173
Book · 1999
Fasting, Feasting
Divided between two continents, Anita Desai's novel contrasts the constrained existence of Uma, an unmarried daughter bound to her overbearing parents' household in provincial India, with the emotional isolation of her privileged brother Arun during a summer stay with an American suburban family in Massachusetts. Through the everyday rituals of meals, duty, and quiet domestic restrictions, the story examines gender expectations and the subtle forms of hunger that persist across very different worlds.
Your call
Already know it? Recommend it too.
Details
Around the Web
I have really enjoyed reading this novel. It is written well, flows smoothly but not blandly, and is compellingly interesting. The characters in it are well-portrayed and extremely believable. Ms Desai makes sharp but pertinent observations about life in India and the USA. The pictures that she paints with her prose are startlingly realistic, yet also gentle.
Adam on Goodreads The author's writing is truly noteworthy: witty and intelligent, sensitive and delicate, gifted with great strength and effectiveness yet poised and restrained. A read that brings tears of laughter on some pages, without ever concealing the pain and drama underneath.
Annalisa on Goodreads sharp book centred around food. I'm not sure how the second part fitted with the first, but no matter, the second was a satirical look at USA food and customs seen through the eyes of an Indian lad on a University placement in Massachusetts, while the first part concerned his put upon sister Uma and her parents' attempts to marry her off. Both protagonists are quite passive and used to show the odd customs and hierarchies around them. It is all beautifully written.
Alan on Goodreads
1 / 3
Why people recommend it
No reasons shared yet. Tell others what makes this title worth their time.