Jasmine: 30th anniversary edition

Don't let the cheesy cover fool you, this book is amazing. It is brutally honest and intense, as well as impossible to put down. The story revolves around a woman with a multitude of identities, one to fit each phase of her ever changing life. "Jasmine" (aka Jyoti and Jane) is a woman who survives poverty and ignorance in a small Indian village, only to be rewarded with brutality. Her journey to America is beyond taxing, and what she must do to survive it is harrowing, if not downright shocking at times. Jasmine is faced with much turmoil and many choices, none of which are easy. Her life is far from conventional, but it says volumes about what it must be like to forge a new life in a new place with an identity that even she is not certain of. I found that the ending was a little abrupt, but other than this, I have no complaints. Mukherjee is a vivid and serious writer, one who will leave you with an often times visceral reaction. Warning: I have heard some complaints about the beginning chapters being mildly confusing concerning character introductions, but I assure you, if you stick with it, what she is doing will become clear quite quickly. This author's technique of introducing characters is very unique and effective and gives the reader a real sense of time without being exactly linear.

This was a different read for me. I usually choose historic fiction but I thought I could learn something about life in India as that part of the world is largely unknown to me. The story did not disappoint in relating about life in a small Indian village, relationships, habits, accepted behaviors, the expected role of women and more. Coming to America alone with forged papers, dumped on a remote beach in Florida and left with no survival knowledge, she lives to learn and experience America in New York, Iowa, and California but not without problems.

I recently taught a class on Mukherjee, and this novel was a huge hit! I love the way Mukherjee uses the idea of incarnations as a springboard for the narrator's transformation. I also love the way she ties in the story of Kali (goddess of death) into her tale. If you are rusty on your knowledge of hindu gods, you may want to look a few references up. Mukherjee also does an excellent job of portraying the modern immigrant experience -- through a compelling tale.

[Also posted on Good Reads] I was assigned this book for a Ph.D. level course on Travel Narratives taught at the University of Arizona. I was quite excited for this book, as it is praised as being one of the "best" novels about immigration to have come from an Indian author. In academia, there is a lot of talk about how wonderful and life-changing this book is. But after reading it, twice, I have to say: Kind of average. The story is about a young woman named Jyoti. Jyoti grows up in India and is eventually married, and living a happy life with a young husband that she loves. However, a tragic attack widows Joyoti and she decides that she will fulfill her husband's dream of going to America for school. She enters America illegally, and her journey as an immigrant is one of bleakness. When she arrives in America, she starts calling herself Jasmine. She eventually starts working for a family with one child as a live-in-nanny. As it turns out, she falls in love with the husband, and when the couple separates it seems like Jasmine can once again be happy. Instead, she flees to Iowa, where she ends up marrying a man named Bud. The couple adopts a Vietnamese boy named Du and Jasmine, now going by the name Jane, ends up pregnant with Bud's child. Again, more bleakness --and she realizes she loved Taylor (her former employer) all along. At the end of the novel, she gets to decide if she wants to stay with Bud or flee to California with Taylor and his daughter. Overall, this is a good book about immigration, identity, and how hard it is for "outsiders" to fully engage with American culture. There are several scenes within the novel that are wonderful in expressing the turmoil female immigrants face--specifically in terms of sexual assault. But all of the scenes that present this material are in the front half of the book. Even though the novel goes back and forth between three stories (the three different times in her life), the first half of the book is still far more engaging than the second half. For me, the last half of the book seemed to drag on, and I actually ended up deducting a star for this. I think there are several genres that this book stands out in: Indian literature, immigration studies, stories about identity, etc. But that doesn't mean that this book should be over-praised just because it is a breakout Indian novel. There is still a lot that is lacking for me to give it more than 3 stars. For example, I'm not really sure how strong a heroine Jasmine actually is. She seems to run from her troubles, and never seems to want to settle anywhere--in fact, even by the conclusion of the book I'm still unsure if she has finally decided what she wants her life in America to look like. Again, the second half of the novel also drags on a bit, and while I was somewhat interested in the Iowan farmer's problems that are brought up in the second part of the novel, this sub-plot also seems a bit unnecessary. Is it a good book? Absolutely. But I don't think that it needs all of the hype that it has been given. There are certainly (to date) some other books that deal with issues of identity, immigration, assimilation, etc., that have clearer story lines (though not Indian literature). Did I enjoy reading it? I loved the first half, but the second half was just okay. Is this something that you may get assigned in class? Yes. But that doesn't mean that everyone is going to fall in love with this book. As much as I wanted to love this book, I set it down just feeling kind of okay with it.

I LOVED this book, was such a good read, 10/10. I highly recommend it.

Bharati Mukerjee's Jasmine tumbles through rural and urban worlds, through different cultures and continents, using different names, in an imperfectly linear narrative. By the time the story ends, the reader is familiar with several versions of the young Indian girl first met in the small village of Hasnapur. However, the ending exemplifies a kind of magical realism, where she is reunited with a man, and his daughter Duff, to whom she was previously attracted - although her circumstances have dramatically changed, leading to potentially tragic consequences - never resolved nor discussed.

Loved this book - great quality and fast shipping

Powerful, moving story. Definitely won't be my last time reading Mukherjee's books. The main character's journey to America is something that I can very closely relate to, so the entire time that I was reading, it was a very personal and intense experience. I'm a student so I bought it for a class but I absolutely loved reading every word.

An award winning novel from the 1980s relevant at this moment. Mukherjee's gifted prose and the immigrant experience.

Great

Je suis contente de pouvoir acheter des produits à un prix modique et souvent expédiés rapidement. Jusqu'à maintenant j'ai toujours été satisfaite des produits; merci!

Interesting treatment of migration from a migrant's perspective

good