Book Thoughts - Beyond the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo

Beyond the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo
published 2/13/12
256 pages

Synopsis from publisher -

Annawadi is a makeshift settlement in the shadow of luxury hotels near the Mumbai airport, and as India starts to prosper, Annawadians are electric with hope. Abdul, a reflective and enterprising Muslim teenager, sees "a fortune beyond counting" in the recyclable garbage that richer people throw away. Asha, a woman of formidable wit and deep scars from a childhood in rural poverty, has identified an alternate route to the middle class: political corruption. With a little luck, her sensitive, beautiful daughter — Annawadi's "most-everything girl" — will soon become its first female college graduate. And even the poorest Annawadians, like Kalu, a fifteen-year-old scrap-metal thief, believe themselves inching closer to the good lives and good times they call "the full enjoy."

But then Abdul the garbage sorter is falsely accused in a shocking tragedy; terror and a global recession rock the city; and suppressed tensions over religion, caste, sex, power and economic envy turn brutal. As the tenderest individual hopes intersect with the greatest global truths, the true contours of a competitive age are revealed. And so, too, are the imaginations and courage of the people of Annawadi.

My thoughts -

In my continuing goal to read books that have won/were nominated for book awards, I picked up Beyond the Beautiful Forevers, which won both a National Book Award in 2013 and a PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award. It really sounded like just the kind of nonfiction that I really enjoy, and while it certainly was a compelling read, it didn't quite blow me away.

Boo traces a period of 3 years in the slum of Annawadi, in which fortunes and lives rise and fall. Several different points of view are utilized, and the somewhat surprising breadth of quality of life is displayed. There were a few times I felt like I wasn't really sure how much time had elapsed between events - Boo states in her author's note that she reported for 3-4 years, but in the narrative it seems that more time passes. I just didn't quite feel like I had a central, grounding point to keep myself straight in the story.

There were many things that surprised me about this story, and I feel like I learned a lot about a way of life that is completely a totally unimaginable to me. I was astonished by the responsibility that the children would take upon themselves for the survival of their families. I think the one thing I didn't feel that I expected was a sense of hope - just based on the events of the book, I can't imagine how the people who live in a place like Annawadi can ever, under their own strength, make a new life for themselves, and that was a hard thing to ponder.

I certainly think this is an interesting and informative piece of writing, but it didn't quite strike me as favorably as it seems to have many other readers. If you are interested in India, or in the lives of people working to better their lives, you will most likely fall in love with this book.

Finished - 9/8/13
Source - South side library
MPAA rating - PG-13 for startling, eye-opening situations
My rating - 6/10

No reading for me today!!

I will be too busy celebrating these two cuties turning THREE!!

Hope your day is as fun as ours is going to be.

Book Thoughts - Harvest by Jim Crace

Harvest by Jim Crace
published 2/12/13
208 pages

Synopsis from publisher -

A remote English village wakes on the morning after harvest, looking forward to enjoying a hard-earned day of rest and feasting. But two mysterious columns of smoke mar the sky, raising alarm and suspicion.

The first column of smoke comes from the edge of the village land, sent as a signal by newcomers to announce their presence as per regional custom. The second smoke column is even more troubling: it comes from a blaze set in Master Kent's stables. Walter Thirsk, a relative outsider in the village, casts his eye on three local boys and blames their careless tomfoolery. The rest of the villagers, though, close ranks against the strangers rather than accuse one of their own. Two men and a woman are apprehended; their heads are shaved to mark their criminality; and the men are thrown into the stocks for a week. Justice has been served. Or has it?

Meanwhile, another newcomer has been spotted in the village sporting the finer clothes and fashionable beard of a townsman. Mr. Quill, as the villagers name him, observes them closely and takes careful notes about their land, apparently at Master Kent's behest. It is his presence more than any other that will threaten the village's entire way of life.

My thoughts -

Well.

So this is my second novel in the Great Book Awards Experiment of 2013, and this one definitely FELT like what I expected a novel that might win a prestigious award should. I'm struggling, however, because I can't decide if I actually liked it.

 I definitely respect the immense mastery of the English language that the author possesses - this novel is exquisitely written, and it was truly a pleasure to read these well crafted sentences. If this had not been a library book there would have been SO MUCH underlining going on - since it is, I had to resort to sticky notes, and then I ran out.

"I know I pushed my nose against a tree and was surprised by the ancient sweetness of the bark. I know I stood and studied ants, not guessing yet what antlike labors were awaiting me. I know I picked a flower for my cap. And Then I set my eyes on Cecily and saw a chance to build a future here. I wooed her by working at her elbow in her fields, attending to the hunger of her soil. My labor was an act of love. My unaccustomed muscles grew and ached for her. I had no choice." (p. 48)

While I loved the construction of the novel, the story itself seemed a bit simplistic. The threads of ideas I began to notice in the beginning of the book never quite seemed all to come together, and I was left feeling like I was hoping for a bit more. At the same time, however, I am still trying to dissect whether the author wanted this to be an Important Book, with a message to impart, or whether he was just trying to write a simple story about another time.

Whatever his intention, I'm still thinking about this book, and that certainly means something. If you are a fan of absolutely gorgeous writing, definitely give Harvest a read. If plot is more your thing, then you might want to take a pass.

Finished - 8/28/13
Source- South side library
MPAA rating - PG-13 for violence and adult situations
My rating - ???
10 for writing, 6 for story, so.......8/10