lots of realities simultaneously.

A novel worth reading, again and again.

Being a non-Indian American who has always taken particular interest in Indian culture, theology and history, I purchased this novel with a fair amount of anticipation. After reading the first chapter alone, I was most pleased to have realized that not only had I discovered a book that would add much to my understanding of India, but, more importantly, I knew that I had chanced upon an eminently talented, creative and gifted author. After reading the entire novel, I realized two important things: 1) Not only does the novel enhance one's comprehension of India, but, there is much to learn about America and the western hemisphere as well -- the universal applicability of the book can not be missed; and, 2) I would need to quickly re-arrange my personal top-ten book list! "Red Earth & Pouring Rain" is a novel worth much more than its cover price -- its stories resonate far beyond their pages. The book is therefore one that any serious lover of literature should read. Chandra gives us: characters to love -- we simply can not forget them; prose that is at once entirely accessible and powerfully compelling; symbol, irony, profundity, and all the rest. With surprising grace, skill and rhythm, the author transports readers across multiple centuries and continents through a series of perfectly interwoven stories -- never forgetting to bring us back home again. What results is a whole, cohesive narrative of love and lives, war and wonders -- one which prompts readers to consider important questions -- questions political, spiritual, philosophical, cultural, familial... and natural, such as his ending to Chapter 1, spoken by our primary protagonist, the primate we simply must love, Sanjay: "...surely this must be enough, to feel these things and to know that all this exists together, the earth and its seas, the sky and its suns." Don't read another book before reading this one.