Anita Desai

This novel broke me - utterly and completely. The cover says that if the Booker Prize committee of 1999 could award a runner-up, they would have given it to this novel - I can't even imagine how the winner for that year could be any better than this masterpiece.
This work follows two PoVs - both taking place in an extremely orthodox household. The first is that of Uma, a staid spinster who can't get married, and so people treat her as a cursed woman who shouldn't exist, to put it politely. The second is that of Arun, Uma's brother, who succumbs to the weight of expectations that people have of the 'solitary working male' of the household, and tried to recede into anonymity in all the facets of his life.
Following the household through Uma's eyes is a depressing and dreary affair, what with overbearing parents, apathetic siblings, her epileptic seizures dismissed as her need for attention, and an eclectic cocktail of family members. Some of the euphemisms in the novel feel as if Anita Desai is lifting the incidents from your household - and are all the more painful for it.
Arun is another highly relatable character for many - a person, who by virtue of his excessive smothering at home, just wants to be left alone - but even in the States, he cannot find such peace. Although his part in the novel forms the basis for just the last quarter of the book, it is no less significant for it.
I've not read either mother (Kiran Desai) or daughter before this, so this novel came as a pleasant surprise. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that a dreary slice-of-life drama following a conservative household could be so heartbreaking. This is *the* quintessential short read, and deserves a much higher rating on the site.… (meer)

No wonder she’s been Booker-listed three times! The story of a young Jewish man from Germany who goes to India in the late 1930s, ostensibly for business reasons, and spends the rest of his life there. The book is the story of his life there, spent in increasing poverty. Memory is a major theme; I thought the writing is very good and her observations quite keen. I read a number of her works long ago and don’t know why I stopped. She is a terrific writer and, more than that, her books are solid creations, well worth the time. Highly recommended.… (meer)

In questo romanzo si parla di due sorelle e due fratelli cresciuti amorevolmente dalla zia Mira, dato che i genitori, pur vivendo nella stessa casa, sono troppo presi dai loro impegni mondani per poter prestare attenzione ai figli.

Bim, Raja, Tara e Baba sono diversi, ma accomunati fin da bambini dal bisogno di scappare dalla loro situazione familiare di indifferenza e bassezza. E così crescendo hanno preso strade diverse: Bim ha studiato storia e si è resa autosufficiente, Raja è diventato ricco, Tara ha sposato un diplomatico e Baba, ragazzo ritardato, ha trovato nella musica del giradischi la sua evasione.

Tuttavia tra i fratelli e le sorelle non c'è più l'affiatamento di un tempo. Anzi, Bim, rimasta nella casa di famiglia insieme a Baba, nutre del rancore per Raja e Tara. Sì, perché loro sono riusciti ad andarsene fisicamente da quella casa, sempre più grigia e decadente, mentre lei è rimasta lì, prima ad accudire la zia Mira, poi a prendersi cura di Baba.

Bim non riesce a perdonare Raja per essere diventato ricco e Tara per essersene andata. Eppure non ne ha mai parlato con loro e il suo rancore la porta ad isolarsi in una casa che lo scorrere del tempo rende sempre più squallida.

Il romanzo prende inizio da una visita di Tara a Bim, per poi indagare il passato delle due sorelle e dei due fratelli. Alla fine solo la «chiara luce del sole» riuscirà a riportare la serenità nella famiglia e a rivelare la potenza delle speranze della gioventù e la dolorosa consapevolezza dell'età adulta.… (meer)