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A review by book_concierge
One Amazing Thing by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
3.0
3.5***
When an earthquake strikes, nine people are trapped in the basement of the Indian consulate: an upper-class Caucasian couple with a troubled marriage, a young Muslim-American man with a tendency to act rashly, a graduate student whose parents have returned to India, an African-American Vietnam veteran, a Chinese grandmother with a secret along with her punk-rock teenage granddaughter, and two visa office workers.
I was immediately caught up in the “present day” story of these nine people trapped in a basement. I liked the way that the author revealed their strengths and weaknesses as they acted / reacted to the situation. Who was selfish, or brave, or took charge, or retreated. But when Uma suggests that they pass the time by each telling “one amazing thing” from his/her life, the story arc lost some momentum, and it became more of a collection of short stories.
I don’t mind this too much, because I love short stories, and Divakaruni writes them well. However, this sort of hybrid between a short story collection and a novel seemed a little awkward. I was enthralled and interested in both the story of nine people trapped by the earthquake, and in the characters back stories. What each chose to reveal to these strangers, while fearing they would die together, told much about them as individuals. I have to admit it made me wonder what episode of my life I would tell in such circumstances.
One final note: the city in the book is unnamed, but apparently San Francisco. There are references to cable cars and being “by the bay.” Additionally, there IS an Indian consulate (where one would go for a visa) in San Francisco. And, of course, it is a city with a history of earthquakes.
When an earthquake strikes, nine people are trapped in the basement of the Indian consulate: an upper-class Caucasian couple with a troubled marriage, a young Muslim-American man with a tendency to act rashly, a graduate student whose parents have returned to India, an African-American Vietnam veteran, a Chinese grandmother with a secret along with her punk-rock teenage granddaughter, and two visa office workers.
I was immediately caught up in the “present day” story of these nine people trapped in a basement. I liked the way that the author revealed their strengths and weaknesses as they acted / reacted to the situation. Who was selfish, or brave, or took charge, or retreated. But when Uma suggests that they pass the time by each telling “one amazing thing” from his/her life, the story arc lost some momentum, and it became more of a collection of short stories.
I don’t mind this too much, because I love short stories, and Divakaruni writes them well. However, this sort of hybrid between a short story collection and a novel seemed a little awkward. I was enthralled and interested in both the story of nine people trapped by the earthquake, and in the characters back stories. What each chose to reveal to these strangers, while fearing they would die together, told much about them as individuals. I have to admit it made me wonder what episode of my life I would tell in such circumstances.
One final note: the city in the book is unnamed, but apparently San Francisco. There are references to cable cars and being “by the bay.” Additionally, there IS an Indian consulate (where one would go for a visa) in San Francisco. And, of course, it is a city with a history of earthquakes.