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Translated from the Gibberish
Translated from the Gibberish: Seven Stories and One Half Truth | Anosh Irani
3 posts | 2 read | 2 to read
Here are seven superb, subtle, surprising stories that show, through a prism of unforgettable characters, what it means to live between two worlds: India and Canada. Anosh Irani, the masterful, bestselling author of The Parcel and The Song of Kahunsha, knows of what he writes: Twenty years ago, to the mystification of family and friends, Irani left India for Vancouver, Canada, a city and a country completely foreign to him. His plan was both grand and impractical: he would reinvent himself as a writer. Miraculously, he did just that, publishing critically acclaimed novels and plays set in his beloved hometown of Mumbai. But this uprooting did not come without a steep price--one that Irani for the first time directly explores in this book. In these stunning stories and one "half truth" (a semi-fictional meditation on the experience of being an immigrant) we meet a swimming instructor determined to reenact John Cheever's iconic short story "The Swimmer" in the pools of Mumbai; a famous Indian chef who breaks down on a New York talk show; a gangster's wife who believes a penguin at the Mumbai zoo is the reincarnation of her lost child; an illegal immigrant in Vancouver who plays a fateful game of cricket; and a kindly sweets-shop owner whose hope for a new life in Canada leads to a terrible choice. The book starts and ends with a gorgeous, emotionally raw "translation" to the page of the author's own life between worlds, blurring the line between fiction and fact. Translated from the Gibberish confirms Anosh Irani as a unique, inventive, vitally important voice in contemporary fiction.
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Anna40
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It‘s a very low pick, the writing is good, the stories are original but the author was trying too hard to reveal some deep meaning, yet didn‘t really succeed. Also, many stories dragged on for too long. I liked Butter Chicken but the rest wasn‘t for me.

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Lindy
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The title piece is a meditative autobiographical essay in 2 parts, bookending artful short stories in the middle. Irani is a masterful storyteller. I prefer the fictional parts, mostly because of the tragic characters: gangsters in Mumbai, a celebrity chef in NYC, an impoverished circus clown, an illegal immigrant in Vancouver. Mr Molt, about stealing a penguin from a zoo in Mumbai, is my favourite. #Audiobook read by the author. #Canadian

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Lindy
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He left with a bounce in his step. You could call it a limp, but Raju preferred to think of it as a bounce.

Soubhiville I love this title! 6y
Lindy @Soubhiville Yes, I do too. It‘s the title story in this collection, and the only one I haven‘t enjoyed so far. (I‘m at the midpoint.) But the final chapter is Part 2 of Translated from the Gibberish; perhaps I need that piece to appreciate it. 6y
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