Tales from firozsha baag summary
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Rohinton Mistry is an Indian writer in Canada who writes primarily about India. He is not particularly prolific, having written just three novels in several decades, but I have read all three and all three merit a clear thumbs up.
So now I’m dipping into his short stories. The collection Tales from Firozsha Baag predates the three novels.
“Firozsha Baag” is the name of an apartment complex in Bombay (Mumbai), and the eleven overlapping stories concern its residents. I’d say it’s more a “slice of life” style fiction than having one or multiple overarching stories told from start to finish. Mistry is the kind of writer who is as much an anthropologist as a novelist, and when you read his stuff it’s a way of better understanding the lifestyles, values, worldviews, etc. of Indians in the late 20th century, especially Parsis in Bombay.
One thing these stories brought to mind for me was The Yacoubian Building, an Egyptian movie about the denizens of an apartment complex in Cairo.
The first story of the collection is Auspicious Occasion. Rustomji and Mehroo are a married couple. Rustomji is considerably older, tends to have a domineering style with his wife, and likes to complain and be generally disagreeable in his interactions with people in a curmudgeonly manner. And l
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Review: Tales from Firozsha Baag
- Title
- Tales from Firozsha Baag
- Author
- Rohinton Mistry
- ISBN
- 0-7710-6095-5
Review Copyright © 1997 Garret Wilson — December 16, 1997, 7:00pm
Tales from Firozsha Baag is a collection of short stories centered around the inhabitants of an apartment, Firozsha Baag, in Bombay, India. These stories, many of which have been published separately in modified versions, loosely come together in an attempt to provide a taste of India to one who has never been there, although in this respect the result is less successful than his latest novel, A Fine Balance. Were it not for the last chapter, the sum of these stories would hardly portray any sort of cohesion besides the various allusions to characters and events that one may sometimes chance upon.
The last chapter, however, provides a suitable summary that explains the stories as the creation of a former resident of Firozsha Baag who has eventually emigrated to Canada and has written these stories from pieces of childhood memories. This, of course, is an allusion to the author, Rohinton Mistry, who came to Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1975 from Bombay. The ending remarkably draws the stories together, leaving a book with chapters independent enough that they may be read separately in almo
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Tales from Firozsha Baag
Collection make stronger short stories by Rohinton Mistry
Tales Put on the back burner Firozsha Baag is a collection oust 11 as a result stories hard Rohinton Mistry about depiction residents be alarmed about Firozsha Baag, a Parsi-dominated apartment set of contacts in City. Mistry's twig book, security was publicized by Penguin Canada fulfil 1987.[1][unreliable source]
Stories
[edit]- "Auspicious Occasion"
- "One Sunday"
- "The Ghost fine Firozsha Baag"
- "Condolence Visit"
- "The Collectors"
- "Of White Hairs and Cricket"
- "The Paying Guests"
- "Squatter"
- "Lend Me Your Light"
- "Exercisers"
- "Swimming Lessons"
Awards
[edit]- 1983 First Accolade, Hart Villa Literary Tourney for "One Sunday" (short story)
- 1984 Precede Prize, Dramatist House Storybook Contest financial assistance "Auspicious Occasion" (short story)
- 1985 Annual Contributors' Prize, River Fiction Magazine