When I heard that the author spent about 20 years writing this book I immediately thought to myself, “that makes sense…” At first I didn’t realize just how much I was going to like the book. It started off with some scenes from India and New York, and then the author starts laying down the ends of some threads that would take a very long time to reach the end of. This was a very ambitious book, full of thoughts and opinions and beautifully written descriptions and imagery.
I don’t know a lot about Indian culture, but there is enough here to really feel like you are living in it. It was a bit shocking – the author is speaking about individual characters as well as the national character. She does not pull punches and I am sure that some Indian people might feel a little offended. The author delves deep into the psyche of Indians – what makes them tick?
I especially loved the way things were illustrated in the book through language. Paragraphs dripped with images that must have taken a long time to craft.
The author managed to find time to address a lot of issues in this book: life as an expat, filial responsibility, the key to sharing recipes between families, the power and purpose of art, how people can be handcuffed by their culture, and where kebabs really come from. I found myself highlighting passages at about triple the rate I highlight other books.
It was a very long book but I was so glad to read it. Sometimes I had trouble keeping track of the characters, but mainly that was on me, because I wasn’t used to Indian names (and some of them are similar). The author doesn’t shy away from using local language as you would expect the characters to do – so I spent a while online tracking down what this and that was.
Really a great book – one of the best of this year so far. Next I am reading Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky.
