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ruhru38sb's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Torture, Excrement, Police brutality, and Injury/Injury detail
maketeaa's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
this was, at times, extremely difficult to read. i found myself skipping lines that were too visceral, too gruesome to look at head-on, which is interesting to have experienced in a story whose main actors are a middle class bengali family and the complex dynamics between them. the lives of an others is, in a complicated, tangled way, about exactly what it says on the tin -- the way our lives interact with the lives of others, the way they are constantly spurned, evaluated, compared with the lives of others, but most importantly, how every impression that the lives of others truly matter to us is an illusion for the truth: that, at the end of the day, the lives of others we give importance to only matter insofar they revolve around our own. we see characters such as chhaya, who clings possessively to her older brother as a source of ownership, of a sense of belonging disguised as love, and how her snide remarks and manipulative behaviour are crafted to keep her at the centre of power in her own consciousness. we see charubala, the mother in law of the house, who carefully maintains outward appearances of the ghosh family and sweeps under the rug all that could malign them. and, separated from the main household, we see supratik, a revolutionary, committing terrorist attacks against his class enemies and opposing the middle-class culture he had come from. but the bleak ending serves to show that underlying such attachments to the lives of others, whether good or bad, is the desire to affirm our own, and that loyalty, to ideologies or people alike, only sustain as long as they serve our own deep rooted interests.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Incest, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Torture
Minor: Animal cruelty and Excrement
helie's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
4.0
It took me fully 2 months to read this book. The cast of characters was large, and it took a long time to work my way through some of the longer and more wandering descriptions.
I picked this up because I enjoyed the author's State of Freedom. While I think State of Freedom is probably the better book, this one spoke to me much more. Partially it was the family drama that felt more relatable. While there certainly was violence in this one (the book literally begins with a man self-immolating after killing his family in desperation), it didn't feel as intense as State of Freedom.
I found the pace slow and frustrating at times. The author kept dangling tantalizing plot details before switching over to a different POV or timeline. And I had a lot of trouble keeping the cast of characters together, since we were introduced to them piecemeal. I do wish some of the storylines had wrapped up a bit more.
Overall, I enjoy Mukherjee's works in their focus on the communist movement, classism and casteism in Indian society, and unflinching (though sometimes alarming) portrayals of life.
I picked this up because I enjoyed the author's State of Freedom. While I think State of Freedom is probably the better book, this one spoke to me much more. Partially it was the family drama that felt more relatable. While there certainly was violence in this one (the book literally begins with a man self-immolating after killing his family in desperation), it didn't feel as intense as State of Freedom.
I found the pace slow and frustrating at times. The author kept dangling tantalizing plot details before switching over to a different POV or timeline. And I had a lot of trouble keeping the cast of characters together, since we were introduced to them piecemeal. I do wish some of the storylines had wrapped up a bit more.
Overall, I enjoy Mukherjee's works in their focus on the communist movement, classism and casteism in Indian society, and unflinching (though sometimes alarming) portrayals of life.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Police brutality, and Murder
Moderate: Drug abuse and Incest
adeekgurl's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I would start by saying that this book is not for me. At 500+ pages, I honestly found it too long. I have no problem with long books and there are actually books that I’ve read that are 1000 + pages that I wish would have been longer.
The book is a multi-generational glimpse in the life of an upper middle class family in Calcutta. Through the lens of this family, we get to see the cultural and socio-economic conditions at that time. One of the main storyline is that of Supratik who is a political activist and then walks out of his family home, leaving only a note behind.
Part of the novel is told in third person wherein the readers explore the story of the different members of the Ghosh family. Another part is told in first person at the point of view of Supratik where he is talking/writing/addressing another person in his head. Supratik’s narrative is at the latter part of each chapter, being a kind of sub-chapter. I think this is a major reason why the book ultimately did not work for me. I felt the change of style between the chapters too jarring and it made it very hard to connect to the characters.
The book is ambitious and tries to tackle a lot of issues but at the end of the day, it felt like it tried to take on too much and it ended up saying very little.
The book is a multi-generational glimpse in the life of an upper middle class family in Calcutta. Through the lens of this family, we get to see the cultural and socio-economic conditions at that time. One of the main storyline is that of Supratik who is a political activist and then walks out of his family home, leaving only a note behind.
Part of the novel is told in third person wherein the readers explore the story of the different members of the Ghosh family. Another part is told in first person at the point of view of Supratik where he is talking/writing/addressing another person in his head. Supratik’s narrative is at the latter part of each chapter, being a kind of sub-chapter. I think this is a major reason why the book ultimately did not work for me. I felt the change of style between the chapters too jarring and it made it very hard to connect to the characters.
The book is ambitious and tries to tackle a lot of issues but at the end of the day, it felt like it tried to take on too much and it ended up saying very little.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Racial slurs, Rape, Torture, Excrement, Police brutality, and Suicide attempt