Reviews

If it wasn't for my English Honors syllabus, I don't think I would ever come across this novel, and would have read it in one sitting.

[a: Kamala Markandaya|58634|Kamala Markandaya|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1411212131p2/58634.jpg] remarkably, in much simple language draws a beautiful, bitter-sweet and tragic portrait of the people who struggle to just live and evade hunger in their day to day life, in her novel [b: Nectar in a Sieve|101509|Nectar in a Sieve|Kamala Markandaya|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348811536s/101509.jpg|658251] and the way she paints their fortunes trodden in misery, that lasts longer and longer than the joyous memories they had once lived through- only growing fleeting and distant with each turn of the page.

I loved the way the story moved, the plot grew only more saddening and how we get to see the inner wishes of Rukmani, her regrets and her certain memories which shine bright like diamonds as she keeps narrating her live's story. I loved Nathan to bits! He was such a good husband and loved Rukmani so much, their relationships was so admirable till the end...how he stuck with her through sticks and stones and how she was always there to shield him from those sharp stones; they are always there for each other in their ailing starving, hopeless moments.

The one thing that is very clear in this novel - rather in the character Rukmani and her family - is Hope: it's in their hearts, their hut, their relations, in religion, in their beliefs, in their paddy field, in the rice grains, in their harvests, in their festivals, in their adjusts to change, in their children, in their futures and even in the present, in the weather....in all the nature that surrounds them - the Mother Earth they laid their lives to, is their one and only home.

The tragically difficult struggle filled life the farmers or the low classes in India live, is very powerfully brought to light and one can only sympathize with the novel's characters. It left me rather sad in the end, and gave me an insight that I know the Class Hierarchy avoids o see. But the author made sure that their lives, making Rukmani as the Universal relatable character and the woman of love and sacrifice in each household, is blatantly shown in detail - from conceiving many children in hopes for a son to how starvation is their Devil from Hell when worrying to feed such mouth-fulls, to how sons are the hopeful "rescuers" of their parents in their later life....it's all there!

It gets intolerable to bear the suffering the characters have to go through at some point in the novel, but think about it - it's what has happened, is happening and shall continue to happen in the real Indian society and that makes this novel all the more real and the ending, all the more unbearable.

mdyang97's review against another edition

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3.0

Read this for my tenth grade English class. Wasn't the best and couldn't relate that well, but still amazing writing. I thought the story was intriguing.

But it's been two years and I don't remember my reactions/opinion so I'll just leave it at that.

manha10's review against another edition

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5.0

I loved this book. I read this for my class and it was great. I loved the exploration of grief, poverty, gender roles and everything in general. I have never read a book set in India and it was time. I’ll be sure to read more from this author!

natalie_mcw's review against another edition

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4.0

Read this on kindle on the plane. Beautifully written but sad book. As one of my friends commented, it is good to read and think about / be aware of the difficult circumstances in which many people in the world live and that yet they still find joy. I am grateful for my life. I wish so many people did not have to live as the characters in this book live. But I am happy they still find happiness and fulfillment.

stephen_coulon's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

Kamala Markandaya’s classic semi-autobiographical story of an Indian woman’s increasingly difficult life as a farmer’s wife in the mid twentieth century. It should be an affecting tale in its pathos – there’s plenty of suffering and hardship and punctuating moments of touching humanity. Only I found myself increasingly disconnected as the story wore on. I think at this point in my reading life I may need more from style than Markandaya has on offer. Her plaintive style is certainly readable but there’s no standout moments of sublimity in her technique. I did find it interesting to compare the narrator’s hardships in this book to American pastorals penned by women farmers (such as Cather and Ingalls-Wilder), as so many of the burdens and insights seemed shared by women across continents and centuries.

madzie's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense 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? No

4.25

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