This is an excellent, almost poetic translation of Kundalkar's Marathi novel and who else could do it better than Jerry Pinto of the 'Em and Big Hoom' fame. This is undoubtedly one of the best works of fiction to have come from India in English this year.

One plot, two stories, multitudinous perspectives, vivid imagery that is at once sensual, petit yet profound sentences, excellent narrative, the small paragraphs, the confusions in time, the pace, the enigmatic sketch of the paying guest,...

When a paying guest comes to stay with a Pune based family, the brother and sister experience phenomenal attraction towards this new free spirit. The book is divided in two narratives – Tanay (Brother) and Anuja (Sister). I wish the author had included a third narrative, from the point of view of the paying guest. Jerry Pinto does a brilliant job in translating the book from Marathi to English by keeping alive the atmosphere of a Marathi household while preserving the revolutionary essence of...

A Poignant story told in a simple yet beautiful way. To keep the essence of the original text intact, Pinto has kept certain Marathi words untranslated and that works very well. The pathos will touch you. How I wish there's a follow-up to this story in the form of a part II where the nameless PG comes back!

Read the English translation of Sachin Kundalkar's "Cobalt Blue" from cover to cover last night. It's about a brother and a sister... who fall in love... with the same guy! The narrative is non-linear, almost scrambled - still the emotions of characters reach you effortlessly. Bold story and amazing translation by Jerry Pinto. Enriching read.

I wish I knew Marathi. The English version has totally taken away the essence. It was hard to connect to the story and characters.

The book seemed a bit old. The edges were bent.
More importantly, there were problems with the printing. The translators note in the end showed up in the middle of the last chapter.

The essence of the book is best experienced when read in Marathi, the english translation not only robs the narration off its vibrancy, neither the original author nor Jerry Pinto are able to articulately narrate the story.
Interesting journey's of Tanay and Anuja siblings who have an affair with the same man, one homosexual the other heterosexual, and the inability of the parents to perceive until anuja actually elopes in amazing.
if you can read the original go for it.
if not the book is pa...