Jasmine

By Bharati Mukherjee

Book Overview

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR ONE OF TIME ' S "30 BOOKS TO READ BEFORE YOU'RE 30" "Mukherjee gives us the gift of being allowed to see ourselves in all our inconsistencies . . . To build our hearts so they might always reflect, like Jasmine, what it means to carry what is fraught and scared and dismissive and hopeful and wild inside us, and choose love." --Mira Jacob, from the new introduction When Jasmine was first published the New York Times called it "one of the most suggestive novels we have about what it is to become an American." Thirty years later, Jasmine has only grown in its significance. Following one woman through her numerous identities -- from Jyoti in a small village in Punjab, to Jasmine in Jalandhar, to Jase in Manhattan, to Jane in Iowa -- Mukherjee gives us an iconic character whose journey through shifting landscapes necessitates her shifting selves. What she encounters on this path, from India to America and from girlhood to womanhood, shows the beauty and darkness and revelation inherent in the journeys of all those who not only want to survive, but to grow. With a new introduction by Mira Jacob for this thirtieth-anniversary edition, Jasmine is a masterful examination of identity, immigration, and sexuality from the "Matriarch of Indian-American literature." ( Literary Hub )

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802136303
• ISBN13: 9780802136305
• Release Date: April 1999
• Publisher: Grove Press
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.4" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Read it for English

I read Jasmine for my English class but I did still like it a lot. Probably would’ve liked it better too if I didn’t have to read it for English. Either way I did love the story and I felt as though we got the whole story in a short amount of time. It was just a nice book to read in like 2 days. 100% Recommend

a haunting book

this was the first book i read for a class and the novel grabbed me; i couldn't put it down. The book follows a woman named Jyoti in India through her maifestations and names as she travels from her small village with her husband to the city and then eventually to America where her life takes many a turn, sometimes for the good, sometimes for the bad, sometimes it's hard to tell where paths will lead. The book plays with different textures and time frames, a reeling experience for the mind, but it makes you want to see what happens. I love this book!

Wonderful, exciting, fascinating

It was a little confusing, but overall it was a wonderful story and wonderfully put together. I recommend this book to people only open to the unordinary and to people interested in the way of life of other cultures

Complex telling of the east-west culture conflict

This book was really amazing. I am an Indian woman, who has lived in Queens and I have to say that Mukherjee's telling of the story, even while being fantastical, seemed so 'real' and plausible. Excellent reading.

Defines 'American'

I agree that a ten is a lofty rating...but this book deserves it. Mukherjee writes with such emotion and such power that certain scenes from the book will stay in my mind forever. This book examines the American experience with wit, heartbreak, love and fear. Read it!