Briefly interesting when it explores sexual identities and experiences of gays, kotis and hijras in India. But then there were a couple of unnecessary, underdeveloped, and unbelievable plot twists that left me dumbfounded and questioning the purpose –– these included the spy with chemical weapons(!), and the Bollywood ending. R. Raj Rao What could have been an epic tale of gay romance ends up as a botched-up, pathetic, hastily-ended and badly-conceived novel. After the exceptionally well narrated initial chapters, the writer, it seems, lost focus and made the proverbial cow climb the tree. The hasty ending (why do all love stories have to end at the airport?) and one of the lead characters going for sex-change give out signs that the only way same-sex couples can live in India is either by quitting the country, or altering their gender for social acceptance? Sorry, i refuse to buy that! R. Raj Rao The only thing that made me pick this up, was a short, written by Raj Rao in Hoshang Merchant's book of shorts. That impressed me and wanted to pick up this 'love story' of a queer couple.
Started last year, I abandoned and started again this year, it made no difference however. The writing is wannabe sarcastic and funny at all the times, does fall flat. And chemistry is bland. The storyline towards conclusion totally goes out of hands and unbelievable. Oof. What waste. R. Raj Rao In parts this was ok, but overall not a great book. Appalling rape scene and dubious use of idioms. Not much to recommend it, unless I have missed something. R. Raj Rao I read R Raj Rao's first book, 'The Boyfriend' a few years ago and thought it was excellent. I put his later book 'Hostel Room 131' on my Amazon wishlist and did nothing about it for a long time before buying a second hand ex-library copy a few weeks ago. I wonder how many unsuspecting readers got a bit of a shock when they picked up this one.
'Hostel Room 131' is a love story about Siddharth, a young Mumbai-based teacher, and Sudhir, a student who rooms with Siddharth's friend at an engineering college in Pune. The two meet by chance and fall in love, breaking lots of the rules of the college and the hostel where Sudhir lives. The book opens not at the beginning nor the end of their story together, but somewhere in the middle. Siddharth has just reported Sudhir's parents to the police for 'kidnapping' or locking up his boyfriend. And then we head back to start from the beginning.
'The Boyfriend' was an eye-opener. Shocking but moving in equal measures. By contrast, I found 'HR131' a bit TOO 'icky' and explicit in ways that are hard to shake off afterwards. When a good looking stranger on a train throws up on Siddharth, he seems to take it almost as a compliment. I had a hard copy so I couldn't highlight the quote but it was something like 'He was my type, so I took his vomit as my fetish'. Sorry but......gross! There are just too many bodily functions - sexual and often more disturbingly non-sexual - and it was just a bit too disturbing for me.
As a white, middle-aged married woman, I'm not RRR's target audience but that didn't stop me loving the earlier book. This one brought little in the way of character development, not much about family relationships and gave me two characters, neither of whom I found I could like or empathise with in the slightest.
And the ending? Well other reviewers have probably revealed more than appropriate, but it was ludicrous. The ending was the kind of thing I could imagine being thrown together by somebody who knew nothing about homosexuality and needed a convenient ending. It certainly didn't ring true as the work of one of India's foremost gay rights activists and campaigners and was too silly for words. I could only imagine that the couple's future together was going to be very brief and very frustrating.
I'm really sad. I looked forward to reading this for a long time and it just left me feeling deeply uncomfortable and a bit nauseated. R. Raj Rao
In the winter of 1978, Siddharth, twenty-three, meets Sudhir, twenty, in a friend's friend's room in Pune's Engineering College Hostel. He falls instantly in love.
A man of unconventional views - he believes, for instance, that the two heroes in Sholay have the hots for each other rather than for the heroines - Siddharth becomes a full-time lover over the next seven years and stubbornly pursues the object of his lust and affection, despite his job as a college lecturer in Bombay.
There are many obstacles along the way, including Sudhir's family, against whom Siddharth files a police complaint, and Sudhir's classmates from Belgaum, led by the homophobic Ravi Humbe, who start an anti-Siddharth association. But Siddharth gets support from Gaurav and Vivek, a militant gay pair keen to ambush the enemy. Deadpan humour and farce come together in this entertaining love story. Hostel Room 131
Much better than Rao's first novel- both in terms of plot and writing. The overdramatic ending could have been made a bit realistic.
3.5/5 stars R. Raj Rao And this book took my heart away!
The author has beautifully encapsulated the Indian gay sub-culture in the bygone era. It has a tinge of Bollywood script to it. If it materializes into a movie, it would be a hit for sure.
I loved this book so much that I finished it within 4 days.
The climax of the book was quite dramatic and almost like a Bollywood movie. The pace of the book is fast and ensures that you travel with the characters of the book. The twist in the plot was unexpected and catches you off-guard.
Anyone who wants to read a gay love story set in 70's should definitely give it a read. R. Raj Rao it started off well but got a little boring towards the middle. But it, very cutely, shows that love can have no barrier and no sex. R. Raj Rao An excellent far-fetched story with typical stereotype characters. I enjoyed this little book very much and would recommend as a good read R. Raj Rao
Summary Hostel Room 131
