A review by willowbiblio
Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara
5.0
"Some people are only here to feast on our tears and words. They'll carry our stories in their lips that stick out like beaks and feed them to their husband or friends who aren't here."
-----------
This was an excellent book. The immersion in the culture of the basti and Indian life through use of dialect and food was fantastic. The choice of Jai, a 9 year old tenant, as the main narrator was fantastic. His lens captured the magic, mystery, and hope of childhood. Watching his naivete shatter was heartbreaking. It was inevitable that tragedy would touch his family directly.
Anappara beautifully captured the experience of being in the middle of a life-altering trauma and not being equipped to handle it, or even to understand all of what is happening around you. Her description of the callous disregard for the lives of the poor, the corruption at all levels of police and government, and the way people will bring down their own community was spot on. I loved that Jai fancied himself a detective, while his friends Pari and Faiz were so much better but still inclusive.
Anappara used wonderfully vivid language of smells and scenes that were utterly normal to those in the basti/India. It was hard to accept that there was no happy ending, even just for Runu-Didi. In that lack of clear closure or resolution, Anappara was faithful to the truth. You may never know the how or why but have to find ways to move forward and reconcile it with yourself anyway.
-----------
This was an excellent book. The immersion in the culture of the basti and Indian life through use of dialect and food was fantastic. The choice of Jai, a 9 year old tenant, as the main narrator was fantastic. His lens captured the magic, mystery, and hope of childhood. Watching his naivete shatter was heartbreaking. It was inevitable that tragedy would touch his family directly.
Anappara beautifully captured the experience of being in the middle of a life-altering trauma and not being equipped to handle it, or even to understand all of what is happening around you. Her description of the callous disregard for the lives of the poor, the corruption at all levels of police and government, and the way people will bring down their own community was spot on. I loved that Jai fancied himself a detective, while his friends Pari and Faiz were so much better but still inclusive.
Anappara used wonderfully vivid language of smells and scenes that were utterly normal to those in the basti/India. It was hard to accept that there was no happy ending, even just for Runu-Didi. In that lack of clear closure or resolution, Anappara was faithful to the truth. You may never know the how or why but have to find ways to move forward and reconcile it with yourself anyway.