The Triple Mirror of the Self is a strange book. It’s three short stories that are different from each other and yet connected by one small detail. Don’t forget this is before David Mitchell employed the same technique for Cloud Atlas.
The first novella deals with a community of outcasts who live in the mountains – this was by far the strongest section. The second is about an English person trying to cope in the U.S. and the third takes place during the independence of India where a boy has to cope with partition and the different religions that surround him. I thought this story was strong.
As you can see the other binding theme is identity and individuality, no matter what how bizarre or dangerous the situation is and on this aspect the book succeeds.
However I’ll admit that I found the writing a bit stuffy at times and I did drift off a bit and re read passages in the second story. Plus Ghose isn’t 100% clear in his style so you have to look over certain passages in on order to understand what has happened ( I’m not referring to the linking bits just general actions or characters).
In other words this is a bit of a ‘mixed reaction’ book. I wish I could have liked it more but I couldn’t.
The Bobsphere 