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jenmangler's review against another edition
4.0
Every time I picked up this book I had a very difficult time putting it down. I had to know what happened to Abdul and Kalu and Fatima and Asha. I also had to keep reminding myself that it was a work of nonfiction, that these people weren't characters in a book. They are real people. It was sometimes so heartbreakingly frustrating to see them struggle and start to get ahead - just a little bit - only to have circumstances overwhelm them. It was difficult to see them struggle to hold out hope in seemingly hopeless situations.
Towards the end of the book the author wrote something that so perfectly stated what was going on in Annawadi: "...powerless individuals blamed other powerless individuals for what they lacked. Sometimes they tried to destroy one another. Sometimes, like Fatima, they destroyed themselves in the process. When they were fortunate, like Asha, they improved their lots by beggaring the life chances of other poor people."
Towards the end of the book the author wrote something that so perfectly stated what was going on in Annawadi: "...powerless individuals blamed other powerless individuals for what they lacked. Sometimes they tried to destroy one another. Sometimes, like Fatima, they destroyed themselves in the process. When they were fortunate, like Asha, they improved their lots by beggaring the life chances of other poor people."
monicakuryla's review against another edition
1.0
The premise of this book seemed so promising, but the delivery was disaapointing. Prose and chronology was very confusing and too many characters of the book made it worse.
oxnard_montalvo's review against another edition
4.0
Non-fiction fiction. Investigative fiction. Retrospective and condensed reality. However you want to categorise it, it's good.
stephaniesteen73's review against another edition
4.0
Not an easy read - the descriptions of abject poverty, suffering, hopelessness and corruption in the Mumbai slum of Annawadi are very, very hard to get through at times. I didn't know until the end that this is a true story - these are the lives of actual people. The author is a reporter and these tragedies are told in such a neutral, matter-of-fact tone, that sometimes I had to re-read a page (wait - she's dead?!) Because it's "real," the ending doesn't really tie up nicely or come to much of a conclusion, but rather just stops, kind of awkwardly. But there are so many dramas along the way and I would highly recommend reading this. Now I'm off to re-watch Slumdog Millionaire.
kimmaloo's review against another edition
3.0
I think the content of the book is meaningful. However, the way the author presents the material is distant and removed. So although the people in the book are real and the events that take place are real and tragic, I don't think their stories were presented in a memorable way.
curiouslyjade's review against another edition
5.0
This nonfiction book reads like haunting fiction (and some parts make me wish it were, in fact, fiction). A very interesting, complex depiction of poverty. Don't skip the author's notes at the end.
npar6790's review against another edition
5.0
Great insight into the poor of India. I found it very interesting to make comparisons between India and the US.