Serious Men

This is a fascinating and unique novel, looking at the lives of three very different individuals (Ayyan Mani, lower caste/Dalit clerk/secretary, his boss, Nobel hopeful, Brahmin scientist and "Big Man" Arvind Acharya; and the first female scientist at the Institute, Oparna Goshmaulik - also through these three, the wives of the two men and Ayyan's son, "genius" Adi) whose paths connect at the Institute of Theory and Research in modern day Mumbai. Amidst the race to "prove" life on other planets and genius among men and women, various plot stragies to succeed, destroy the enemy and find (and keep) love play out like a tapestry. Joseph is an exceptional comic writer, sometimes with a dark satirical edge, sometimes just the wonder of human show more foibles and imperfections. His "style" took me a good bit to get into (30 pages or so), but once I did, I found myself laughing quite a bit, then experiencing that disquieting feeling when someone just does something horribly embarrasing. Well done. The other wonderful thing about this novel was Joseph's look at Mumbai, it's a bit different and more contemporary (Americanized?) than any glimpse I've gotten of the city. I found that really refreshing. Although the caste system is still alive in well, he makes clear that a creative, driven person can rise through the ranks, or at least poke a lot of fun at them. In that, it kind of reminded me of White Tiger. My only complaint is that these characters were not all that likeable for a good part of the novel. Only near the very end did I finally understand/sympathize with them. That just made it hard to pick up at times around the middle of the book. So overall advice is stick with it. This is truly a very good book, especially if you are looking for something a bit off the beaten path. show less

Manu Joseph's "Serious Men" is a picaresque stroll through the cultural warrens and high-rises of 21st century Bombay. After a brilliant opening line that evokes Britain's ham-fisted colonial rule, Manu Joseph opens his gaze upon the Bombay waterfront at dusk as men and women of all castes and classes catch the evening air. Here we find Ayyan, born into a ostracized group but unwilling to accept this natal entrance as an indicator of a predetermined fate. Instead, Ayyan views life through puckish glasses.

In a blow for underdogs everywhere, Ayyan decides to play a game with society as he slyly manipulates the press and the educational community in a bid to have his middle school aged son declared a genius. This bold plot complicates show more Ayyan's position as a trusted aide to the Princeton educated director of an important physics center. This center, The Institute of Theory and Research, is caught in its own humorous struggle as factions battle to determine the best approach in a search for extreterrestrial life.

Joseph's "Serious Men" seems to declare that life in India may not be rife with interstellar personages but it is most definitely surreal. And all the better for it.

I highly recommend "Serious Men" which richly deserved its place on the Asian Booker Prize shortlist in 2010. I anxiously await Manu Joseph's next novel. show less

Serious Men is a hard book to categorize--and that's just fine with me. It's a comment on the caste system; it's a humorous novel; it's a family story; it's a modern-day Indian take on the trickster motif; it's a jab at the world of science, the business of science, and the competitive corporate mentality.

The novel's pacing, as others have mentioned, is initially slow, but it picks up at the midpoint, where the plot takes off. And Joseph's characters are wonderfully drawn individuals. There's Ayyan Mani, whose job at the Institute can best be described as office boy-cum-gatekeeper to the Director of the Institute of Theory and Research. A dalit who resents his Brahmin superiors, Ayyan uses his 'invisibility' to his best advantage, show more keeping his eyes and ears open, and he's clever enough to come up with (and continually revise as necessary) a scheme to promote his 11-year old son as a genius. The Director, Arvind Acharya, at first appears to be a one-note caricature of the arrogant boss, but the more I learned about him, the more I warmed to him. Oparna Goshmaulik, the Institute's first female scientist, is the perfect picture of the beautiful, ruthless woman who, having made it almost to the top, suddenly realizes that all she really wants is a man of her own, and when she can't have the one she wants, . . . well, I won't spoil it by telling you more. Even the lesser figures are sharply delineated ones-of-a-kind.

Best of all is Joseph's keen observations of human nature, added to his wry sense of humor. In the end, I'm glad that I stuck with it, and I look forward to the author's second novel. show less

I laughed out loud at the bald-faced lying and scheming that Manu Joseph's low caste protagonist was doing every day. All the written quotes putting down Brahmins, the cheating to get his son ahead in school, the newspaper reports of his genius son. What a wonderful character! Then, the other protagonist, the head of the Institute who might spend all day staring out the window, thinking of all the minute particles in the universe, spinning scenarios about extra-terrestrial life in the cosmos. Very, very different characters! The interaction between these two men was one of deception until the very end, when they needed each other to collude in order to get what each one wanted the most. Extraordinary plotting. Very, very enjoyable.

I thought this would be a funny, satirical novel. While it does have many touches of humor, it is also a serious examination of the lingering effects of the caste system in contemporary India.

Its hero Mani is a former untouchable ("Dalit'), who began life with aspirations. Now, he's stuck, and he knows it. He lives with his wife and son in "BDD Chawl", "..a hive of ten thousand one-room homes carved inside a hundred and twenty identical three-storyed buildings that stood like grey ruins, their paint long removed by old rains." 80,000 people live in these buildings, and Mani had wanted to break away from that world. As he has come to realize that he will not, he decides to help his son achieve more than did.

Mani works as the show more administrative aide to the head of a scientific research institute. The primary focus of the institute is the research for extraterrestrial life, and there is an ongoing dispute among the scientists as to what the best way to proceed is. The head of the institute is in favor of one methodology; other scientists favor different methodologies. What unites the scientists is that they are all of former Brahmin caste. There is an unspoken belief among them that the untouchable class is, in fact, inferior and that its members do not have the intelligence and could not achieve the education to become scientists, or to otherwise advance from menial positions. Most of the non-scientific staff at the institute are of lower castes, and they, including Mani, are essentially invisible to the scientists.

Mani's position may be one of invisibility, but due to the knowledge his position makes him privy to (and some knowledge that he comes upon by spying) he is able to manipulate some things behind the scenes. He wants to prove his son is a genius, and capable of becoming a research scientist. Suddenly, his son begins blurting out questions at school that stump his teachers. His reputation soars, and he becomes known as the brightest student at the school. The school principal tells Mani, "How beautifully you've forgiven the people who brutalized your forefathers. The Brahmins, the kind of things they did. The things they do even now. In private, they still call you the Untouchables, do you know that?" A newspaper article is mysteriously published in a local newspaper reporting that Mani's son Adi has placed first in a nation-wide scientific exam. Soon rumors of Adi's genius are everywhere, even at the institute.

I enjoyed this book, though there was a situation in which the head scientist has an affair with a female scientist which went on a bit too long, and which I felt portrayed the female scientist in an unrealistic light. I suppose this incident was necessary for the plot development, but it didn't have to take such a prominent position. Nevertheless, I recommend this book without reservations. show less

Serious Men is delightful -- a cleverly and beautifully written satire with intriguing characters and an insightful look at the divide between the haves and have-nots in contemporary Mumbai.

Ayyan Mani, a Dalit (formerly untouchable) clerk works for Brahmin scientists in the Institute of Theory and Research as they search for the influences of alien life of earth. At home, Ayyan lives in one room of a massive chawl tenement with his soap-opera addicted wife, Oja, and eleven-year old son, Adit. He is determined to make life for his family more exciting, and he proceeds in classic trickster fashion.

His boss, the renowned astronomer and Director of the Institute, Dr. Arvind Archarya, becomes embroiled in a war with his colleagues over the show more methodologies of finding alien life and in an extra-marital affair with the first woman scientist at the Institute. Ayyan does not hesitate to take advantage of the situation revelling in the discomfiture of the Brahmins.

That said, Joseph writes with a light touch and grants all the major characters their humanity (there are some dastardly villains to spice up the mixture). Highly recommended for an entertaining read. show less

Not sure how I heard about this book but I am glad that I read it. It is a social satire about the highs and lows of Indian society set in Mumbai. The main character is a dalit(formerly an untouchable) who works for an Institute that explores potential extraterrestrial life and is run by the highest level of Indian society. The contrasts between the 2 create an excellent story. Ayyan the clerk manipulates and cleverly creates chaos to elevate his son and stir up problems at the Institute. I thought the writing was excellent and the insight into Indian society was a positive by product of an excellent and funny book. Based on this I am going to read his 2nd novel. I definitely recommend this.