The Pleasure Seekers

In the tradition of Seth's A Suitable Boy and Lahiri's collection of stories about the generational and cultural divide of modern era relationships and family ties, Tishani Doshi's The Pleasure Seekers is a delightful and resonate tale of intermingling love and life. Interestingly enough, Doshi, as a freelance journalist, has interviewed the aforementioned Lahiri on the publication of her latest book about often competing and sometimes conflicting cultures and how these obstacles help shape the protagonists' path. In The Pleasure Seekers, Doshi trails a quasi-fictionalized rendition of her parents' meeting (of souls) and eloquently portrays their tender and determined union despite the cultural differences and family objections to a soi show more disant inter racial and intercultural marriage, that is between his Madras origins and her Welsh upbringing. show less

When Babo leaves Madras, India to study in London, he finds only loneliness and cold, that is until he meets Sian. When he meets her, he immediately falls in love with a ba-da-boom boom boom of his heart. Though his strict Jain parents are horrified by his new love, they are willing to make a compromise. If Babo and Sian wish to marry, they must live with his parents in Madras for two years -- after which point, they can live where they please.

So, Sian leaves Britain's shores and flies to India, where she learns how to properly wear a sari, how to behave as a good India wife should, and how to temper the isolation and loneliness of living in a new country. Babo and Sian are an island unto themselves and their love is passionate and show more forgiving.

But this story is not just about Babo and Sian. It is about the nature of family (both in Madras and Wales), and how each individual member stands both rooted in its foundations and as a solitary pillar in the world. Each family member, from the great grandmother (who accepts the purity of Babo's love for Sian without question) to Babo's brother (who is somewhat lost in his position as second son), is opened like a fruit, with their soul, ripe with love and loneliness barred for the reader to see.

Tishani Doshi's prose is like crystal, clear and deeply resonate. This novel, evocative, sweetly painful, and compassionate, is one of my favorites of the year. show less

I enjoyed parts of The Pleasure Seekers—the wry humour, the lyrical writing, the neatly sketched characters—but it failed to come together for me into a satisfying whole. I felt as if Doshi should have either focused more on the first half of the story—that of Babo and Sian's cross-cultural romance—or expanded the book to become a true multigenerational epic. As it is, there's no real structure to the book, no sense of conflict, climax and resolution—there are many mini-conflicts, true, but none of them seem to build on one another. I wonder if perhaps Doshi let herself stay a little too tied to the biographical reality behind this roman à clef—if perhaps she could have allowed herself the freedom of a little more show more imagination, a little more fictionalising, which would have made for a tighter story. Still, a charming, pleasurable novel that makes for an easy read. show less

The Pleasure Seekers is the story of a Welsh-Indian “hybrid family” that takes place largely in Madras. Though beautifully written, I found it hard to relate to initially. The relationship between Babo and Sian is simply overly-sweet for my taste, but I carried on. I was glad I did. As the story progressed and between to focus more on the two sisters, particularly Bean, I began to enjoy the story immensely. I felt that the sisters were much more real and therefore more interesting than the parents.

This is Tishani Doshi’s first novel and I am looking forward to reading more from her in the future.

"And later, when they grow up and walk about barefoot in their lives, when they're trying to understand the darkness and the divine beings that threaten them, this is what they remember: there was a beautiful time once; it was childhood. They carry it around inside them, thinking if only they hold on to it, if only they don't drop it in the sand, it will stay inside them for ever, and they'll be able to return to it whenever they need."

Sigh. This book made a lovely read, filling me with nostalgia-a kind of life nostalgia, not tied to my own specific memories. It had a touch of magical realism (particularly Ba's amazing sense of smell), & a deceptively simple poetic tone to the narrative. In some ways it reminded me of another book that show more I couldn't quite put my finger on-One Hundred Years of Solitude, kind of, in its scope, but softer, more feminine. The love story between Sian & Babo was delightful. I also enjoyed the parts that touched on being 'a stranger in a strange land'-Babo in England, Sian returning to Wales, Bean trying to find herself in London-those parts really resonated with my personal experiences. I found The Pleasure Seekers to be a well-written, captivating book. show less

Tishani Doshi’s debut opens with Prem Kumar Patel, 47 years old, and his wife, Trishala, sending off their oldest son, Babo, to England, with three younger children remaining at home. The novel begins with a voyage and contains many more.

At the time, the family is “completely innocent of the tumultuous changes [Babo’s] departure was going to bring upon them all”, but the departure is just one catalyst for change in this family saga.

The Pleasure Seekers contains countless emotional and geographical transformations, shifting from Sylvan Lodge in Madras to London (with stopovers and detours), from childhood to adulthood, from young lover and friend to committed spouse and parent.

Throughout these journeys, another reader might be show more more enamoured than I with her use of language, for Tishani Doshi has made an effort to develop a distinct cast to her storyteller’s tone.

Nonetheless, the language alone did not draw me in the way that the poetic prose of Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things and Kiran Desai’s The Inheritance of Loss captured me as a reader.

Throughout The Pleasure Seekers, I was a reader on the margins. Tishani Doshi did create a space for me as an explorer; I could have settled into these new territories alongside the character(s) who are equally unfamiliar with this landscape and culture. But, instead, I followed this story with interest, but without a passion for its inhabitants.

Perhaps I require a more insistent tone. Perhaps I’ve become lazy in the wake of the sophistication and intensity of other family sagas, like Rohinton Mistry’s A Fine Balance and Vikram Seth’s A Suitable Boy.

Perhaps the blurb and the buzz raised my reader’s expectations too high, but I wanted to be captivated and delighted like Salman Rushdie said that he was. show less

The Pleasure Seekers is a captivating story about the journeys and self-discoveries of the Patel family. It explores the struggles of fitting in to two very different cultures and how even one choice can alter a person’s path in life.

One of my favorite aspects of The Pleasure Seekers is Ba’s home. It is described as a magical place in the novel, and Tishani Doshi’s words truly did evoke an image of a magical & tranquil haven in my mind. In fact, one of the most beautiful examples of imagery in the novel is the scene with Ba enrobed in white, holding an opened pomegranate while peacocks wander around her in the morning sun.

I fully enjoyed this novel and I was not ready for it to end where it did. I was left craving to know more show more about the fates of the Patel family. show less