The Inheritance of Loss - Kiran Desai
Jul. 27th, 2008 03:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
khiemtranAnother Booker Prize winner, this time less enjoyable to read, yet engrossing none-the-less.
With a title like "The Inheritance of Loss" you know that unless it's a upbeat satire about an devious accountant there's going to be aching, rending tragedy in there somewhere, and this is largely what you get. Kiran Desai does a nice job of building a poignant, claustrophobic atmosphere, especially in the scenes involving the Nepalese insurgency, while still managing to make the characters engaging. The characters are all weak, and by many standards foolish, but by the end you'll want them to be happy (and you'll want to hug a loved one or a dog, if you have one). There's a nice, engaging sense of place, backed up by familiar brand names and authentic sounding details.
The book is also interesting not just because it gives a window into the Indian diaspora, both from the point of view of the immigrants and from those left behind, but also because it turns the lens around and shows how they see the rest of us. Sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, and the glare can be uncomfortable both ways.
The nagging question is just how accurate the view is. The book only covers a very narrow set of characters and locations and it's difficult to say from the outside how credible they are and how representative there experiences are of the diaspora and the insurgency in general.
With a title like "The Inheritance of Loss" you know that unless it's a upbeat satire about an devious accountant there's going to be aching, rending tragedy in there somewhere, and this is largely what you get. Kiran Desai does a nice job of building a poignant, claustrophobic atmosphere, especially in the scenes involving the Nepalese insurgency, while still managing to make the characters engaging. The characters are all weak, and by many standards foolish, but by the end you'll want them to be happy (and you'll want to hug a loved one or a dog, if you have one). There's a nice, engaging sense of place, backed up by familiar brand names and authentic sounding details.
The book is also interesting not just because it gives a window into the Indian diaspora, both from the point of view of the immigrants and from those left behind, but also because it turns the lens around and shows how they see the rest of us. Sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, and the glare can be uncomfortable both ways.
The nagging question is just how accurate the view is. The book only covers a very narrow set of characters and locations and it's difficult to say from the outside how credible they are and how representative there experiences are of the diaspora and the insurgency in general.
