The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012) - Plot & Excerpts
This book disappointed me.It was first published (in 2004) with the title “Those Foolish Things.” It was later renamed “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” following the release in 2011 of the film with that name, which is based on it.I read the book because I had seen the film and enjoyed it, and also because unlike the film, which is mostly set in a small town in Rajasthan, the novel is set mostly in Bangalore, a city that I know quite well.Had I not seen the film first, I might have abandoned the book before reading too far into it. The first section of the book provides a series of realistic portrayals of the fears of elderly retired people facing rejection by the younger generation and also anticipating their gradual decline towards death. However, I pressed on with reading this well-paced novel because I knew from the film that things were likely to start looking up as the people, who were being described, were about to take off to spend the rest of their retirement in a hotel in India. I don’t know whether the author has actually visited India, but I got the feeling from reading this book that she might not have done so. Although the book is not exactly about India, I felt that the author did not transport me to India. She did not allow me to visualise a real place as I read her book. Some of the retired English people in the hotel in Bangalore used email. This suggests to me that the writer was writing about recent times. However, the Bangalore that she describes does not sound nearly as sophisticated as the city actually is. I thought as I read the book that she could have been describing almost anywhere, throwing in a few local terms to remind the reader that it was India rather than anywhere else.Sevearal specific things particularly irritated me about this book. One occurred on page 169 of my edition. Dorothy and Douglas are discussing something between themselves. The proof-reader and the editor failed to spot the subject of the sentence: “Donald paused” is ‘Donald’ rather than ‘Douglas’, which it was supposed to be. This is careless in a best seller. On page 186, another problem occurred. Evelyn, one of the retired Brits, is given a business card, which reads ‘Dr Gulvinder Gaya, BA (Failed)’. The reason that Dr Gaya included the sad outcome of his degree is, I believe, to tell the recipient of his business card that he managed to gain admission into a university, which in itself was an achievement to be proud of. I hope that I am wrong, but I had the impression that the author chose to include this for reasons that may have had more to do with making fun of the Indian, than for any other reason. Another small gripe, if I am permitted to make any more of them, is that twice Ms Moggach refers to visiting a temple at ‘Halebib’. Was she inventing a new temple site or did she incorrectly spell the name Halebid, which is a real temple of some note a few hours drive from Bangalore? Despite my reservations about Ms Moggach’s portrayal of India and the Indians, this novel is a creditable effort to illustrate the fears and concerns of those in the twilight of their lives. The best thing about Ms Moggach’s book is that it inspired someone to make an excellent film, whose plot and sympathetic portrayal of India and the Indians is far better than the original story upon which it is loosely based.
After watching the film "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" recently, I noticed the title of this book in the credits. It has been re-titled with the name of the movie, but this is the original book, published in 2004. I enjoyed it just as much as I did the film, although, as others have noted, it differs in substantial ways. I suppose the changes made to the film version were done in order to streamline the story, but it did make for a very different tale than that told in the book. This all goes to say that you may enjoy the book in its own right; it has very little similarity to the film.As is typical for a book version, there is much more depth to the characters, and because you are able to fall more thoroughly into their lives, there is more to consider. Beyond being just a good story, this book has some serious things to say about how the elderly are perceived and treated in Western cultures. The people in this book didn't just decide to move far from their homes to a very different culture on a lark. Most of them moved because they had so little money they needed to live in a place where their funds would stretch further. They also had been neglected by their families and been made to feel themselves a burden to their children. There is an interesting comment in the book, made by someone from the Indian culture into which they are thrust in Bangalore, to the effect that the elderly are valued in India and that families care for their older folk. One of the British women wryly says, sotto voce, that they don't seem to value begging children to the same degree. More than once, a character says wistfully that, as one ages, one becomes more invisible. It didn't surprise me to find out that the author is in her 60s. As one of the book's characters says, after her father dies, she is now an orphan, and further, she is next in the queue.This book brought to mind a wonderful quote I read recently from the British writer, Martin Amis (from an article in Smithsonian magazine):"Your youth evaporates in your early 40s when you look in the mirror. And then it becomes a full-time job pretending you're not going to die, and then you accept that you'll die. Then in your 50s everything is very thin. And then suddenly you've got this huge new territory inside you, which is the past, which wasn't there before. A new source of strength. Then that may not be so gratifying to you as the 60s begin, but then I find that in your 60s, everything begins to look sort of slightly magical again. And it's imbued with a kind of leave-taking resonance, that it's not going to be around very long, this world, so it begins to look poignant and fascinating."What this book does that is very special is that it makes you see that aging does not take away the beauty and depth of each person's humanity. They cry out to be visible, to be valued for what they offer. They haven't reached some artificial plateau when all growth ceases. They are still changing and learning and loving and growing. They are not some faceless, gray-haired mass lingering in the wings, drifting off one by one. These are vital human beings with a story to tell and much still to offer.
What do You think about The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012)?
2.5**Several British retirees move to Bangalore after falling for the promises made in a promotional video for The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. This is a new type of retirement community, in a country where the elderly are revered. They are promised adventure, multiple activities, good food, on-site health care, and lower costs. What they get is not what they expected.The novel features quite a collection of characters – a randy old man, a slippery entrepreneur, a dissatisfied hotel owner, a whiny and beleaguered widow whose son may be a crook, an adventurous married couple whose life is just too perfect to be believed, a sweet elderly woman whose son and daughter have basically abandoned her and whose savings have dwindled, and an Indian-born doctor and his British wife whose marriage is at a crossroads. Moggach also sprinkles in a variety of minor characters that come and go but sometimes have a major impact on the plot. There are some aspects of the story that I really enjoyed. I liked seeing the major characters come face to face with issues they had shoved aside for so long. Some of them really blossomed in the new environment. I liked that not everyone’s story ends nice and neat and tied up with a pretty bow. I liked the unexpected alliances and relationships that formed. What I didn’t like so much was that it felt disjointed and not fully developed. A few of the coincidences were just too far-fetched and unbelievable to me. Also, having such a large cast of characters meant that I could never get close enough to them to really understand or relate to any one of them. I was intrigued by the premise and, much like the characters in the book, seduced by the promises of the movie version. On the whole I did not find the book particularly entertaining or charming. It wasn’t bad, but it was rather blah.
—Book Concierge
I was disappointed with this book. The premise was great, however the story failed to progress and the writing was very uneven, some of it being beautiful, while much of it was needlessly vulgar and tawdry.Ravi, a competent, sensitive doctor, is slowly being ground down by the decaying British NHS and his father-in-law Norman, a dirty old man 'straight out of Benny Hill' who comes to stay with them after being thrown out of a nursing home for sexually assaulting a nurse, bringing his disgusting
—Ailish
The last book I read about Brits mixin' it up with the people of India was A Passage to India. That story involved false accusations, bad behavior, and a whole lot of characters I wanted to punch.Everyone manages to mind their manners in this book, and many of the characters are genuinely likeable - even the ever-randy Norman Purse, who's been more than a wee bit frisky since his prostate operation. Norman's the guy who basically gets the ball rolling in this book when he moves in with his daughter and son-in-law, Ravi. Norman's annoying presence and slovenly habits drive Ravi to dream up a way to be rid of the old man, and the result is the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, currently a run-down fleabag in India. Ravi plans to turn it into a home away from home for the elderly of Britain. Soon the building is up and running, and filled with quirky and charming old folks. Expect warmhearted culture clashes, poignant moments and a few deft comic touches. There are many revelations, and crises aplenty, but the book never really manages to rise out of the category of pleasant diversion. At least I didn't want to punch anyone.Goodreads win - ARC
—Melki
