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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: Police brutality, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Murder, Gun violence, Rape, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Incest and Drug abuse
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