The Inheritance of Loss - Kiran Desai

The greatest Book Fair of the work takes place in Frankfurt/Main, Germany. Every year a country is invited to present its literature, last year India was the guest of honour. German newspapers reported on the event in detail, when the name Kiran Desai appeared repeatedly and her novel The Inheritance of Loss was praised by all reviewers, I decided to order the English original from British Amazon, I even invested in a hardcover edition so that I wouldn‘t have to wait too long for the pleasure of reading this book. For some reason the delivery was delayed, however, and while I was waiting, the author won the Booker Prize. The Booker Prize! I was paralysed, ...  Read the complete review

If you follow the literary press or listen to Radio 4 arts programmes, you’ll almost certainly recognise ‘The Inheritance of Loss’ as this year’s winner of the Man Booker Prize. And you may have wondered if it’s worth buying and reading – or whether you can get away with reading a review of it so you can pretend to your friends at the book club that you have read it. Does that sound a tad harsh and cynical? I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who had a good giggle at The Vicar of Dibley book club scene in the Christmas special, where nobody had actually read the book. Most years I splash out and treat myself to the books on the Booker shortlist. Lest that should ...  Read the complete review

The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai is the Booker Prize winner from 2006 and is a novel about a community of misfits from the north eastern Himalayas, each with a very different background from this caste based society, still rocking from colonial days. The novel follows them as they try to find their way in a very harsh environment that is jostling for survival, position and for power, struggling for change in a society where tradition is so important. Why I Read It ~~~~~~~~~~~ My favourite way to select a book to read is through a recommendation from a friend with similar taste, but at a loss recently as to what to read next, I had a look at ...  Read the complete review

The beauty of the book is that it has been able to create a vivid picture under the seemingly abstract title it possesses. Several protagonists are all linked to one another through either relationship and acquaintances or the sheer reality of being apart in a compartmentalised world. The storyline is such that it seals the fate of one and all in a similar way despite the differences in the journeys that they make across different continents and different times. The main character the story is then 'Judge', a justice of the yesteryears. He is a Gujarati with British education. He is also a man who has nursed a thousand contradictions within him throughout his ...  Read the complete review