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3.31 AVERAGE
3.31 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Didn't finish. I was reading and about halfway through when I realized I didn't care about any of the characters.....at least not enough to keep reading.
emotional
funny
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I enjoyed it and thought it was really well-written with interesting characters. I also learned about a bit of India I didn't know anything about. On the down side, it was depressing. That wouldn't be a bad thing if it weren't for the fact that all the fiction I've read that involves India, Indians, Indian-Americans, etc. have also been pretty sad.
I liked Kiran Desai's beautifully-written "The Inheritance of Loss" right from the start. In addition to the almost lyrical quality of the writing, its setting in the Himalayan border between India and Nepal is an area of the world I'm particularly interested in reading about.
The novel centers on two people -- Sai, an Indian girl who grew up in a convent before moving to her grandfather's house. The other half of the book centers on Biju, a boy who has immigrated to the United States and who is the son of a cook. The book really showcases the divide between generations and the difficulty of immigrants in forging a cultural identity as they are all torn between different values.
Although I thought the book dragged a bit in the middle (most of the interesting plot developments are at the very beginning of the book or at the very end...) the writing really carried me through those parts. All and all I did enjoy this book.
The novel centers on two people -- Sai, an Indian girl who grew up in a convent before moving to her grandfather's house. The other half of the book centers on Biju, a boy who has immigrated to the United States and who is the son of a cook. The book really showcases the divide between generations and the difficulty of immigrants in forging a cultural identity as they are all torn between different values.
Although I thought the book dragged a bit in the middle (most of the interesting plot developments are at the very beginning of the book or at the very end...) the writing really carried me through those parts. All and all I did enjoy this book.
Loved the setting, couldn't ever get into the story though.
I really wanted to like this book because the synopsis sounded SO interesting, and I have several friends who really enjoyed it, but I just could not get into the plot or feel connected to any of the characters. I will admit that I stopped reading about 2/3 of the way through-maybe if I persevered to the end I would have been more satisfied, so my rating should be taken with a grain of salt. But when picking up my free-reading book started to feel like a chore, I decided it wasn't worth it to force myself to read the whole book.
I only wish it had been longer- felt like I wasn't ready for it to end (and not in a good way)
This is a well-written chronicle, but for some reason -- likely unrelated to the book -- it didn't quite resonate with me the way I'd expected it to.
I thought the omniscient POV was very well done in this book, giving us glimpses into so many contemporaneous but very different lives. Politics drives the book - the conflict is a character here that breathes and grows. We know Sai just as we know the rest of the characters and we have hope for her, mostly as a function of her youth.