The Inheritance of Loss Review

By Pranati Saikia

Kiran Desai's 'The Inheritance of Loss' is the book of intense thoughts, written with insight, compassion and uncompromising audacity to reveal the vulnerable self of an individual under desperate conditions of human life. The author has dealt with many global problems of today's contemporary world and modern society and thereby managed to stir reader's mind to look into the consequences of problems like globalization, emigration, multiculturalism, economic disparity and insurgency that have influenced the Indian mental attitude and deeply affected the very texture of Indian social system. This original work of her is a realistic novel in which she has vividly depicted the plight and dilemma of Indians living abroad who compromise their culture in the procurement of 'better life', 'high living standard' and 'modernity'.

'The Inheritance of Loss' opens with the story of teenage Indian orphan girl Sai who arrives her grandfather's isolated house 'Cho Oyu' at the foot of Mount Kanchenjunga in Kalimpong. Sai's grandfather Jemubhai Patel is an anglophile, retired judge living with his beloved dog mutt and his cook who manages the household. He is embittered by the experiences of his past life in Cambridge. Describing his isolation, the author writes, ‘He worked twelve hours at a stretch, late into the night, and in thus with drawing, he failed to make a courageous gesture outward at a critical moment and found, instead, that his pusillanimity and his loneliness had found, fertile soil. He retreated into a solitude that grew in weight day by day. The solitude became a habit, the habit became the man, and it crushed him into a shadow.’ She further explains his alienation as 'For entire days nobody spoke to him at all, his throat jammed with words unuttered, his throat and mind turned into blunt aching things…’ Sai, on the other hand, is in love with her mathematics tutor Gyan, a Nepali half-educated man who eventually draws back from her in the wake of ethical insurgency in the hills of Kalimpong. The judge’s cook has a son Biju, who is an emigrant in New York and skips one ill - paid job to another, spends his time moving from one gritty restaurant to another in the search of a green card. In the end, Biju arrived back in India but soon engulfed by local insurgency. All the characters in this novel share a common historical legacy and are victims of long subjection by western economic and cultural power.

The style of the novel is incredible. Kiran Desai's descriptive narration has made the novel enchanting, hilarious and pleasurable to read. Her comical way of description is impeccable and vivid depictions to display complex states of mind are meticulous. She has beautifully portrayed the pictures Kalimpong, its people, onset of monsoon in the Himalyas and Kanchenjunga. She describes, 'All day, the colors had been those of dusk, mist moving like a water creature across the great flanks of mountains possessed of clean shadows and depths. Briefly visible above the vapour, Kanchenjunga was a far peak whittled out of ice, gathering the last of the light, a plume of snow blown high by the storms as its summit.'

In another description of Kalimpong and its people, she writes, '…There was not a streetlight anywhere in Kalimpong, only as you passed they came up suddenly and disapproved immediately behind. The people who walked by us the black had neither torches nor lanterns...’she has adeptly drawn pictures of immigrant quarters, basement kitchens, gritty restaurants in New York and Visa counter at the US Embassy. Desai is equally superb in depicting abstract emotions and sentiments of her characters, as 'Jamubhai looked at the father, a barely educated man venturing where he should not be, and the love in Jemubhai's heart mingled with pity, the pity with shame. His father felt his own hand rise and cover his mouth: he had failed his son.'

Kiran Desai is truly a terrific writer as remarked by the noted writer Salman Rushdie and this irrefutable truth is clearly expressed in ‘The Inheritance of Loss', winner of the Man Booker Prize 2006.

Posted in Labels: | 0 comments

Review "First Among Equals"

'First Among Equals' is a great political novel penned down by the great master story-teller Jeffery Archer who has beautifully spun his story by creating realistic characters and scenarios of English political life.

Pranati Saikia


The novel is my first Archer book and after reading it I find it undeniably refreshing. The author has used his comprehensive knowledge and past experience as a member of British Parliament in a perfect manner. The fast pace of the novel has provided the whole story a swift
moving flow without any dullness and unwanted interruption. The book is quiet readable and gripped my attention and retain my interest till the end of the story.

'First Among Equals' unravels the story of four main characters that are aspiring politicians and entered the House of Commons in the 1960's and played the game of power to achieve the ultimate goal 'The Office of PM'.

--Reymond Gould is the leeds grammer school boy who born above his father's butcher shop and married to a small town wife;

-- Simon Kerslake, is the President of the Oxford Union, a conservative supported by his doctor wife;

-- Andrew Fraser is the son of a conservative lord Provost but joined the labour party, a committed husband and a dedicated father;

-- Charles Seymour is the callous Tory landlord, the player of ruthless tricks to reach No. 10 Downing Street.

The novel has a very captivating storyline developed expertly around real events and human background. To avoid any kind of monotony due to lengthy depiction of parliamentary sessions, the author has also given same exhilarating and amusing episodes full of adventures and entertainment like discreet sexual affairs of Reymond, decent blackmailing and political conspiracy by ruthless Charles to win the race of power and the heart touching episode of Andrew and his five year old son Robert. All these episodes are irresistibly engrossing and enchanting too.

While reading 'First Among Equals', what impressed me most is Jeffery Archer's acute observation and perception of human beings and their tendencies on more fundamental level.

Though the novel has a political base but the background and the context is purely human. The author has skillfully drawn out positive qualities of shrewd politicians and wonderfully put forward their human sentiments and ethics. Generally politicians are disdained and castigated for their opportunism and cunningness but in the novel, the author has glorified them as he highlighted the perseverance and unbreakable grit of politicians while facing trials and tribulations of political world. By going through 'First Among Equals' one will surely recognize the tough life of politicians and acclaim their can-do attitude to be the survivors in the turbulent race of power. I would like to appreciate Jeffery Archer's advocacy for politicians in a optimistic way. Every description and portrayal is flawless and perfect. The novel is surely his political masterpiece.

Please SUBSCRIBE to the blog.

Posted in Labels: | 0 comments