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The Arrangements of Love
Skillfully interweaving drama, romance and comedy, and packed with quirky, unforgettable characters, this book is a wonderful novel about family and home and the intracacies of ordinary human relationships.
296 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
17 people are currently reading
250 people want to read
About the author
Timeri N. Murari
36 books37 followersTimeri Murari is an award winning writer, filmmaker, and playwright, who began his career as journalist on the Kingston Whig Standard in Ontario, Canada. He writes for the Guardian, Sunday Times, and other magazines and newspapers internationally. He has published both fiction and non-fiction, and his bestselling novel, Taj, was translated into 19 lanugages and has recently been reissued by Penguin India. In 2006, he published a memoir, My Temporary Son, exploring the difficulties of adopting a desperately ill orphan. Timeri now lives with his wife in his ancestral home of Chennai, India.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 24, 2017
‘The Arrangements of Love’ is a quest for old & forgotten relationships. Packed with bits of Family Saga, Detective work & the American Dream of Indians, The Arrangements of Love is a riveting book.
*From America… To India
The Arrangements of Love tells the story of a boy named Nikhil, living in America with his mother & step dad. His mother, Sushma aka Susie (in America) has a past buried in India. The novel starts with Nikhil’s decision to go to India, to find his real father- who he thought was long dead.
One day, Nikhil finds an old copy of a novel titled Georgetown, placed carefully in the folds of a sari, in a suitcase, that belongs to his mother. Nikhil wants to stage that novel, which is actually written by his own father.
On reaching India, Nikhil tries to trace his father with help of a detective named Apu. But soon Nikhil discovers that India has its own tricks to play on him. The police thinks that he is a terrorist. In his hotel, he finds a baby crocodile. He is bewildered by the turn of events. While his father, S.K. Naidu, refuses to acknowledge him as his son, it is Apu who brings solace to him.
Nikhil finds himself drawn towards Apu, whose own wounds need healing. Will Nikhil be able to get the love of his father? Is there something in store for Nikhil and Apu? Or are there paths as distinct as America and India? The novel unfolds answers to these questions with use of an unusual narrative technique.
*My Verdict
The story of the novel is gripping and keeps us hooked. The first thing that one notices after reading a few pages is the use of a special narrative technique. The author has employed the technique of multiple Point of Views (POVs). The story unfolds from 4 main characters’ POV. A shift in POV marks the end of a chapter & the beginning of the next.
This technique was new for me and I enjoyed it. It just felt like reading several different novels at the same time. I’m sure, almost, everyone will like it. The novel has several sub-themes.
The author highlights the attitude of Indians settled in America. Most of these want to get rid of their Indianness. This is portrayed through the character of Nikhil’s mother, Sushma who calls herself Susie. She tries her level best to completely Americanize her son. She is against Nikhil’s decision of going to India.
The author also offers a bitter criticism of the institution of marriage- both arranged as well as love. He shows how fidelity is of little importance to people as compared to sex. It is a fact, that I personally despise. People prefer sex over a loyal partner. Besides this, the theme of red-tapism & corruption also raises head.
The difficulties faced by foreigners in some other country, human threat to nature and the Indians’ longing for America, all have a place in this novel. Despite these diverse elements, one might start losing interest in the story after reading about 200 pages. It is because the main track gets over & it is only for the sake of a few subplots that we have to read till the end. The ending is somewhat ambiguous, which I did not like.
The novel has been aptly titled. It is, indeed, a depiction of various ways in which love is arranged in the lives of the characters. I enjoyed this book and I’m planning to pick up one more book by the author.
My Rating: **** (4/5)
Read more reviews at my blog: https://BooksNMyself.wordpress.com
*From America… To India
The Arrangements of Love tells the story of a boy named Nikhil, living in America with his mother & step dad. His mother, Sushma aka Susie (in America) has a past buried in India. The novel starts with Nikhil’s decision to go to India, to find his real father- who he thought was long dead.
One day, Nikhil finds an old copy of a novel titled Georgetown, placed carefully in the folds of a sari, in a suitcase, that belongs to his mother. Nikhil wants to stage that novel, which is actually written by his own father.
On reaching India, Nikhil tries to trace his father with help of a detective named Apu. But soon Nikhil discovers that India has its own tricks to play on him. The police thinks that he is a terrorist. In his hotel, he finds a baby crocodile. He is bewildered by the turn of events. While his father, S.K. Naidu, refuses to acknowledge him as his son, it is Apu who brings solace to him.
Nikhil finds himself drawn towards Apu, whose own wounds need healing. Will Nikhil be able to get the love of his father? Is there something in store for Nikhil and Apu? Or are there paths as distinct as America and India? The novel unfolds answers to these questions with use of an unusual narrative technique.
*My Verdict
The story of the novel is gripping and keeps us hooked. The first thing that one notices after reading a few pages is the use of a special narrative technique. The author has employed the technique of multiple Point of Views (POVs). The story unfolds from 4 main characters’ POV. A shift in POV marks the end of a chapter & the beginning of the next.
This technique was new for me and I enjoyed it. It just felt like reading several different novels at the same time. I’m sure, almost, everyone will like it. The novel has several sub-themes.
The author highlights the attitude of Indians settled in America. Most of these want to get rid of their Indianness. This is portrayed through the character of Nikhil’s mother, Sushma who calls herself Susie. She tries her level best to completely Americanize her son. She is against Nikhil’s decision of going to India.
The author also offers a bitter criticism of the institution of marriage- both arranged as well as love. He shows how fidelity is of little importance to people as compared to sex. It is a fact, that I personally despise. People prefer sex over a loyal partner. Besides this, the theme of red-tapism & corruption also raises head.
The difficulties faced by foreigners in some other country, human threat to nature and the Indians’ longing for America, all have a place in this novel. Despite these diverse elements, one might start losing interest in the story after reading about 200 pages. It is because the main track gets over & it is only for the sake of a few subplots that we have to read till the end. The ending is somewhat ambiguous, which I did not like.
The novel has been aptly titled. It is, indeed, a depiction of various ways in which love is arranged in the lives of the characters. I enjoyed this book and I’m planning to pick up one more book by the author.
My Rating: **** (4/5)
Read more reviews at my blog: https://BooksNMyself.wordpress.com
January 4, 2019
It's unique, this novel. I'd never heard of the book nor writer, so didn't know what to expect, and plunged headlong into the tale of a son seeking a father who doesn't know of his existence. While the main character is American, I loved that the setting didn't affect the simplicity, the artlessness of the language, as often happens in tales of/from the Diaspora.
I was engrossed in this melodramatic story of a woman detective trying to shrug off her past, a man living in seclusion since years, a mother who lives a lie her entire life. There are some beautiful ruminations on different types of loves we savor in life - friendship, marriage, relations.
And then halfway the charm was broken for me, because of two reasons - too many coincidences, and a crocodile in the bathtub. Though all of it is explained well, such extreme liberties put me off a book (though I must confess I put so many coincidences in my own stories, readers must hate me). The novel regained its tranquil, unhurried, relatable pace at the end, leaving me with a different experience than usual.
If you like Indian writers and their typical writing (I am a big fan of SA literature, feels like home to me), then do try for its attempt to do something out of the ordinary. Also for super-confident yet vulnerable Anu, one of the better women characters I've met.
I was engrossed in this melodramatic story of a woman detective trying to shrug off her past, a man living in seclusion since years, a mother who lives a lie her entire life. There are some beautiful ruminations on different types of loves we savor in life - friendship, marriage, relations.
And then halfway the charm was broken for me, because of two reasons - too many coincidences, and a crocodile in the bathtub. Though all of it is explained well, such extreme liberties put me off a book (though I must confess I put so many coincidences in my own stories, readers must hate me). The novel regained its tranquil, unhurried, relatable pace at the end, leaving me with a different experience than usual.
If you like Indian writers and their typical writing (I am a big fan of SA literature, feels like home to me), then do try for its attempt to do something out of the ordinary. Also for super-confident yet vulnerable Anu, one of the better women characters I've met.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 15, 2022
A good story, crazy at places, breezy well sketched out characters.
Nikhil an American born Indian comes to India to meet his biological father for the first time. He appoints a private detective to search his father.
Does his father accept him? How does Nikhil find India and its different colours?
The language is good, the plot well worked out good characterisation and an easy read. Timeri has his quirky style which is interesting and his humour is also good.
Overall worth a read
Nikhil an American born Indian comes to India to meet his biological father for the first time. He appoints a private detective to search his father.
Does his father accept him? How does Nikhil find India and its different colours?
The language is good, the plot well worked out good characterisation and an easy read. Timeri has his quirky style which is interesting and his humour is also good.
Overall worth a read
August 5, 2016
A tale of a boy to know his father!
We don't know what became of the novel that Timeri N. Murari claimed had people queuing up to film as "another Jewel in the Crown", or of the non-fiction that provoked a court injunction.
We do know that despite 14 books (on themes as diverse as racism, imperialism, the Taj Mahal and plague plots that only a TV star can save the world from), he is relatively unknown here.
He would rather "not write about somebody having a breakdown in suburbia", hence the grandstanding motifs. His latest belongs to the long tradition of NRI books primed for the western reader that neither offend nor inspire.
The Arrangements is nicely paced, with multiple first-person shifts and a few typos. There is humour, as when cops take seriously Nicky's joke about a bomb in his missing bag. One even forgives the ever-intruding Americanisms and the budget tour guide-type codas that Chennai evokes.
Nicky/Nikhil leaves the US to locate the famous writer S.K. Naidu. Official reason: he has to get permission for a play he wishes to adapt.
Unofficial reason: Naidu is his father. He is ably aided by the pretty detective Apu, equally into Bharatnatyam and exhuming facts at knifepoint or rupeefold. Nicky's arrival stirs up the recluse Naidu, who hasn't forgiven his wife Susie/Sushima for leaving him.
Murari takes masala detours to keep his narrative pot on the boil: Susie's death in the 9/11 tragedy is tagged on with unseemly despatch and young Apu's game of strip poker with dirty old men is a silly counterpoint to her arranged marriage.
Is this what Murari meant when he said, "you can't be dull or boring in this business, because the competition is too great"?
We don't know what became of the novel that Timeri N. Murari claimed had people queuing up to film as "another Jewel in the Crown", or of the non-fiction that provoked a court injunction.
We do know that despite 14 books (on themes as diverse as racism, imperialism, the Taj Mahal and plague plots that only a TV star can save the world from), he is relatively unknown here.
He would rather "not write about somebody having a breakdown in suburbia", hence the grandstanding motifs. His latest belongs to the long tradition of NRI books primed for the western reader that neither offend nor inspire.
The Arrangements is nicely paced, with multiple first-person shifts and a few typos. There is humour, as when cops take seriously Nicky's joke about a bomb in his missing bag. One even forgives the ever-intruding Americanisms and the budget tour guide-type codas that Chennai evokes.
Nicky/Nikhil leaves the US to locate the famous writer S.K. Naidu. Official reason: he has to get permission for a play he wishes to adapt.
Unofficial reason: Naidu is his father. He is ably aided by the pretty detective Apu, equally into Bharatnatyam and exhuming facts at knifepoint or rupeefold. Nicky's arrival stirs up the recluse Naidu, who hasn't forgiven his wife Susie/Sushima for leaving him.
Murari takes masala detours to keep his narrative pot on the boil: Susie's death in the 9/11 tragedy is tagged on with unseemly despatch and young Apu's game of strip poker with dirty old men is a silly counterpoint to her arranged marriage.
Is this what Murari meant when he said, "you can't be dull or boring in this business, because the competition is too great"?
June 6, 2016
The best love story for the coming millenium..its got everything.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews