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Name: Amazon.com: The Lives of Others: 9780393351712: Mukherjee, Neel: Books
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Rating: 3.8 (1304 reviews)

Neel Mukherjee

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The Lives of Others Paperback – September 28, 2015

by Neel Mukherjee (Author)

1,304 ratings

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Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, this “dazzling” (Entertainment Weekly) saga of epic scope is both a family and a political drama.

The aging patriarch and matriarch of the Ghosh family preside over their large household, made up of their five adult children and their respective children, unaware that beneath the barely ruffled surface of their lives the sands are shifting. Each set of family members occupies a floor of the home, in accordance to their standing within the family. Poisonous rivalries between sisters-in-law, destructive secrets, and the implosion of the family business threaten to unravel bonds of kinship as social unrest brews in greater Indian society. This is a moment of turbulence, of inevitable and unstoppable change: the chasm between the generations, and between those who have and those who have not, has never been wider. The eldest grandchild, Supratik, compelled by his idealism, becomes dangerously involved in extremist political activism―an action that further catalyzes the decay of the Ghosh home.

Ambitious, rich, and compassionate, The Lives of Others anatomizes the soul of a nation as it unfolds a family history, at the same time as it questions the nature of political action and the limits of empathy. It is a novel of unflinching power and emotional force.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Haunting...Mukherjee can recall Tolstoy in his ability to bring to life a diverse and expansive set of characters and to sharply invoke interior worlds…[it’s] a sophisticated meditation on suffering that invites empathy for characters who embrace violent ideologies as a result of injustice without ever vindicating the horrific violence they commit."
― Hirsh Sawhney, New York Times Book Review

"Searing, savage, and deeply moving: an unforgettably vivid picture of a time of turmoil."
― Amitav Ghosh

"A devastating portrayal of a decadent society and the inevitably violent uprising against it. . . . It is ferocious, unsparing, and brutally honest."
― Anita Desai

"Very ambitious and very successful. . . . . One of Mukherjee’s great gifts is precisely his capacity to imagine the lives of others. . . . Neel Mukherjee terrifies and delights us simultaneously."
― A. S. Byatt, Guardian

"Masterful. . . . His fierce intelligence and sophisticated storytelling combine to produce an unforgettable portrait of one family riven by the forces of history and their own desires."
― Patrick Flanery, Daily Telegraph

"Rich and engrossing. . . . Consistently vivid and well realised."
― Theo Tait, Sunday Times

"Unfailingly beautiful. . . . Resembles a tone poem in its dazzling orchestration of the crescendo of domestic racket. His eye is as acute as his ear: the physicality of people and objects is delineated with a hyper-aesthetic vividness."
― Jane Shilling, New Statesman

"Mukherjee’s scope is vast yet so intimately personal that it’s easy imagine him donning different costumes for the characters as he composes their stories… How he accomplished such a wonderful feat is unknown. What is known is that this novel stands as a literary boon. Short-listed for the Man Booker Prize, its American edition was rushed into print."
― Booklist, Starred review

"A devastatingly detailed account… This challenging epic has the scope of a political novel and the humanity of a family saga without sentimentality."
― Publishers Weekly

"Breathtakingly tense… the force of this journey hits you in waves."
― Entertainment Weekly

About the Author

Neel Mukherjee is the author of four novels, including The Lives of Others, shortlisted for the Booker Prize; and A State of Freedom, a New York Times Notable Book. He divides his time between London, England, and Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company; Reprint edition (September 28, 2015)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 530 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0393351718
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0393351712
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1.4 x 8.3 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,236,804 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #17,295 in Family Life Fiction (Books)
- #57,464 in Literary Fiction (Books)

Customer Reviews:
1,304 ratings

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Customer reviews

1,304 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book a great read with fascinating storytelling and instructive historical detail, providing rewarding insights into Indian life and Bengali society. The writing quality receives mixed feedback - while some find it brilliant, others describe it as drudgery. Customers disagree on the character development, with some appreciating the development while others note there are too many characters. The book receives mixed reviews for difficulty to follow, with some finding it impossible to follow, and several customers find it boring at times.

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Story quality Readability Insight Writing quality Character development Difficulty to follow Boredom

42 customers mention "Story quality"35 positive7 negative

Customers find the book's story fascinating, appreciating its historical detail and importance. One customer notes that the chapters are particularly captivating, while another mentions that the last quarter of the book is particularly engaging.

"This is a political novel in its true sense although at times it might seem like an Indian family drama. It’s not really a drama either...." Read more

"...there are sections in the book dedicated to each family member keeps it interesting as the book does not feel dragged about the same characters for..." Read more

"...knows how to spin a yarn, very detailed and deep about a contemporary time in Indian history...." Read more

"...Mukherjee writes beautifully and weaves a complex story, backwards and forwards through time, of the lives of the members of an Indian family,..." Read more

39 customers mention "Readability"34 positive5 negative

Customers find the book to be a great and fantastic read, with one customer describing it as a richly rewarding novel on many levels.

"...It’s not really a drama either. It is a grand Bengali opera - with many voices and several acts and the inevitable tragic ending. ‘..." Read more

"...Certainly not a deal-breaker. Overall: A great book about the life of a large Bengali family explaining the complicated relationships..." Read more

"...for position internally and externally, but ultimately it is a GREAT BOOK. You just have to be patient with yourself when you get bogged down...." Read more

"The Lives of Others is a truly excellent novel and certainly deserving of the Booker Prize if the competition from The Narrow Road to the Deep North..." Read more

18 customers mention "Insight"18 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's insight into Indian life, with one customer highlighting its well-rounded commentary on Bengali society and another noting how it recounts the stories and plights of India's underprivileged.

"...There is also a note on family names and relations and I suggest referring to it initially...." Read more

"...On every level I found the book a rewarding insight into this period of Indian history." Read more

"...Secrets are gradually revealed as the plot moves towards its powerful conclusion...." Read more

"...I found this section of the book enthralling for the detailed insight into the lives of struggling peasant farmers and the incredible injustices at..." Read more

41 customers mention "Writing quality"25 positive16 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the writing quality of the book, with some finding it brilliantly written and well told, while others describe it as drudgery through almost the entire book.

"...There are references to Bengali words and culture and the accompanying glossary (and X-Ray feature on Kindle) helps with the same...." Read more

"...As in the above example and all the way through the writing is excellent and as Supratik lives in the villages, often without food - escaping in the..." Read more

"This is a slog of a read, especially pages on make up and jewellry cultural approaches mixed in with Maoist rhetoric, brutal violence, class warfare..." Read more

"...Mukherjee writes beautifully and weaves a complex story, backwards and forwards through time, of the lives of the members of an Indian family,..." Read more

20 customers mention "Character development"11 positive9 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the character development in the book, with some finding them well-developed while others note there are too many characters and that no character is noble.

"The lives of all the characters are quite fascinating...." Read more

"...No character is noble and you do not end-up rooting for them (except a couple, maybe)...." Read more

"...Reading it is like sinking into a warm bath, as you gradually get familiar with the characters and their personalities, as well as their past lives..." Read more

"...There were too many characters and even with my Indian heritage,I had a tough time keeping track of who was related to whom...." Read more

5 customers mention "Difficulty to follow"3 positive2 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the book's readability, with some finding it really big effort to follow, while others describe it as impossible to follow.

"...various stages of progress and regress, I feel Neel Mukherjee's effort is top class...." Read more

"...This book is impossible to follow. I tried for 50 pages or so but had no idea who was doing what or why...." Read more

"A really big effort, covered generations of an Indian family...." Read more

"Interesting historically and well written, but almost impossible to follow on a Kindle because plot jumped back and forth chronologically and the..." Read more

3 customers mention "Boredom"0 positive3 negative

Customers find the book boring at times.

"...Beautifully chosen words, getting boring at times." Read more

"...This was one of those. At times gross, but nothing to hold my interest. I don't understand what others see in it." Read more

"Not worth the many hours it took to read...." Read more

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The Black Swan
A big, heart stopping book
Reviewed in the United States on August 22, 2014
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This is a political novel in its true sense although at times it might seem like an Indian family drama. It’s not really a drama either. It is a grand Bengali opera - with many voices and several acts and the inevitable tragic ending. ‘The Lives of Others’ brings together many spheres: the Naxalite movement, corrupt, greedy landlords and the plight of the landless farmers, corporate greed and the displacement of tribals... In its pages lurk drought and famine and eight course Bengali feasts. Mukherjee describes in loving detail a shaat lahari haar (a necklace with seven strands) as he does the grinding poverty of the migrant workers and the emotional wreckage of a girl pushed aside by society because of her dark skin. Nothing escapes his scrutiny.

This is a novel of ascension after loss and gradual decline and fall. The Ghosh family is on the slippery slope as the political climate in India and indeed, Bengal brings storm clouds. Slip ups in parenting lead to children going astray and a tangled mess of relationships. The book soars elegantly through the magic of prime numbers and Euclidean mathematics and plunges into the extraordinary violence of beheading of people with sickles.

Readers who are familiar with Bengali culture will glide through this book. Others might find it a bit of a struggle because the author uses the Bengali form of address throughout the book and you'll need to quickly figure out who's who for a smooth sail. But investing a bit of effort will yield rich rewards because this is a big, heart stopping book.

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AU
Great book about the relationships in a Bengali family, set against the backdrop of the Naxalite movement
Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2015
Verified Purchase
Mukherjee does an amazing job at portraying the life of an upper-middle-class Bengali family living in Calcutta (now, Kolkata) in "The Lives of Others".

The joint family is huge, spanning across three generations and lives in a multi-storied house. The book covers the lives of all the family members (and some servants). It feels like reading a collection of short-stories that are all linked together; but they are not separable. It is interesting to get a glimpse into the lives of each family member and read a bit about their lives and relationship with others.

I liked the fact that, barring less than a handful characters, all other characters have shades of grey to them. No character is noble and you do not end-up rooting for them (except a couple, maybe). This is the harsh truth in real life and Mukherjee portrays this very well.

The author touches on several different topics throughout the book. It talks about the Naxalite movement in West Bengal; the relationships among different members of a joint family and their feelings (including, jealousy, hatred - duh!, incestuous feelings,) and the relationships with servants; social structure in Bengali (and Indian) communities and the importance of one's position and standing in the society; views on single women (spinsters and widows) in the late 1960s in India; struggles of farm workers and peasants; workers' unions and relationships with the mill owners; the politics of the region; law and police; sexual fantasies; coming-of-age issues; drugs and alcoholism; etc.

The book has several chapters referring to the Ghosh family and chapters with Roman numerals which talk about the Naxalite movement. This may confuse a few readers as the author switches from the third person (for the Ghosh family) to the first person (for the Naxalite movement). The two sets of chapters go in parallel for a long time. They may actually seem like disjointed stories, but the join in the end.

Mukherjee has demonstrated a good command over English and uses it to his advantage. There are references to Bengali words and culture and the accompanying glossary (and X-Ray feature on Kindle) helps with the same.

I can picture this book as a Indian television soap opera!

Although the book is a bit longer than most novels, it kept me interested throughout. There are so many family members that discussing each one of them will result in a long book. But the fact that there are sections in the book dedicated to each family member keeps it interesting as the book does not feel dragged about the same characters for a long time.

There is a family tree at the start of the book and in the first few pages, I saw myself referring to it regularly. I agree with some of the other reviewers and recommend referring to it initially. There is also a note on family names and relations and I suggest referring to it initially. While the words may not stick with you, it is helpful to aware about them.

The Map of West Bengal is helpful for those who have no idea about the broad geography of the region. I did not know most of the towns and villages on the map but did not feel the need to refer to it for the same.

On the Kindle (Voyage), the family tree shows up too small to read (and you cannot expand the font size) in Portrait mode - you have to double-click it to view it in larger size, but then you keep on scrolling left and right, up and down. Regardless, going back and forth to refer to it is a pain on the Kindle; that's why I drew the family tree on a reference paper and kept referring to it. After the first few sections, I did not see myself referring to the family tree any more. Also, the X-Ray feature of Kindle proved helpful at times for the relationships of the characters and other Bengali terminology.

For some reason, the entire book (barring the Front Matter, Note on Relations, Glossary), appears as one huge chapter on the Kindle. I do see that the Contents page mentions simply "The Lives of Others", but there are chapters in the book and having them appear as separate chapters would have been helpful. Certainly not a deal-breaker.

Overall: A great book about the life of a large Bengali family explaining the complicated relationships among the family members, set against the backdrop of the Naxalite movement in West Bengal.

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Annette Innes
A great insight into Indian life
Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2015
Verified Purchase
The lives of all the characters are quite fascinating. The interactions and history of the wealthy Ghosh family all living under the one roof - set against the political changes in Calcutta. Supratik the young university student is totally caught up in these changes and all the chapters written in his voice tell of the other Calcutta - the poor and oppressed. He becomes an activist during 1966 and '67 student uprisings. We learn more and more about his forays into the poor villages while his mother Sandhya continues her rituals and prayers, knowing that he is often missing, that something is very wrong.
' There is an incandescence about him: the large blazing black eyes are devouring in their intensity, and the opacity of his inner world, it's unknowable resilience, makes Sandhya fear far more for him than any mother should for her child.'

As in the above example and all the way through the writing is excellent and as Supratik lives in the villages, often without food - escaping in the forests and fighting for the oppressed, the descriptions are almost impossible to bear. On every level I found the book a rewarding insight into this period of Indian history.

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2 people found this helpful

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Barbara Malmet
Bengali briliance, but dense storytelling.
Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2014
Verified Purchase
This is a slog of a read, especially pages on make up and jewellry cultural approaches mixed in with Maoist rhetoric, brutal violence, class warfare, family jockeying for position internally and externally, but ultimately it is a GREAT BOOK. You just have to be patient with yourself when you get bogged down. Neel Mukherjee knows how to spin a yarn, very detailed and deep about a contemporary time in Indian history. There is also a reliance on an on-going letter writing by one of the primary characters, so you have to be able to read the letters to know what's going on in that thread of the story.

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soumyajit kar
A must buy.
Reviewed in India on November 11, 2015
Verified Purchase

An excellent read that will have you thinking never endingly about the characters and their lives as the book comes to a close. Set in the turbulent years of leftist uprising in Bengal,the author potrays the multitude of emotions, happenings and events in a joint family. The various characters merge beautifully to create a brilliantly penned, an exceptional piece of fiction.

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Maura Beecher
So far so splendid. Not finished yet, however ...
Reviewed in Canada on September 15, 2014
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So far so splendid. Not finished yet, however.

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Wynne Kelly
A powerful book from a gifted writer.....
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 28, 2015
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This ambitious Man-Booker-shortlisted novel is a riveting read.

Three generations of the Ghosh family live in relative prosperity in a large house in Calcutta in the late 1960s. Supratik, the eldest grandson has left home to join the Maoist Naxalites who are trying to help the famers and peasants in the countryside of West Bengal who are suffering from famine and the vicious grip of landlords and moneylenders. His letters telling of his adventures, hopes and fears form one thread of the narrative. The other tells of the lives of the Ghosh family – lives that seem to be filled with greed, petty spite, meanness and jealousy. Patriarch Prafullanath Ghosh runs a paper factory. His sons are all allegedly working with him – but spend more time quarrelling and scheming than actually making any money.

At first I found the huge number of characters (and their unfamiliar names) very confusing. I found that printing out a copy of the family tree and keeping it nearby was an invaluable aide! But the effort of getting to grips with the characters was more than repaid by the superb story-telling. Neel Mukherjee gives an unflinching account of the relentless hardship of life for many Indians and the daily battles for survival.

Some local words are used – usually when there is no English equivalent. I love the word “gherao”. It means “The practice of aggrieved labourers surrounding members of the management and creating a wall of humans through which the encircled persons could not escape until the workers’ demands were met.”

This is a powerful book from a gifted writer.

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Valery
Lives of Others
Reviewed in the Netherlands on November 8, 2016
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I thought it was too long and drawn out, needed more editing. Confusing with too many characters. I wouldn't easily recommend it.

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JD
Ein Hörbuch, das erschüttert
Reviewed in Germany on February 10, 2019
Verified Purchase
Wer wissen will, warum Indien ist wie es ist, der lausche diesem erschütternden Hörbuch. Um auch die feinen lautmalerischen Leistungen des Sprechers würdigen zu können, braucht es allerdings Englischkenntnisse mindestens auf C1-Niveau/IELTS-Score 8 und besser.

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Top reviews from the United States

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4.0 out of 5 stars A big, heart stopping book

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book about the relationships in a Bengali family, set against the backdrop of the Naxalite movement

3.0 out of 5 stars A great insight into Indian life

4.0 out of 5 stars Bengali briliance, but dense storytelling.

Top reviews from other countries

5.0 out of 5 stars A must buy.

5.0 out of 5 stars So far so splendid. Not finished yet, however ...

5.0 out of 5 stars A powerful book from a gifted writer.....

3.0 out of 5 stars Lives of Others

5.0 out of 5 stars Ein Hörbuch, das erschüttert

A big, heart stopping book

Great book about the relationships in a Bengali family, set against the backdrop of the Naxalite movement

A great insight into Indian life

Bengali briliance, but dense storytelling.

A must buy.

So far so splendid. Not finished yet, however ...

A powerful book from a gifted writer.....

Lives of Others

Ein Hörbuch, das erschüttert