pickA long look at the mixture of cultural elements in lawyer‘s family in some unspecified village outside Dehli. And then a depressing parallel in Massachusetts. The 1st hundred pages are vibrant and dynamic and I truly loved reading them. The fun fades and purpose is curious. But I enjoyed the book overall.
pickWhen Bimila is encouraged by her husband Nikhil to exercise more freedom than is usual for a woman of her status in Bengal in the first decade of the 20th century, she comes under the influence of Nikhil's friend Sandip, a charismatic radical nationalist.
Although I found it a bit heavy-going at times, especially in the more rhetorical passages, I kept reading, fascinated to see how events would play out.
so-soA dark novel about two newlyweds who are spurned by the rural villagers because of the caste difference. Very disturbing as a portrayal of the caste system discrimination, narrow-mindedness & violence. The city which welcomes all is a haven by contrast. But I also found the marriage controlling (he ignores her plea to go home). The effect was a horrifying book told in a fairytale style with villains, a complicit groom & a damsel in distress.
so-soThis one is not my favorite of “Tookies short perfect novels” that I have read so far, but I do see why it‘s on the list. The end did quite literally take my breath away.
Weekend reading is to make progress on working my way through the character Tookie‘s “short perfect novels” list in Erdrich‘s The Sentence. This will be #8 of 12.
so-soThis book just didn't really take me with it, it was kinda meh.
