Scan barcode
knittyreader's review against another edition
2.0
I received a free copy through Netgalley in return for an honest review.
From the blurb this book looked very promising, but it wasn't all that great. It's not that it's too long - I could read it within a couple of hours. It was more that it was too short, it felt like there was missing so much of the stories, in which the main characters didn't seem to have anything in common apart from their making shoes. After finishing the book, I am left with the feeling of 'is this all?' and perhaps that was the meaning of the writer, showing the emptiness of everyday life or something like that? Still, the couple of hours I spent reading this novella feel like a waste of time.
From the blurb this book looked very promising, but it wasn't all that great. It's not that it's too long - I could read it within a couple of hours. It was more that it was too short, it felt like there was missing so much of the stories, in which the main characters didn't seem to have anything in common apart from their making shoes. After finishing the book, I am left with the feeling of 'is this all?' and perhaps that was the meaning of the writer, showing the emptiness of everyday life or something like that? Still, the couple of hours I spent reading this novella feel like a waste of time.
emmagreenwood's review
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship
miametro's review against another edition
2.0
Proof received via Netgalley. The copy I had was full of errors and erroneous spaces in words that made it difficult to read.
I honestly didn't understand the point of this book, unfortunately. Nothing really happened, no-one learnt any lessons and there was really no plot to speak of. I enjoyed Arun's chapters more than Claire's, whose dialect and lack of commas I found hard to parse. I'm also not a big fan of books without quote marks for speech, as it makes it tough to discern what is spoken and what is internal monologue.
Maybe it was intended to add to the story but for me it missed its mark.
I honestly didn't understand the point of this book, unfortunately. Nothing really happened, no-one learnt any lessons and there was really no plot to speak of. I enjoyed Arun's chapters more than Claire's, whose dialect and lack of commas I found hard to parse. I'm also not a big fan of books without quote marks for speech, as it makes it tough to discern what is spoken and what is internal monologue.
Maybe it was intended to add to the story but for me it missed its mark.
em_beddedinbooks's review against another edition
3.0
The title and the blurb aptly describe the book, so nothing much of the story from my part.
What I would like to say is that it is a slow moving book, and the pace slows down as it proceeds. .. and towards the end, there are a few loose ends which we can interpret or built upon in our own way.
The two protagonists of this story are Claire, a young British woman and Arun, an old Indian man who live in their own countries, and the only fact connecting them is that they both work in the footwear trade, but in different ways and capacities.
How they spend their days seems to be the focal point of the story.
I was almost sure that they will intersect at some time or other, but that never happened.
On the whole, I liked it, but there was something missing.
What I would like to say is that it is a slow moving book, and the pace slows down as it proceeds. .. and towards the end, there are a few loose ends which we can interpret or built upon in our own way.
The two protagonists of this story are Claire, a young British woman and Arun, an old Indian man who live in their own countries, and the only fact connecting them is that they both work in the footwear trade, but in different ways and capacities.
How they spend their days seems to be the focal point of the story.
I was almost sure that they will intersect at some time or other, but that never happened.
On the whole, I liked it, but there was something missing.
par2021's review against another edition
1.0
I just could not understand where the author was going with this book. It felt like the two parts of the story just ended half way through.
It was well written.
It was well written.
riikka's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
cathygeagan's review
3.0
The Living is the first of Anjali Joseph’s books I have read, despite her previous offerings Saraswati Park and Another Country coming highly recommended. As a result, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from it, and having read it I am not entirely sure what I think about it.
The Living tells two stories, in alternate sections, of two very different people on opposite sides of the world. Claire is a single mother in her 30s who works in a shoe factory in England. Arun is a shoemaker in India, a grandfather and a recovering alcoholic. The only ‘spoiler’ I will give you is that these stories are not connected. It’s best you don’t spend your time looking for when the stories overlap/collide, and instead enjoy each on their own merits.
“Over time you get used to the unknown areas of the person you live with. They become familiar, or that’s what you think.”
Claire is in the middle of a life shaped by a decision made when she was just a teenager; Arun is drawing to the end of a life handcrafting chappals in a world being taken over by machine production. There are no huge dramas here – Claire attends her father’s funeral, tries to decide exactly how she feels about two different men, thinks back on the estranged father of her son. Arun attends his niece’s wedding, spends time with his family, and reflects on his former mistress. The curtain rises at a given moment in their lives and drops again without any pat resolution – this is a book about living, not about distorting the experience of living into narrative convention.
The rich interior lives of the protagonists, in all the often mundane detail that make up the average day in the average life, control the pace here – only a certain type of reader will like this book. If you are drawn to action filled plots – this is not the book for you. However, if you enjoy thoughtful meditations on the daily actions, decisions and moments looking backwards that make living what it is; if you have ever wondered what are the legacies of small lives – The Living is both well written and just what you are looking for.
www.eatsplantsreadsbooks.com
The Living tells two stories, in alternate sections, of two very different people on opposite sides of the world. Claire is a single mother in her 30s who works in a shoe factory in England. Arun is a shoemaker in India, a grandfather and a recovering alcoholic. The only ‘spoiler’ I will give you is that these stories are not connected. It’s best you don’t spend your time looking for when the stories overlap/collide, and instead enjoy each on their own merits.
“Over time you get used to the unknown areas of the person you live with. They become familiar, or that’s what you think.”
Claire is in the middle of a life shaped by a decision made when she was just a teenager; Arun is drawing to the end of a life handcrafting chappals in a world being taken over by machine production. There are no huge dramas here – Claire attends her father’s funeral, tries to decide exactly how she feels about two different men, thinks back on the estranged father of her son. Arun attends his niece’s wedding, spends time with his family, and reflects on his former mistress. The curtain rises at a given moment in their lives and drops again without any pat resolution – this is a book about living, not about distorting the experience of living into narrative convention.
The rich interior lives of the protagonists, in all the often mundane detail that make up the average day in the average life, control the pace here – only a certain type of reader will like this book. If you are drawn to action filled plots – this is not the book for you. However, if you enjoy thoughtful meditations on the daily actions, decisions and moments looking backwards that make living what it is; if you have ever wondered what are the legacies of small lives – The Living is both well written and just what you are looking for.
www.eatsplantsreadsbooks.com
More...