- Audio CD
- Publisher: Penguin Audio USA; 1 edition (April 24 2007)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0143142305
- ISBN-13: 978-0143142300
- Product Dimensions: 14.7 x 13.2 x 3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 23 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,428,731 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. This stunning second novel from Desai (Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard) is set in mid-1980s India, on the cusp of the Nepalese movement for an independent state. Jemubhai Popatlal, a retired Cambridge-educated judge, lives in Kalimpong, at the foot of the Himalayas, with his orphaned granddaughter, Sai, and his cook. The makeshift family's neighbors include a coterie of Anglophiles who might be savvy readers of V.S. Naipaul but who are, perhaps, less aware of how fragile their own social standing is—at least until a surge of unrest disturbs the region. Jemubhai, with his hunting rifles and English biscuits, becomes an obvious target. Besides threatening their very lives, the revolution also stymies the fledgling romance between 16-year-old Sai and her Nepalese tutor, Gyan. The cook's son, Biju, meanwhile, lives miserably as an illegal alien in New York. All of these characters struggle with their cultural identity and the forces of modernization while trying to maintain their emotional connection to one another. In this alternately comical and contemplative novel, Desai deftly shuttles between first and third worlds, illuminating the pain of exile, the ambiguities of post-colonialism and the blinding desire for a "better life," when one person's wealth means another's poverty.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Booklist
*Starred Review* Desai's Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard (1998) introduced an astute observer of human nature and a delectably sensuous satirist. In her second novel, Desai is even more perceptive and bewitching. Set in India in a small Himalayan community along the border with Nepal, its center is the once grand, now decaying home of a melancholy retired judge, his valiant cook, and beloved dog. Sai, the judge's teenage granddaughter, has just moved in, and she finds herself enmeshed in a shadowy fairy tale-like life in a majestic landscape where nature is so rambunctious it threatens to overwhelm every human quest for order. Add violent political unrest fomented by poor young men enraged by the persistence of colonial-rooted prejudice, and this is a paradise under siege. Just as things grow desperate, the cook's son, who has been suffering the cruelties accorded illegal aliens in the States, returns home. Desai is superbly insightful in her rendering of compelling characters and in her wisdom regarding the perverse dynamics of society. Like Salman Rushdie in Shalimar the Clown (2005), Desai imaginatively dramatizes the wonders and tragedies of Himalayan life and, by extension, the fragility of peace and elusiveness of justice, albeit with her own powerful blend of tenderness and wit. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful Writing Need to be Woven Together,
By
This review is from: The Inheritence of Loss (Paperback)
The Inheritance of Loss won the Man Booker Prize 2006. While Kiran Desai showed her strong writing ability with this book, I can think of other books more worthy of the prestigious award. The characters were not fleshed out very well and it was hard to relate to any of them. I also sound that Desai jumps around too much from character and different time frames to make a smooth, flowing story. I don't believe it is a difference in culture, as I have read many books from Indian Authors, about Indian characters that I have loved. For instance 'A Fine Balance' by Rohinton Mistry and 'A Suitable Boy' by Vikram Seth. Desai however writes strong prose and I look forward to trying 'Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard'. I think Desai has potential to be a great writer and hopefully her future books will prove this.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Having left, it is never really possible to return,
By J. Cameron-Smith "Expect the Unexpected" (ACT, Australia) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: The Inheritence of Loss (Paperback)
This is a beautifully written novel. It has been written by an author with a clear eye for intuitive observation as well as a superior ability to use words as effective tools.The setting is cultural and familial dislocation for individuals as they move between countries. We follow this through social events, political upheaval and the weight of individual and collective expectations. While the primary characters are Indian and the countries involved are India, the USA and the UK, many of the observations and challenges identified would be common to all who move from the 'the known' to 'the unknown'. The saddest lesson of all, perhaps, is that having left, one can never really return. The primary characters are each in their own way outsiders: the Judge and his orphaned grand-daughter, the cook and his son. The cook's son carries the weight of expectations and need of an entire community of extended families as he tries to make it in the USA. This is a novel to enjoy, and to think about. Highly recommended Jennifer Cameron-Smith
5.0 out of 5 stars
Powerful narrative and scathing analysis of colonial residue,
By
This review is from: The Inheritence of Loss (Paperback)
Wonderfully powerful novel. Using postcolonialism as a framework for her narrative Desai's critical approach is enthralling. The examination of the ways generations have literally inherited the losses of colonization is at the crux of the novel. Brilliantly written through the nuanced perspective of a multitude of characters. My one reservation may be that The Inheritance of Loss too easily engages in a dependency theory-esque portrayal of the world along core-periphery, empowered-disempowered lines without looking more at the ways this picture is shifting and complex. Nevertheless, her indictment of liberal celebrations of globalization, as a backdrop for her narrative, is scathing and well crafted.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
|
Most recent customer reviews |
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
