The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
bluehairedraven's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
verafogel's review against another edition
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Had to reed it as an assignment for University.Â
Eventhough I think the idea of showing the downs of both Indian and American cultures, the book was just boring most of the time. Akso I think that the injustices that the girls had to suffer in india and Melanie's eating disorder should've been handled differently I just felt ot was overlooked a little.Â
Eventhough I think the idea of showing the downs of both Indian and American cultures, the book was just boring most of the time. Akso I think that the injustices that the girls had to suffer in india and Melanie's eating disorder should've been handled differently I just felt ot was overlooked a little.Â
secretbadass's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
gregoreads's review against another edition
3.0
Not sure if Fasting, Feasting is a 2 or a 3 stars for me. I didn’t really enjoy but I didn’t hate reading it. Being driven by its themes more than anything else, it isn’t really my kind of book; the plot is nonexistent and the characters aren’t really memorable aside from some random things which happen to them externally. Having read it for my Food and Writing class, I had an eye out for all that food represented, and I must say I appreciated those moments more than any others. Overall this book felt weightless to me, unsure of where it was going with all of its tense changes and flashbacks, and didn’t make as much of an impression on me as some of the previous readings I’ve done for this class.
shanviolinlove's review against another edition
4.0
Anita Desai is one of those names one encounters often in the literary - particularly postcolonial - circles. I scanned the titles at my local library and found the description, promising a glimpse of family relations in India and America, inviting. I was expecting a comparison of sorts of life negotiated across two continents and a life rooted in one's home country.
Part One greatly trumps Part Two, the former focusing on Uma, disgraced eldest sister of a traditional Indian family of which she is positioned almost as an indentured servant of sorts (her two dowries being constantly alluded to as an accusation of uselessness). Part Two follows her younger brother, a student at an American university. Desai creates two distinct family portraits, presenting India, its heat, its familial battles, its traditions, and its neighborly negotiations, as passionate and intimate, while the American family, transfixed upon charred meat and supermarkets, unacknowledged suffering, and blatant consumerism, seems detached.
Having read and enjoyed works by Salman Rushdie, Jhumpa Lahiri, and Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, I'd say that this book ranks with them in its discussion of cultural identity(ies) and one's reconcilement with one's family.
Part One greatly trumps Part Two, the former focusing on Uma, disgraced eldest sister of a traditional Indian family of which she is positioned almost as an indentured servant of sorts (her two dowries being constantly alluded to as an accusation of uselessness). Part Two follows her younger brother, a student at an American university. Desai creates two distinct family portraits, presenting India, its heat, its familial battles, its traditions, and its neighborly negotiations, as passionate and intimate, while the American family, transfixed upon charred meat and supermarkets, unacknowledged suffering, and blatant consumerism, seems detached.
Having read and enjoyed works by Salman Rushdie, Jhumpa Lahiri, and Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, I'd say that this book ranks with them in its discussion of cultural identity(ies) and one's reconcilement with one's family.
impla77's review against another edition
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I really enjoyed the writing here, but there’s not much plot to speak of. The book abruptly ends
neela's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.0
it just ended like is there a sequel? i thought it was building up to something
before that i liked it, the way she describes details of life in an indian familyÂ
before that i liked it, the way she describes details of life in an indian familyÂ
Content Warnings
Minor: Eating disorder