$16.00
FREE delivery on your first order.
Temporarily out of stock.
Order now and we'll deliver when available. We'll e-mail you with an estimated delivery date as soon as we have more information. Your account will only be charged when we ship the item.
Want it faster? The Kindle eBook is available now and can be read on any device with the free Kindle app.
$$16.00 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$16.00
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Payment
Secure transaction
Your transaction is secure
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Ships from
Amazon.ca
Amazon.ca
Ships from
Amazon.ca
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet or computer – no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera, scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle app

Follow the author

Manil Suri
Follow
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

The Death of Vishnu Paperback – June 19 2012

by Manil Suri (Author)
3.6 3.6 out of 5 stars 304 ratings
3.6 on Goodreads
9,288 ratings
See all formats and editions
{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$16.00","priceAmount":16.00,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"16","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"00","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"qrfeg4KyPqOsXM%2BjTiK5meNjZGHOvhCBfWLYWyHBA3Mgv1rVLmUopMHEvfgD85XfGuIbjm46no50HxP%2F5Q09PvMh0PNFoh25cMwZCLBOHNJJ4KNQd9vt7yOEjPnpOj5WWtviqazwmJA%3D","locale":"en-CA","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

A National Bestseller

"Enchanting…Suri’s novel achieves an eerie and memorable transcendence." —Time

In Manil Suri’s debut novel, Vishnu, the odd-job man, lies dying on the staircase of an apartment building while around him unfold the lives of its inhabitants: warring housewives, lovesick teenagers, a grieving widower. In a fevered state, Vishnu looks back on his love affair with the seductive Padmini and wonders if he might actually be the god Vishnu, guardian of the entire universe.

Previous slide of product details
  1. Print length
    304 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    WW Norton
  4. Publication date
    June 19 2012
  5. Dimensions
    14.22 x 2.29 x 21.08 cm
  6. ISBN-10
    0393342824
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0393342826
  8. See all details
Next slide of product details

Product description

Review

A deft and confident first novel…the finely burnished plots, the oblique irony and understated prose; above all, the sense of equipoise. All this The Death of Vishnu has, and more. —Michael Gorra, New York Times Book Review

A remarkable literary debut [that] reads like the work of a highly skilled and experienced practitioner of the writer's craft.—Los Angeles Times Book Review

Vivid and engrossing…A work of fiction that seems not only universal but absolutely cosmic.—Francine Prose, Elle

Enchanting…Masterfully created…No telling detail or private vanity escapes the author's comic yet infinitely compassionate scrutiny.—Boston Globe

Vibrantly alive, beautifully written, and full of wonderfully rich and deeply human characters.—Michael Cunningham

About the Author

Manil Suri is a distinguished mathematics professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Author of three acclaimed novels, including The Death of Vishnu, he is a former contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, for which he has written several widely read pieces on mathematics. He lives in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ WW Norton; Reprint edition (June 19 2012)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0393342824
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0393342826
  • Item weight ‏ : ‎ 272 g
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 14.22 x 2.29 x 21.08 cm
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.6 3.6 out of 5 stars 304 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Manil Suri

Manil Suri

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read book recommendations and more.

Customer reviews

3.6 out of 5 stars
304 global ratings

Review this product

Share your thoughts with other customers
Write a customer review

Top reviews from Canada

  • Tom Gray
    5.0 out of 5 stars How we interpret the world
    Reviewed in Canada on January 28, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    Vishnu resides on the second-floor landing of an apartment building. He makes his living by doing odd jobs for the residents. Vishnu is dying. He lies inert and only partially conscious in full view of the residents as they pass him by. His mind moves backward over his life in his memories of childhood and of the prostitute whom he loved dearly. His mother named him Vishnu after the god and the memories of his life reveal the dignity of this deprecated man.

    At last Vishnu reaches death and his spirit departs from his body. Vishnu is at a loss as to how to deal with this. Initially, he cannot understand what has happened to him. He has no reference with which to understand that he is no longer alive. Gradually he comes to terms with his own death and begins to feel an imperative to rise and to find something. This imperative he does not understand. He does not know what he will find after he has risen to it. He begins to interpret this in terms of the religion that his mother has taught him. This belief system frames all of his sensations and anticipations. Vishnu is thus a metaphor for society and how individuals and groups operate within it.

    The Vishnu metaphor functions for all of the residents of the apartment building. They are of various religions and various social status. Each of them operates within a world that is framed and with that framing created by the operation of their individual belief systems. Behavior which is intended as benevolent in one system is interpreted as malignant in another. Hate and suspicion are created by these different interpretations. One is reminded of the differing interpretations of the events at the caves in “A passage to India”. Similar anger is developed from the differing interpretations of actions surrounding the death of Vishnu by the various residents.

    The apartment building can be seen as a metaphor for Indian society. The differing cultures are specific to India, but the point made by the novel is not. Events happen and are interpreted differently in different cultures. Surface comity can mask an essential suspicion. Anger and violence be manifest for these unresolved suspicions.
    Helpful
     Report
  • S. Calhoun
    4.0 out of 5 stars Life in a Bombay apartment building
    Reviewed in Canada on March 25, 2004
    THE DEATH OF VISHNU is wonderful and poignant novel concerning the inhabitants of one apartment building in Bombay. At the center is servant Vishnu who is found unconscious on the landing of the apartment building. Has Vishnu passed out from drinking or he is dead? No one seems to know. Although many in the building are concerned, no one claims financial responsibility to seek medical help. As Vishnu lies in his own waste two opposing housewives on the next floor cannot arrive at a consensus of what to do, and life continues to unfold elsewhere. Residing above the rival households is a Muslim couple who is enduring a crisis of their own. While their son is having a secret romance with the downstairs Hindu girl the husband is engaged in metaphysical and spiritual journey of his own that only seems to infuriate his devout Muslim wife. On the top floor lives a sorrowful widow who refuses to leave his apartment; instead he reminisces about his deceased wife and the involuntary path his life has taken. As the events of the story unfold the reader is given glimpses of how the consciousness of Vishnu begins to believe that he is a Hindu God and therefore able to perform extraordinary acts. All of these characters and elements combine into a creative and wonderful story.
    Manil Suri performs a splendid job of balancing the seriousness of this story with clever humor that made me laugh out loud. This rich tapestry of emotions results in a well-balanced novel that is a delight to read. I was instantaneously immersed in the trials and tribulations of these characters, and generally cared for their wellbeing. In the past several years there has been a rush of Indian literature, and I have to admit that THE DEATH OF VISHNU is one of my favorites. The novel gives the reader a glimpse into everyday Indian life in Bombay that is most interesting to someone who has never traveled to this part of the world. One aspect that I greatly appreciated is the fact that there is a glossary included in the back that translates many words and phrases that were used. I only wish that other Indian writers would imitate this gesture as it surely helps a novice like me better understand both the dialogue and the action. Overall, I greatly enjoyed THE DEATH OF VISHNU and would recommend it to others.
    One person found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • Tonstant Weader
    3.0 out of 5 stars A Small Story - Fine Book
    Reviewed in Canada on April 26, 2002
    The Death of Vishnu is a fine book. It tells the stories of the many inhabitants of an apartment building over the course of the few days their odd job man, Vishnu, slips into a coma and dies.
    There are many inter-familial conflicts that bring humor and levity to the story -- though that humor comes from our privileged position where the theft of a couple spoons of ghee in not a big deal, so we are amused by the pettiness of the squabbling. In the face of scarcity, however, these matters are not petty. It's humorous that a woman hauls out a long treasured imported gourmet food item to impress her friends -- and it turns out to be Kraft processed cheese. But for her, it was an unattainable, one-of-a-kind item of immense worth.
    The book falls apart by introducing several threads of story and failing to weave them together. There are several stories introduced and dropped, never caught back up and woven into the fabric of the novel. This is frustrating because some of those threads appealed more to me than the ones we ended up following.
    If you like challenging yourself with many novels about other countries in general, India in particular, then this is a fine book. and you should read it -- and enjoy it. If, however, you are unlikely to read more than 1 or 2 novels by Indian writers -- then skip this and go to the significantly better A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry or A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth.
    Helpful
     Report
  • Esh
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in Canada on December 3, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    Well written and it is captivating.
    Helpful
     Report

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
  • Ampersand Etcetera
    5.0 out of 5 stars Love it
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 9, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    This is a brillisnt book. Eitty, caustic, engaging.
    Report
  • Ary
    5.0 out of 5 stars Un roman magnifique
    Reviewed in France on January 19, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    Ce roman, très richement écrit (je l'ai lu en anglais) est une petite merveille. Il décrit la vie quotidienne, les drames, les rêves, les fantasmes des habitants d'un immeuble de Bombay, qui réunit plusieurs familles, donc plusieurs générations. Parmi eux, un vieillard (Vishnu, nom d'une des 3 principales divinités), solitaire, sur un palier, est proche de la mort. Qui, dans l'immeuble s'occupe de lui ? et pour quelles motivations ? Pour soigner son karma ? Le lecteur est plongé au coeur des croyances, de la vie trépidante de la grande cité. Ce magnifique roman happe son lecteur avec la force de la civilisation indienne qu'il décrit. A lire absolument.
    Report
  • Boooks23
    5.0 out of 5 stars Emotionale Story, schöne Sprache
    Reviewed in Germany on March 2, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    Wunderschön erzählt, spielt in einem indischen Haus und erzählt die Gesichte der Berwohner. Man erfährt viel über das indische Alltagsleben. Sehr schöner Sprachstil, leicht in Englisch zu lesen - auch wenn Englisch nicht die Muttersprache ist.
    Report
  • Mrs D. AwesomePants
    5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful - even for people unfamiliar with Indian culture.
    Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2002
    Verified Purchase
    "Death of Vishnu" is a multi-faceted, beautiful story that can be read on so many different levels.
    THE CHARACTERS:
    There is Vishnu, and bum sort of handy-man that sleeps on a landing in the apartment building. He is dying, and some of the scenes are his dreams/afterlife visions - whichever way you want to look at it. It flashes back, and you get to see some of Vishnu's life as a young boy & man in order to further understand his situation.
    There are three married couples in the building - each of them with different marital problems, issues with their children, and religious standpoints. Two of the wives are always bickering, which makes for some comical scenes.
    There is one widower in the building, who we don't learn much about until later, but his story reflects a lot upon the way Indians are married and how some deal with it.
    All of the characters are wonderfully developed, and the narration is done by several of them, so the reader gets a glimpse into each of their thoughts.
    THE SETTING:
    It is set in an apartment building. The neighbors are all fighting over whose responsibility it is to care for the dying Vishnu or who needs to remove his body when he dparts.
    THE RELIGIOUS UNDERTONES:
    Vishnu is a Hindu god, and in his death, the character Vishnu begins to wonder if he himself is a reincarnation of the god. There are many references to Hindu folklore and mythology in the story - but even if one is unfamiliar with these tales, it is explained well.
    One of the families in the building is Muslim and the rest are Hindu. One gets a glimpse of the ongoing rivalry and hatred between the two groups on a small scale as well as some of the differences and similarities between the personal lives of the two religions. The author does a good job of not making the reader prefer either of the two religions, especially by plotting for the son and daughter of the two families to maybe elope - and Romeo and Juliet type plot.
    INDIAN CULTURE:
    Indian culture and flavor can be sensed from this novel - even for one who is unfamiliar. The foods, the cafes, the movies, the churches, the city, etc. are all touched upon. And bless the author for putting a comprehensive GLOSSARY at the back, for all of the Indian terms that he uses. It makes it informative and a pleasure to read.
    OVERALL:
    This book was very enjoyable for both it's cultural knowledge as well as the family aspects that everyone can appreciate (well, everyone that HAS a family!)
    Report
  • Ashi
    3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars
    Reviewed in India on December 22, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    Beautifully written but call me naive, I wanted more clarity about the characters end.
    Report