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janetqh114's review against another edition
dark
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.0
nicolewalks_'s review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
milaraet2016's review against another edition
4.0
Absolutely beautiful and moving story. Love is such a powerful emotion.
freddie's review against another edition
1.0
I felt that I was tricked into sympathizing with Mehar, a woman who finds herself in a rather unpleasant "matrimonial situation". Instead, the story focuses on how she thirsts over another man (a douche-y man, btw) and on a secondary protagonist in a different timeline who's weaning himself from heroin by traveling to his ancestral homeland (where Mehar used to live).
avkesner's review against another edition
4.0
A fantastic novel that ping pongs between Mehar, a young woman who is one of three brides trying to discover which brother is her husband, and a young man who returns to India to try to kick his drug addiction. These two characters are related Sahota does an expert job of weaving their stories together-- each developed with empathy and compassion.
anusha_reads's review against another edition
5.0
CHINA ROOM BY SUNJEEV SAHOTA
Two parallel narratives; one story is of a sixteen-year-old girl named Mehar, occurring in 1929 and another one, in 1990s, is about an unnamed boy who is a drug addict and the great grandson of Mehar. Of the two stories, I think Mehar’s story is more captivating and poignant. It talks about the misogyny prevalent in that era. The word misogyny applies to men but in this tale, it applies to the mother-in-law who has hatred towards her daughters-in-law. It reminds me of the book ‘Second sex by Simone De Beauvoir’ where she says that women were goalless, child producing machines. “What can a woman do, for whom the man is both a means and the only reason for living!” The woman takes his name, integrates into his class, his world, she belongs to his family and must prove her marital status. Because the ‘male dominance’ is etched into a woman’s brain, she continues with the tradition without thinking of changing it (to think one must be educated, but women were not allowed to attend schools). That is what results in the ‘mom-in-law’ mentality.
In Mehar’s story, the antagonist is the evil mother-in-law. She is vengeful towards her daughters-in-law because of her oppressive past. I think she tortures them because she suffered similarly when she was young.
Three girls, one of whom is Mehar, are married to three brothers. The saddest part is that they don’t know which one of them is their husband. They wear long veils and see only the floor and in the night one of them is sent to a dark room to sleep with her husband, only when the mother-in-law ‘Mai’ tells them to go, but unfortunately in the pitch darkness they are unable to see their husbands face. The sole objective of sending them to the dark room is for them to produce a son. Otherwise, most of the nights, all the three wives are cooped up in a small room called the China room, named after the Chinaware, the mother-in-law brings as her dowry.
As Mehar’s story unravels, it gets more complicated and chaotic or in other words engulfed in a quagmire.
Its distressing to read such a story. I am glad to have been born in this era. First, they have no say in whom they can/want to marry, then once they are married, they don’t know who their husbands are and then they have no freedom of speech, nor do they have the right to be with their husbands at their own will. Such tales tells us about the hardships the women of those era went through which the current generation is oblivious of!
It’s a beautifully written, engaging, and intriguing tale. I hope everybody reads this book!!
Two parallel narratives; one story is of a sixteen-year-old girl named Mehar, occurring in 1929 and another one, in 1990s, is about an unnamed boy who is a drug addict and the great grandson of Mehar. Of the two stories, I think Mehar’s story is more captivating and poignant. It talks about the misogyny prevalent in that era. The word misogyny applies to men but in this tale, it applies to the mother-in-law who has hatred towards her daughters-in-law. It reminds me of the book ‘Second sex by Simone De Beauvoir’ where she says that women were goalless, child producing machines. “What can a woman do, for whom the man is both a means and the only reason for living!” The woman takes his name, integrates into his class, his world, she belongs to his family and must prove her marital status. Because the ‘male dominance’ is etched into a woman’s brain, she continues with the tradition without thinking of changing it (to think one must be educated, but women were not allowed to attend schools). That is what results in the ‘mom-in-law’ mentality.
In Mehar’s story, the antagonist is the evil mother-in-law. She is vengeful towards her daughters-in-law because of her oppressive past. I think she tortures them because she suffered similarly when she was young.
Three girls, one of whom is Mehar, are married to three brothers. The saddest part is that they don’t know which one of them is their husband. They wear long veils and see only the floor and in the night one of them is sent to a dark room to sleep with her husband, only when the mother-in-law ‘Mai’ tells them to go, but unfortunately in the pitch darkness they are unable to see their husbands face. The sole objective of sending them to the dark room is for them to produce a son. Otherwise, most of the nights, all the three wives are cooped up in a small room called the China room, named after the Chinaware, the mother-in-law brings as her dowry.
As Mehar’s story unravels, it gets more complicated and chaotic or in other words engulfed in a quagmire.
Its distressing to read such a story. I am glad to have been born in this era. First, they have no say in whom they can/want to marry, then once they are married, they don’t know who their husbands are and then they have no freedom of speech, nor do they have the right to be with their husbands at their own will. Such tales tells us about the hardships the women of those era went through which the current generation is oblivious of!
It’s a beautifully written, engaging, and intriguing tale. I hope everybody reads this book!!
sravsberry's review against another edition
emotional
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This book was soo heartbreaking. It told a story from the main characters perspective in such a way that I felt I could really put myself in her shoes and experience the world as she experienced it. It helped me understand just how few rights women had (and in many parts of the world today, still have) especially when it comes to love. I wish the overlapping timelines were explored a bit more and the ending felt a bit rushed to be honest / left a lot to be answered. But the concept was good.
byronic_reader's review against another edition
3.0
"It's different for women, isn't it? They have no choice in where they go. They grow up in a prison and then get married into one."
This quote pretty much sums up what China Room is about. Sahota uses two timelines to explore oppression and sufferings caused by the oppression. On one hand, we have Mehar, a 15-year-old child bride, married off to one of the brothers of an affluent family, and on the other, we have her great-grandson, held in the clutches of addiction, sense of claustrophobia caused by racism and a sense of unbelongingness. These two are 70 years apart, but they go through the similar emotion of being shackled.
Now, this book has so much potential. It could've been a masterpiece. But somehow it falls flat. The story is concise. We are shown what we have to see. Considering that this is loosely based on Sahota's great grandmother and later himself, one can understand the need for conciseness. But what didn't work for me is how underwhelming the characters are developed. It's like only a few of them are focalized while the others are left behind. There is no philosophical undertone, no atmospheric writing like the last 3 books I read. It felt like lazy writing.
What worked for me is the way the author made me angry. There are only a few books that made me furious over the injustice and sheer unfairness. And China Room is one of them. I read the first few chapters swearing at the obscene way. A girl is being shopped as if she is a commodity. Her identity is erased as if she is a person only if she has a husband. We don't even know what Mehar is called before she is Mehar. And the demands made by the boy's family as if they are doing a favour by marrying their girl, when in fact, it is the girl who is going to toil makes me want to punch something. And the men in here are treated as properties. Like their sole purpose is to toil for the family welfare. Ugh!
Then we have this business of not letting the girls know who their husbands are. This whole story wouldn't have happened if only they knew who their husbands were. But, clearly, it didn't and we have a situation that makes things complicated for everyone. I have read a few reviews that say this book makes them uncomfortable. Of course, it is going to be uncomfortable. We have our inner old lady/man out, judging Mehar and Suraj for their adulterous relationship, when in fact, they both are trying to break away from the shackles of Mai. It may sound blasphemous, but morals will be thrown out the window when you are trying to just exist.
It is yet another book that shows how women play as pallbearers of patriarchy. When a woman continuously repressed by patriarchy, constantly wounded and traumatized, stripped of her power, is given power, she will inflict the same violence on others. The orgasmic cruelty of inflicting pain on the other women, especially on the daughters-in-law, are hidden under the veil of maintaining the 'family honour'. This family honour is what imprisons women figuratively and in this book, literally. And while the woman suffers, everything around her goes as usual.
We can see this similar sense of claustrophobia and suffering in Mehar's great-grandson too. While Mehar is shackled by patriarchy, our unnamed boy is shackled by substance addiction, blatant racism and guilt. He stays in the same room as Mehar, when she is imprisoned but he finds his home in there. A complete circle of suffering coming to a sort of closure like a nice woven basket.
I wanted more of Mehar and Suraj, both traumatized, seeking an outlet from an oppressive home, ending with a tragic outcome. Had it been told by Mehar, this book would've been a different one altogether. And the interruption makes the book a bit underwhelming. I feel that we have quite a lot of agency for the trauma caused by racism and substance addiction. But the trauma caused by the arranged marriage or the love where you have to fight for is not discussed on a bigger note. The suffering women face even in this 'New India' is glossed over as something normal. Overall, while I loved a few parts, I am underwhelmed by the writing. I don't know if it'll make the shortlist.
This quote pretty much sums up what China Room is about. Sahota uses two timelines to explore oppression and sufferings caused by the oppression. On one hand, we have Mehar, a 15-year-old child bride, married off to one of the brothers of an affluent family, and on the other, we have her great-grandson, held in the clutches of addiction, sense of claustrophobia caused by racism and a sense of unbelongingness. These two are 70 years apart, but they go through the similar emotion of being shackled.
Now, this book has so much potential. It could've been a masterpiece. But somehow it falls flat. The story is concise. We are shown what we have to see. Considering that this is loosely based on Sahota's great grandmother and later himself, one can understand the need for conciseness. But what didn't work for me is how underwhelming the characters are developed. It's like only a few of them are focalized while the others are left behind. There is no philosophical undertone, no atmospheric writing like the last 3 books I read. It felt like lazy writing.
What worked for me is the way the author made me angry. There are only a few books that made me furious over the injustice and sheer unfairness. And China Room is one of them. I read the first few chapters swearing at the obscene way. A girl is being shopped as if she is a commodity. Her identity is erased as if she is a person only if she has a husband. We don't even know what Mehar is called before she is Mehar. And the demands made by the boy's family as if they are doing a favour by marrying their girl, when in fact, it is the girl who is going to toil makes me want to punch something. And the men in here are treated as properties. Like their sole purpose is to toil for the family welfare. Ugh!
Then we have this business of not letting the girls know who their husbands are. This whole story wouldn't have happened if only they knew who their husbands were. But, clearly, it didn't and we have a situation that makes things complicated for everyone. I have read a few reviews that say this book makes them uncomfortable. Of course, it is going to be uncomfortable. We have our inner old lady/man out, judging Mehar and Suraj for their adulterous relationship, when in fact, they both are trying to break away from the shackles of Mai. It may sound blasphemous, but morals will be thrown out the window when you are trying to just exist.
It is yet another book that shows how women play as pallbearers of patriarchy. When a woman continuously repressed by patriarchy, constantly wounded and traumatized, stripped of her power, is given power, she will inflict the same violence on others. The orgasmic cruelty of inflicting pain on the other women, especially on the daughters-in-law, are hidden under the veil of maintaining the 'family honour'. This family honour is what imprisons women figuratively and in this book, literally. And while the woman suffers, everything around her goes as usual.
We can see this similar sense of claustrophobia and suffering in Mehar's great-grandson too. While Mehar is shackled by patriarchy, our unnamed boy is shackled by substance addiction, blatant racism and guilt. He stays in the same room as Mehar, when she is imprisoned but he finds his home in there. A complete circle of suffering coming to a sort of closure like a nice woven basket.
I wanted more of Mehar and Suraj, both traumatized, seeking an outlet from an oppressive home, ending with a tragic outcome. Had it been told by Mehar, this book would've been a different one altogether. And the interruption makes the book a bit underwhelming. I feel that we have quite a lot of agency for the trauma caused by racism and substance addiction. But the trauma caused by the arranged marriage or the love where you have to fight for is not discussed on a bigger note. The suffering women face even in this 'New India' is glossed over as something normal. Overall, while I loved a few parts, I am underwhelmed by the writing. I don't know if it'll make the shortlist.