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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
didn't really like that ending, but i guess where else would life's suffering end?
A beautifully told story of a woman's life in a land that seems eons away from my own. Not always happy and not always fair, her life is still cherished as she goes through the cycles.
Beautiful, heartbreaking, and gut wrenching. Read for a picture of life in a world completely unknown to most Americans. Poverty, hope, love, and endurance define the life of Rukmani.
A womans search for happiness amid poverty in a changing India. A great quick read with tons of insight into thr Indian culture.
So far so good, very frustrating sometimes to think about what people go through in the 3rd World! Good story, some nice passages that are written with a more symbolic tone. Would be good for a high schooler!
emotional
inspiring
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
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Originally published in 1954 Nectar in a Sieve is a bittersweet story of survival and familial love set in the post colonial Indian farm lands. Markandaya does an excellent job of keeping the tone engaging while not glossing over the pain and trials of living in poverty. There is a dignity that is often minimized or even dismissed in many stories that house this level of trauma, loss, pain and struggle. Markandaya does not shy from the pain, instead she brings the reader along to experience and understand the will to live.
Markandaya understands the white gaze and how her characters will be perceived, she counters this by giving us Kenny, a white doctor who vocalizes all of the critiques lobbed at the working poor, from the wish to have children to the drive to stay on failing farmland. Kenny, is not exactly a beacon of hope, as we see him strive and fail at his endeavors in the same environment if not the same circumstances.
The rural/urban divide is a potent image, explored at a time when the destitute around the planet were abandoning (or being forced out) of their agrarian roots and into cities. While poor and near starving in both locations, the urban ability to crush hope and breed selfishness is palpable.
This #BiteSizedBook packs a punch and a life of over 30 years. I would have liked a longer narrative that dove into the lives of the characters and side characters more, but still a powerful read.
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
An incredible story of the natural instincts of motherhood, struggle, loss, and poverty. Rukmani's strength and loyalty to both her beliefs and her family add an immense sense of joy to a rather melancholy tale. Markandaya's ability to emulate so many emotions in so few pages connects the reader to the characters within the story. The tale is a heart-wrenching account that ends with tears of joy for the comfort Rukmani finds within herself, her family, and her faith.