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3.21 AVERAGE
3.21 AVERAGE
Very very okay. There was cricket and family drama and mentally unstable characters. I could've done with more cricket. And family drama where the involved parties aren't almost completely withdrawn.
Adiga's prose bores me. It's not very detailed and a bit heavy on... uhh... symbolism? Heavy on something or other.
Adiga's prose bores me. It's not very detailed and a bit heavy on... uhh... symbolism? Heavy on something or other.
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Great idea, not executed well.
It is disappointing to see bullshit like One Indian Girl gathering a media storm when real gems of Indian literature, like Aravind Adiga's Selection Day go unnoticed. Adiga can rightfully claim the throne of the king of modern Indian fiction, with his satirical novels on the 21st century Indian society always managing to strike a chord with me. My review might be heavily biased as Adiga's first book, The White Tiger, made me like what this man had to say, Last Man In Tower made me in love with his writing.
Selection Day is all about middle-class India's obsession -cricket. Adiga does not restrict his inhibitions and he deftly exposes the hypocrisy hidden in all of us - the Indian parent, the coach, media, everyone. An interesting read, probably not as good as The White Tiger, but still very close.
Selection Day is all about middle-class India's obsession -cricket. Adiga does not restrict his inhibitions and he deftly exposes the hypocrisy hidden in all of us - the Indian parent, the coach, media, everyone. An interesting read, probably not as good as The White Tiger, but still very close.
The White Tiger is one of favourite books but I realised early on with Selection Day that this book has been written by someone who wanted to write a book with a lot of cricket in it. Nothing in the first 20 pages grabbed me at all so had to give up.
Even though, on a first glance, Aravind Adiga’s “Selection Day” represents the Cricket Mania in India, it is much deeper than just Cricket. I, personally do not like cricket. And was hoping to hate this book where as I found the story too interesting to quit even though there was cricket in it.
Pressurized by the Father, Radha and Manju, dreams to become cricketers. The father who constantly bullies and abuses their sons, has made a contract with God that his son’s will be the best and second best batsmen in the world. Manju who is the best and youngest dreams to study science but doesn’t find any means to go forward in that direction. The story actually revolves around confusion and problems on adolescent sexuality and emotional conflict in relationships.
Adiga has done his magic again. I could connect with the book not only because the story is set in India, but the main characters are from Adiga’s ancestral land, which is also mine. Some places the writing didn’t portray the complete idea or circumstances, which felt odd. But summing up, it is a good book.
ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!
Pressurized by the Father, Radha and Manju, dreams to become cricketers. The father who constantly bullies and abuses their sons, has made a contract with God that his son’s will be the best and second best batsmen in the world. Manju who is the best and youngest dreams to study science but doesn’t find any means to go forward in that direction. The story actually revolves around confusion and problems on adolescent sexuality and emotional conflict in relationships.
Adiga has done his magic again. I could connect with the book not only because the story is set in India, but the main characters are from Adiga’s ancestral land, which is also mine. Some places the writing didn’t portray the complete idea or circumstances, which felt odd. But summing up, it is a good book.
ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!
slow-paced
Two brothers are raised and chastised by their domineering father to become cricket legends in the slums of Mumbai. The sport is the blood of India, intertwined colonially and economically, to the livelihood of many people.
Sponsorship, admiration and self actualisation are confused in the incongruous streets of Bombay, where a deep rooted passion lies. Selection day is about judgement and affirmation for a prowess that has been pushed on to you.
I enjoyed the insight into a foreign culture
Sponsorship, admiration and self actualisation are confused in the incongruous streets of Bombay, where a deep rooted passion lies. Selection day is about judgement and affirmation for a prowess that has been pushed on to you.
I enjoyed the insight into a foreign culture
I recommend giving this a hard pass for confusing storytelling, abusive relationships and supreme homophobia. I was uncomfortable the entire time I read this and I'm not recommending this to anyone.
For a full review, read here!
For a full review, read here!
I came here for the gays and siblings' relationship...and I feel so attacked right now!
This book just broke my heart over and over and over. And I probably love pain because I kept on reading and almost finished it in a single night (but then life called me back to reality).
I really loved the characters of the 3 main teenagers (Radha, Manju and Javed), I thought that even though they clearly all have serious flaws, I still felt deeply towards them and wished them all nothing but happiness or at least not a life of disappointment (*bitter laughter*).
Each of them were very different and you could really see it through the different POV but also in the way the author conveyed what they thought of each other.
PS: I still don't understand how the forking rules of cricket ; like omg I understand Exy better and it's a fictional sport!
This book just broke my heart over and over and over. And I probably love pain because I kept on reading and almost finished it in a single night (but then life called me back to reality).
I really loved the characters of the 3 main teenagers (Radha, Manju and Javed), I thought that even though they clearly all have serious flaws, I still felt deeply towards them and wished them all nothing but happiness or at least not a life of disappointment (*bitter laughter*).
Each of them were very different and you could really see it through the different POV but also in the way the author conveyed what they thought of each other.
PS: I still don't understand how the forking rules of cricket ; like omg I understand Exy better and it's a fictional sport!
Adiga gives no crash course to acclimate you to Mumbai & the game of cricket, which makes reading this kind of exciting and kind of chaotic.