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4.34 AVERAGE
4.34 AVERAGE
dark
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death
emotional
hopeful
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Stunning.
This is the book that, when it finished, make me on the verge of tears.
This is the book that really honest about the struggle to live and live on.
The book makes me think twice about life and the many-headed multitudes that live on it.
This is the book that, when it finished, make me on the verge of tears.
This is the book that really honest about the struggle to live and live on.
The book makes me think twice about life and the many-headed multitudes that live on it.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Having a severe book hangover from this. The way Mistry writes is beautiful and breathtaking but the ending is agonising. It felt a little like A Little Life, in its vaguely poverty/trauma porn ending. I really struggled with Maneck, his entitlement and lack of understanding really put me on edge. I wanted to smack the boy into reality so he’d act like less of an arrogant little fuck weasel, but maybe there was just something about seeing someone who had a little more privilege that just rubbed me the wrong way. Mostly I’m finding it hard to get over the ending that almost felt like it ruined it? I’m not sure it was necessary for the plot or the development of characters for it to end the way it did but I would definitely read more of his work.
emotional
reflective
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Minor spoiler alert at the end, I don’t give away too much though.
The book’s main characters meet in an unnamed city but I imagined Mumbai. Two tailors (uncle and nephew) who have left behind their traditional craft of leather making. A woman in her early 40s, a widow who hires the tailors (imagine hundreds of shirts for distribution at a political rally). And the last character, a young person in his late teens staying with her as a paying guest. Its set in India during the 1970s Emergency but the book gives us plenty of flashback in time as we learn more about all of them.
If I tell you how it felt and break the book into three big sections
1. Section 1: some truly horrible people and caste related discrimination made me upset/angry and I put the book aside for a week.
2. Section 2: my favorite. Joy at how some of the relationships forced by life’s circumstances actually become enjoyable and even forever lasting
3. Section 3: what happiness just happened came down somewhat and I felt sad. In DMs with a few people, I described this last section as Game of Thrones like where characters die or have horrible things happen to them (this is the minor spoiler alert)
It’s not a small book, at 603 pages it does not feel dated to me even though it was written in the 1990s, that’s the sad part really!I considered how would I behave if I was in the situation of these characters and had to make life choices. You don’t have to know much about India to read this book but if you are Indian you might appreciate it more. Finally for a book that gave me multiple emotions, I’d say kudos to the author even if it was GoTish a little at the end 😊
I'm not done processing this book yet, but first I wanted to say how odd and kind of refreshing to read a straightforward narrative! It seems like we are always bobbing around in time these days or layering other materials with the narrative. At the very least the book will have a dual narrative or a frame. There are none of those things here, but it was still a great read. You don't need to muck around with a story and move the pieces around like a jigsaw puzzle to tell a compelling story.
“You see, we cannot draw lines and compartments and refuse to budge beyond them. Sometimes you have to use your failures as stepping-stones to success. You have to maintain a fine balance between hope and despair.' He paused, considering what he had just said. 'Yes', he repeated. 'In the end, it's all a question of balance.”