Kiran Desai's first novel, Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard, was published to unanimous acclaim in over twenty-two countries. Now Desai takes us to the northeastern Himalayas where a rising insurgency challenges the old way of life. In a crumbling, isolated house at the foot of Mount Kanchenjunga lives an embittered old judge who wants to retire in peace when his orphaned granddaughter Sai arrives on his doorstep. The judge's chatty cook watches over her, but his thoughts are mostly with his son, Biju, hopscotching from one New York restaurant job to another, trying to stay a step ahead of the INS, forced to consider his country's place in the world. When a Nepalese insurgency in the mountains threatens Sai's new-sprung romance with her handsome Nepali tutor and causes their lives to descend into chaos, they, too, are forced to confront their colliding interests. The nation fights itself. The cook witnesses the hierarchy being overturned and discarded. The judge must revisit his past, his own role in this grasping world of conflicting desires-every moment holding out the possibility for hope or betrayal. A novel of depth and emotion, Desai's second, long-awaited novel fulfills the grand promise established by her first.
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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.
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All day, the colors had been those of dusk, mist moving like a water creature across the great flanks of mountains possessed of ocean shadows and depths. Read the first page
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All day, the colors had been those of dusk, mist moving like a water creature across the great flanks of mountains possessed of ocean shadows and depths. Read the first page
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Most helpful customer reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By Teddy
TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format: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
By J. Cameron-Smith
TOP 50 REVIEWER
Format: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
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
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By Sancho
Format:Paperback
I am glad I picked this book to amongst those to read this month. I enjoyed it from the start to finish. An appealing setting, fast pace and fascinating characters made me to read it the second time.It features with titles like The Usurper and Others, Good Earth,Bookseller of Kabul as culturally distinct books that I enjoyed.
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3.1 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars
Adjective Heaven
How this book could win such a prestigious award is beyond me. There was little or no plot, no character development, little substance. Read more
Published on Mar 11 2009 by M. Keen
5.0 out of 5 stars
Powerful narrative and scathing analysis of colonial residue
Wonderfully powerful novel. Using postcolonialism as a framework for her narrative Desai's critical approach is enthralling. Read more
Published on Jan 15 2009 by J. Pollock
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beauty and moral inquiry
An enigmatic beauty suffuses this book. As others have noted, it is not a conventionally-plotted story arc, but a set of portraits of those who have accepted subjugation (and paid... Read more
Published on Nov 9 2008 by Endless Page
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Reverse Passage to India Filled with Wit
If you like humorous books about how people live self-sabotaging lives to preserve their illusions of superiority, The Inheritance of Loss will delight you. Read more
Published on Mar 24 2008 by Donald Mitchell
5.0 out of 5 stars
Loved it
I am glad I picked this book to amongst those to read this month. I enjoyed it from the start to finish. Read more
Published on Sep 27 2007 by SanchoM
3.0 out of 5 stars
The Loss of Purpose.
'The Inheritance of Loss' begins with a teenage girl, her grandfather, his dog, and a servant/cook, and the lush descriptions of their location in India create a vivid picture of... Read more
Published on July 31 2007 by maya j
3.0 out of 5 stars
Superb writing but...
Let us make no bones about it, Desai is a master craftsman of the english language. The booker prize increasingly is being given to writers with imaginative and strong command of... Read more
Published on July 10 2007 by Usman Hamid
5.0 out of 5 stars
Got it from a friend
I received this book from a friend who handed it to me and simply said, "read it." I did, and I'm glad I did. Read more
Published on Mar 24 2007 by Scanci Helapamini
5.0 out of 5 stars
Enjoyed
I enjoyed this book from the start till the end and I am glad I picked if for my reading. The setting is appealing setting, the caracters are fascinating and the pase is fast
Published on Mar 10 2007 by Handmade Christmas Cards
5.0 out of 5 stars
A most incredible book
With setting ranging from New York to India, this book reminded me at times of KITE RUNNER. But the comparison ended there. Read more
Published on Dec 9 2006 by Tiny Giffin
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