jenleah's review against another edition
3.0
3.5/5
While Jhumpa Lahiri is one of my favorite authors, this book didn't grab me in the same way as her other works.
The story follows the lives of Subhash, Gauri, and Bela, with all encompassing influences by Subhash's younger brother Udayan. The thing I love about Lahiri and her books is how much I learn about Indian culture. I knew nothing about the history of India, nor of the Naxalites and the communist influences in the country.
Some of the book seemed to drag a bit, though it was very well written. I wanted to know Bela better, Gauri less.
While Jhumpa Lahiri is one of my favorite authors, this book didn't grab me in the same way as her other works.
The story follows the lives of Subhash, Gauri, and Bela, with all encompassing influences by Subhash's younger brother Udayan. The thing I love about Lahiri and her books is how much I learn about Indian culture. I knew nothing about the history of India, nor of the Naxalites and the communist influences in the country.
Some of the book seemed to drag a bit, though it was very well written. I wanted to know Bela better, Gauri less.
hpc1c21's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
rhonaea's review against another edition
5.0
While other reviewers are quite hard in their analysis for me this was a richly satisfying epic read. For an epic, it is not that many pages, but the depth of writing and wide sweep of history packs in so much, the reader might be forgiven sensory overload.
In short the central characters, two brothers born in a Calcutta enclave, live overlooking the lowland - two ponds separate but conjoined during the monsoon. The brothers are as separate, living through Partition, and responding differently to the rise of the Naxalite (communist) movement; seen by the younger brother as a route to end poverty. The younger brother is shot dead for his involvement in the groups activities about a quarter of the way in to the book. The story then moves on to look at the response of the older brother and his pregnant, widowed sister-in-law, whom he decides to protect and marry. The remainder of the book looks in lots of mini circling devices at the fall-out.
Now, there are many points of criticism - the ‘communist’ brother who is himself served by the houseboy, his wife or parents; the change in character of the wife - who is presented as kind, docile and loving yet is cold and rejecting later with ambiguity about her sexuality; the passivity of the older brother and then his intransigence later in the novel; and the attitudes of the parents towards the wife - which I just can’t reconcile.
Still, there are so many themes which make this such a interesting read - politics, passive resistance v terrorist action, relationships, families, time and place.
In short the central characters, two brothers born in a Calcutta enclave, live overlooking the lowland - two ponds separate but conjoined during the monsoon. The brothers are as separate, living through Partition, and responding differently to the rise of the Naxalite (communist) movement; seen by the younger brother as a route to end poverty. The younger brother is shot dead for his involvement in the groups activities about a quarter of the way in to the book. The story then moves on to look at the response of the older brother and his pregnant, widowed sister-in-law, whom he decides to protect and marry. The remainder of the book looks in lots of mini circling devices at the fall-out.
Now, there are many points of criticism - the ‘communist’ brother who is himself served by the houseboy, his wife or parents; the change in character of the wife - who is presented as kind, docile and loving yet is cold and rejecting later with ambiguity about her sexuality; the passivity of the older brother and then his intransigence later in the novel; and the attitudes of the parents towards the wife - which I just can’t reconcile.
Still, there are so many themes which make this such a interesting read - politics, passive resistance v terrorist action, relationships, families, time and place.
moon_dude's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
dukhtar's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
cpwang65's review against another edition
5.0
The book covers a lifetime from the viewpoint of multiple characters. It starts out about a pair of brothers growing up in India in the Calcutta area. The brothers are close in age, about fifteen months apart. One brother grows up to be a revolutionary, while the other goes to graduate school (oceanography) in America, in Rhode Island, and ends up living the rest of his life there.
The brother who is a revolutionary, ends up getting killed, leaving behind a pregnant wife. His brother, comes back to India, marries his dead brother’s wife. She ends up coming to America and he ends up raising the daughter with his new wife.
The marriage is a lifeless one; the two of them really never do anything together. The wife manages to go back to university, and ends up getting her PhD (philosophy). When the husband and the daughter goes back to India after the death of the grandfather, they come back to find out the wife has left for a new job in California.
The daughter ends up growing up, doesn’t go to college, ends up becoming involved with farming / agricultural / growing organic things. After a long time away, the daughter returns to her father, with news that she is pregnant. The father decides to reveal to the daughter the truth about her real father. She storms away, but does return to live with her father to raise her child.
Meanwhile the father becomes involved with a woman who was once a teacher of his daughter. He asks his estranged wife to sign the papers for a divorce. She ends up coming in person, but the husband is away, but the daughter and grand daughter are there. There is a big scene, and the daughter lies to the daughter about who the visitor is. (The daughter has told people that her mother is dead).
The story is a very sad one, but the author has done a great job describing things from each person’s point of view. The ending is about the specifics of how the one brother died a long time ago.
The brother who is a revolutionary, ends up getting killed, leaving behind a pregnant wife. His brother, comes back to India, marries his dead brother’s wife. She ends up coming to America and he ends up raising the daughter with his new wife.
The marriage is a lifeless one; the two of them really never do anything together. The wife manages to go back to university, and ends up getting her PhD (philosophy). When the husband and the daughter goes back to India after the death of the grandfather, they come back to find out the wife has left for a new job in California.
The daughter ends up growing up, doesn’t go to college, ends up becoming involved with farming / agricultural / growing organic things. After a long time away, the daughter returns to her father, with news that she is pregnant. The father decides to reveal to the daughter the truth about her real father. She storms away, but does return to live with her father to raise her child.
Meanwhile the father becomes involved with a woman who was once a teacher of his daughter. He asks his estranged wife to sign the papers for a divorce. She ends up coming in person, but the husband is away, but the daughter and grand daughter are there. There is a big scene, and the daughter lies to the daughter about who the visitor is. (The daughter has told people that her mother is dead).
The story is a very sad one, but the author has done a great job describing things from each person’s point of view. The ending is about the specifics of how the one brother died a long time ago.
ioana_cis's review against another edition
4.0
The book is slow on actions but kept me going from page to page to see what will happen to the characters in the end. Easy to read, I learned a lot about India's history and how Indians perceived the changes in their country. The descriptions given are well written as I could feel myself walking in the streets of Kolkata or Rhode Island. Udayan, the most active character disappears to early and the other ones are a bit in slow motion to develop as individuals entity.
I really appreciated the change of the narrative person and could well see their own version.
“War will bring the revolution; revolution will stop the war”
I really appreciated the change of the narrative person and could well see their own version.
“War will bring the revolution; revolution will stop the war”
kealex02's review against another edition
5.0
A haunting--and haunted--book. So much loss, heartbreak, and despair situated in a complex political and social time. The ending brought everything together, including the reasons for Guari's actions. I also thought the book was beautifully written. The scenes were clear, compelling, and vivid. I found so many profound sentence, statements that summed up life in creative and unusual ways. It was my first book by Lahiri and I will be reading more.
jonesam30's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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? Yes
4.75
jcpdiesel21's review against another edition
4.0
Powerful and emotionally resonant. I haven't read anything by Lahiri in such a long time that I had forgotten how effortlessly beautiful her writing is, and this sweeping saga is no exception. The characters here are well defined and have strong, engaging individual voices that I enjoyed following. I had trouble getting into the book at first since I found the political history of India documented at the beginning a little dry and difficult to digest, but its inclusion is necessary as groundwork and determines much of the characters' fates. The story contains an abundance of tragedy, yet there are glimmers of hope scattered throughout.