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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
informative
sad
medium-paced
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
slow-paced
I think where this book fails the most for me is framing it as a true crime narrative. Knowing what I now know about the case, the subtitle feels a bit misleading, given the ultimate conclusion of the text.
I didn't love the author's writing style, often using narrative nonfiction techniques to make moments feel more like "scenes." These really drew me out of the story, because the author uses narrative flourishes and details that might be true to make scenes feel more alive. I don't like it when authors do this in nonfiction, because those details are impossible to know or verify and make me question the validity of the surrounding matter. I know it was well researched, but the people she interviewed couldn't possibly remember what they said word for word in order for the author to reproduce dialogue. She also takes liberties in describing senses and atmospheres, which certainly make the scenes come alive, but are not rooted in fact.
It's hard to not compare a book like this to Say Nothing, which also talks about a larger social movement through the lens of a crime, but Patrick Radden Keefe's reporting and recounting is so exceptional that other books attempting the same thing fail in comparison. I found it very interesting to learn about the failing criminal justice system in rural India, coupled with rampant misogyny and violence against women, but it seems like much too much to discuss thoroughly alongside this crime. I understand the crime is meant to be an entry point into discussing these topics further with a concrete example, but the social issues are too great to be covered in just one book, so I feel like its scope was too broad.
I'm not going to remember this book, unfortunately. I am glad I took the time to learn about these families and their ways of life, and I'm ultimately grateful I read it, but this book and things like it are not ones I would ever seek out for myself.
I didn't love the author's writing style, often using narrative nonfiction techniques to make moments feel more like "scenes." These really drew me out of the story, because the author uses narrative flourishes and details that might be true to make scenes feel more alive. I don't like it when authors do this in nonfiction, because those details are impossible to know or verify and make me question the validity of the surrounding matter. I know it was well researched, but the people she interviewed couldn't possibly remember what they said word for word in order for the author to reproduce dialogue. She also takes liberties in describing senses and atmospheres, which certainly make the scenes come alive, but are not rooted in fact.
It's hard to not compare a book like this to Say Nothing, which also talks about a larger social movement through the lens of a crime, but Patrick Radden Keefe's reporting and recounting is so exceptional that other books attempting the same thing fail in comparison. I found it very interesting to learn about the failing criminal justice system in rural India, coupled with rampant misogyny and violence against women, but it seems like much too much to discuss thoroughly alongside this crime. I understand the crime is meant to be an entry point into discussing these topics further with a concrete example, but the social issues are too great to be covered in just one book, so I feel like its scope was too broad.
I'm not going to remember this book, unfortunately. I am glad I took the time to learn about these families and their ways of life, and I'm ultimately grateful I read it, but this book and things like it are not ones I would ever seek out for myself.
informative
sad
slow-paced
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
The Good Girls : An Ordinary Killing by Sonia Faleiro is a true crime narrative reportage.
I think this book is really great for two reasons:
Firstly, it brings out the sad reality of the state of investigations and the level of apathy officials have for the people.
Secondly, it garners attention to not just Padma and Lalli, but also to all the women in India. It's a challenge to survive, especially if the ones you love the most are against you.
This book creates awarness—it sheds light on the things that are happening as we sit in our homes, blissfully ignorant. A lot of Indian certified professionals choose to leave the country, leaving morgue sweepers to perform atopsies. Attention needs to be drawn to a lot of issues outlined in the book, because if we don't take notice... Then who will?
It also talks about the social stigma that hangs around a boy and a girl being together, alone. We tend to think the worst of that situation, regardless of the actual happenings. Rape is somehow the girl's fault, because "boys will be boys." Poor sanitation is a problem that cannot wait. Women need to have their voices heard, too. Dowry deaths need to stop.
And families need to review their ideas about honour, and they need to stop killing people over it. A girl is not somehow "unwhole" or "dirty" just because she's not a virgin. She is not something to be sold off to the highest bidder. She has ideas and thoughts and hopes and dreams, just like everyone else. If her own family wants to kill her because of some imagined slight to their honour, the world will never benefit from the talent she possesses.
I love this book if enough people read it, we could save the world.
Firstly, it brings out the sad reality of the state of investigations and the level of apathy officials have for the people.
Secondly, it garners attention to not just Padma and Lalli, but also to all the women in India. It's a challenge to survive, especially if the ones you love the most are against you.
This book creates awarness—it sheds light on the things that are happening as we sit in our homes, blissfully ignorant. A lot of Indian certified professionals choose to leave the country, leaving morgue sweepers to perform atopsies. Attention needs to be drawn to a lot of issues outlined in the book, because if we don't take notice... Then who will?
It also talks about the social stigma that hangs around a boy and a girl being together, alone. We tend to think the worst of that situation, regardless of the actual happenings. Rape is somehow the girl's fault, because "boys will be boys." Poor sanitation is a problem that cannot wait. Women need to have their voices heard, too. Dowry deaths need to stop.
And families need to review their ideas about honour, and they need to stop killing people over it. A girl is not somehow "unwhole" or "dirty" just because she's not a virgin. She is not something to be sold off to the highest bidder. She has ideas and thoughts and hopes and dreams, just like everyone else. If her own family wants to kill her because of some imagined slight to their honour, the world will never benefit from the talent she possesses.
I love this book if enough people read it, we could save the world.
I walked into the book expecting a case study on the Katra case, which gained notoriety shortly after the Nirbhaya case. But what I got instead left me hollowed out, and quite literally staring into space.
The book explores the occurance of the case, the background of the girls who are dubbed Padma and Lalli, and the events that preceded their death, as well as what happened afterwards.
Similar to the author, in her quest for the book, I was left with something entirely different.
Incorporated in the pages of this story is the very blatant mistreatment of women, and also the rigid unbending caste system that also fonds its way into the judicial workings of our country. Ineptitude would be a kind word to surmise the whol primary judicial system including the forensic medical team employed in the case, that I found myself realising how privileged I am, and maybe, no not maybe, but totally blind to the conditions in our country. I am fortunate to be in a state that boasts to have the highest literacy rate, yet, the recent court proceedings of a dowry death case, and its subsequent verdict left me mistrustful of legal procedures. Same goes for how the case of two girls having been sexually exploited and strangulated, where we watched the culprits walk scott free.
The book brings forth almost every high profile media cases, along with obscure ones, solidfying the fact that India indeed is not a safe place for woman, and also how in some of the laws and bylaws which I had thought existed since long, had come into being.
This book has left me shaken, embarrassed and quite frankly angry as well as scared for my life.
The book explores the occurance of the case, the background of the girls who are dubbed Padma and Lalli, and the events that preceded their death, as well as what happened afterwards.
Similar to the author, in her quest for the book, I was left with something entirely different.
Incorporated in the pages of this story is the very blatant mistreatment of women, and also the rigid unbending caste system that also fonds its way into the judicial workings of our country. Ineptitude would be a kind word to surmise the whol primary judicial system including the forensic medical team employed in the case, that I found myself realising how privileged I am, and maybe, no not maybe, but totally blind to the conditions in our country. I am fortunate to be in a state that boasts to have the highest literacy rate, yet, the recent court proceedings of a dowry death case, and its subsequent verdict left me mistrustful of legal procedures. Same goes for how the case of two girls having been sexually exploited and strangulated, where we watched the culprits walk scott free.
The book brings forth almost every high profile media cases, along with obscure ones, solidfying the fact that India indeed is not a safe place for woman, and also how in some of the laws and bylaws which I had thought existed since long, had come into being.
This book has left me shaken, embarrassed and quite frankly angry as well as scared for my life.
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
slow-paced
📖 Dans ce livre de #truecrime autour de la mort de deux adolescentes dans l'Uttar Pradesh en 2014, Sonia Faleiro nous parle de pauvreté, de corruption et de sexisme. Dans une région extrêmement pauvre, deux jeunes filles sont retrouvées pendues. Autopsie sans matériel par un balayeur du coin, police régionale corrompue, politiciens qui ne s'en mêlent que si ça les fait monter dans les sondages s'enchaînent alors que les médias commencent à relayer une histoire de viol collectif et d'assassinat.
Quand la police nationale s'en mêle, plusieurs semaines plus tard, tout le monde parle de cette affaire et des droits des femmes qui y sont associés. Et quand elle affirme qu'il n'y a pas eu viol et qu'il s'agit d'un suicide, le monde a du mal à y croire.
💠Le livre est écrit de façon très sèche : pas de suppositions ni de fioritures, juste des faits rédigés en phrases très courtes et en chapitre d'une à trois pages le plus souvent. Le contexte national et historique, suivant l'affaire du viol en bande organisé de Delhi et une prise de conscience sur les violences sexistes dans le pays, sont très bien expliqués, et on suit chaque nouvelle information d'un oeil atterré, pour arriver à une conclusion dont on ne saura pas plus que la famille de Padma et Lalli si elle est crédible.
Le livre contient de nombreuses coquilles et fautes d'accord, ce qui est dommage ; une relecture n'aurait pas fait de mal. Mais il est bien écrit et nous fait découvrir un monde très particulier.
(Comme d'habitude avec le true crime et les histoires de violences, si vous connaissez mal le sous-continent indien, n'hésitez pas à compléter votre lecture avec quelque chose qui le met en valeur pour ne pas tomber dans la condescendance coloniale.)
Quand la police nationale s'en mêle, plusieurs semaines plus tard, tout le monde parle de cette affaire et des droits des femmes qui y sont associés. Et quand elle affirme qu'il n'y a pas eu viol et qu'il s'agit d'un suicide, le monde a du mal à y croire.
💠Le livre est écrit de façon très sèche : pas de suppositions ni de fioritures, juste des faits rédigés en phrases très courtes et en chapitre d'une à trois pages le plus souvent. Le contexte national et historique, suivant l'affaire du viol en bande organisé de Delhi et une prise de conscience sur les violences sexistes dans le pays, sont très bien expliqués, et on suit chaque nouvelle information d'un oeil atterré, pour arriver à une conclusion dont on ne saura pas plus que la famille de Padma et Lalli si elle est crédible.
Le livre contient de nombreuses coquilles et fautes d'accord, ce qui est dommage ; une relecture n'aurait pas fait de mal. Mais il est bien écrit et nous fait découvrir un monde très particulier.
(Comme d'habitude avec le true crime et les histoires de violences, si vous connaissez mal le sous-continent indien, n'hésitez pas à compléter votre lecture avec quelque chose qui le met en valeur pour ne pas tomber dans la condescendance coloniale.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Murder
Moderate: Rape
Minor: Sexual assault
Corruption & wrongful justice as well.
dark
emotional
fast-paced
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced