The Illicit Happiness of Other People

As Manu Joseph attested 'THE ILLICIT HAPPINESS OF OTHER PEOPLE' gives the reader a melancholy of pointlessness. his creation of character, ambience, conversation all are jst brilliant. we could see it right from his very first novel 'Serious Men'. Humorous way telling the story keep readers amused. I wonder how he managed to do that!

Im his new novel too characters are much similar to the dayto day life. Illustration of 1980's Madras, people living there, their hopes, dreams all are superb. " Madras in 1980's where all husbands are managers, women are housewives, and all bras are white"...what a cool way of expression.

I felt Mr.Ousep Chacko has some sort of similarity with his former character Ayyan mani in Serious Men. the silent Unni Chacko, KGB-PELE addicted Thomas chacko, Mariyammo, Somen Pillai, Mythili all characters are remains in my heart.

The illicit happiness of other people, indeed a 'brainstorming' one. Revelation of human mind, its complex and its subtle movement, psychological illusion, delusion, folly of the two,three,etc....takes readers into another world. Though humour takes the cource, i felt the novel a tragedy. For me THE ILLICIT HAPPINESS OF OTHER PEOPLE jst manage to gt the pass mark, not upto SERIOUS MEN.

I was completely bowled over by Manu Joseph's clever writing in Serious Men and was therefore bent upon buying this book in spite of the not-so-great reviews. What a terrible decision!

TIHOOP tries to solve a mystery by dragging the reader through some very tiring philosophical discussions. The writing is as lifeless as a humid Chennai afternoon (readers will understand), I couldn't sympathize with a single character and the book could do without its many contrived metaphors. In Serious Men I found many passages worth sharing because of how insightful and humorous they were. Nothing like that in this book. The back of the book also cleverly includes only the praise showered upon Serious Men. Come on Mr. Joseph, you can do better than this.

Sincerely,
Disappointed Fan

Since i have not yet read Serious Men( the author debut novel which won literary awards galore) i cannot compare between his two works.......But TIHOOP beautifully describes the melancholy dreary life of the Chackos in the most delectable manner. You do not pity the characters instead u realize that life is at many points a farce. Joseph brilliantly parodies the Madras mindset of churning their sons into IIT products who will eventually migrate to American suburbs..........He does not spare the Mallu sentiments too through the wonderful delineation of the egoistic Mallu journalist who sets out to unravel the suicide of his cartoonist son...........A dysfunctional family's chaotic tale brilliantly retold.... A must read for Joseph wry sense of humour...............

My first read of Manu Joseph. Was quite skeptical before taking up this book, but this was recommended to me by a friend. After reading a few pages, I know now that I am gonna enjoy this read to the most through the course of reading this book.
Way to go Mr. Joseph, the way he has blended comedy through words is incredibly hirarious. I keep laughing not just while reading the book but also when I just remember those comedy embalmed punches while am at work or even in the bath room !!
A MUST BUY for all those book lovers out there.. You wont regret it is something I can promise.

Not having read 'Serious Men' I must say that I found this to be a brilliantly written novel. Fans of Manu Joseph may say otherwise. The insanely large number of metaphors make it seem difficult to fully comprehend, but it makes sense in its own convoluted way. The observations are not novel but make for characters that most, not all, will be able to relate to.
Give it a read if you're looking for a decent, somewhat philosophical social commentary (20 year old social commentary, that is).