Hello dear friends. I hope this review will find you happy and enjoying as ever. Afterall, you are not reading “The inheritance of loss”. Are you??
I had purchased this book many years ago and started reading. I couldn’t finish it at that time. I started it again recently, only to finish.
The authoress, her mother & the Bookers. Kiran Desai is the daughter of highly celebrated Indian Author writing in English, Anita Desai, who also happens to be 3 times longlisted for the Bookers. Unlucky, she never won the much coveted title, which Kiran possesses now. But what is Kiran better known as? The daughter of Anita Desai, that is.
Plot.Chapter 1- 32.Page 210.Sai’s parents die in Russia in an accident and she arrives at Kalimpong to live with her grandfather, Justice Jemubhai Patel. The Judge has studied in The UK, is retired and lives at Choo Oyo with a cook and a dog Mutt. The cook’s son Biju, is in New York, hops from one restaurant kitchen to another, lives like dogs and writes to his father essentially. The cook lives to see his son one day before he dies. Gyan, a Nepali is Sai’s Physics tutor and they both fall in love(no guesses). Lola, Noni, Uncle Potty, Father Booty, are living happily in Kalimpong. Everything else moves in flashbacks. The narrative moves around Kalimpong & New York and the story shuttles between Darjeeling, Piphit (Gujrat), Dehradun, Delhi, Bombay, Zanzibar, UK, Russia. Hufff!
Chapter 33-50. Page 314.The story starts counting pace in the last 1/3rd part of the book. The demand for Gorkhaland state has already constituted. The Judge is in Darjeeling to meet his old friend Mr Bose. Sai is arriving at Choo Oyo after being orphan(She had already arrived? Isnt it?). (The story keeps jostling forward & backward, in Kalimpong& New York). Biju slips in the restaurant kitchen and can’t move. Father Booty, Uncle potty, Lola, Noni & Sai are returning from Gymkhana Library in Darjeeling where Gyan is seen at the protest rally. In the backdrop of the Nepali insurgency, all lives start falling apart. The Judge, Mutt, cook, Sai, Lola, Noni, Father Booty, Gyan. It affects Biju right there in New York. What did they inherit? How are they losing? Their existence is trivial. It always has been.
Chapter 51-53. Page 314-324. Is there any justice to the promises which life pertains?
The Judge. The Judge was sent by his proud parents to UK for higher studies. He was married to the richest daughter in town. Little did they know that he will return cold & indifferent. When he will go down the memory lane, he will realize that he did not render justice to his conscience.
This book is a myriad collage of everybody’s thoughts in the backdrop of current happenings.
Star ratings& The Pros. – 1.5/5. As there is no option on MS to select half a star I have given it 2 there.
Narration – The narrative style is “good”. There is nothing stunning & if you are an avid reader, you have read far better & interesting narratives. It’s rich & slow. Initially it made me yawn endlessly and I couldn’t stop myself as everyone around me kept wondering what’s my problem? Later as I got hold, it was a smooth ride.
The transition between a thought in Piphit to the one in UK, from pre Independence to 1980s, from an incident in Russia to one in New York, from Sai to Mutt to Gyan to Biju to Nimi, from what you have inherited and how you are losing it, is easy and smooth.
It’s a great account of how in post colonial India, amid choosing the English as a way of life, amid that never ending quest to win a green card, amid poor always been poor for generations, there are many lives an individual lives in a lifetime.To gain something, we have to lose many things.
Recommendation &The Cons. This book is not recommended for any.
How much is too much? Kiran sparkles in drawing the characters of the cook, Biju & Gyan. They are all awfully poor. Show poor maniacs, bare their poverty, take a wit at the Indian way of life style. Wow!
There are traces of racism where Kiran finds Saeed Saeed’s black skin too “dirty” to get a US visa, Biju’s brown skin too “unfit” for the green card. The way she ridicules the people from Punjab, Gujarat is bewildering. How only the poor or the people from the third World claim to amuse Kiran Desai!! If this cheap stunt is your shot to fame, this Booker is for shame!
The plot evolves in the last 1/3rd part from page 210. Before that many things are happening and the reader is left confused where all this will take you towards the end. Sometimes one full length chapters are assigned to useless accounts like - Sai finding Gyan’s house in Darjeeling, Biju at US embassy, Biju calling the cook from USA, Biju travelling on Gulf Airlines, cook’s belongings been checked by police etc. There was no need of too much blah blah.
The Hindi & Hindi expletives used are in bad taste. They actually leave you raging as they come from nowhere and are intended to wit. They have been calculated to make the book appear "authentic" & desi. No matter they don’t make any sense in there.
Ask yourself! Would you want to read 210 pages (total 324) to get into intricate account of who inherited what and lost what? Gained what? No doubt it’s beautiful, but very complex. And then you start getting the message towards the far end, page 314. Imagine! Last 10 pages!
Important.From our childhood we have been trained to win. I insist we ALL!! We falter, but rise again and with hope move forward and work to achieve our goals, our dreams. If we look back in life we will find many things we have gained and many lost. Why emphasize on loss just too much. I don’t want to die cynic & a pest.
My dear friends! Do yourself a favor. Stay miles away from The inheritance of utterloss.
PS: Salman Rushdie! Get a life! Kiran Desai is Terrible!
This was my review. Thanks for reading. Please rate and comment.
Take care, always.
Anshuman Maini
