maximum city

Just finished reading maximum city by suketu mehta. A good read it was, however, i would definitely like to disagree with whoever said it is an exciting book and the best ever written about the maximum city "mumbai". It was good in parts, some of the chapters we so exciting that even i was surprised at the speed with which i finished those. But then, there came repetitiveness after you finish 60% of it and towards the end it is so dragged that you at times lose interest. Not to say that it is bad anywhere, however, towards the end the writer goes into an altogether different and personal mode and i dont think i am interested in knowing about his school or rainy days during his child hood. He definitely establishes the connection but a little late than i would have liked it to. Till the time i reach the place where he is trying to give the bigger picture, i am really not as excited and probably am reading the book at a very slow pace.

Suketu has really gone for details. I still have my doubts whether whatever he has written is a part of his imagination or he has actually and really gone so far and collected all those stories. If yes, then hats off to him, For this is the first time I am reading some really amazing facts about the city I am living in for last couple of years. This book also gives you an idea of how this city has evolved (??). How this wonderful city has seen people like Thakrey and other killing the basic meaning of Bombay, the very basic reason why Bombay is what it is. And I can not agree more with him in this that because of a couple of families, this city today is not what i could have been. Having said that, the city still is one of the most fascinating cities I have ever seen (haven't seen many tho). I am not very sure whether I will be able to now live in a place any other than mumbai.

I think "Maximum City" is the world that describes Bombay as perfectly as no other word of phrase.