3.5 stars

I've been meaning to read this book forever and for some reason never got around to it. I remember starting it once and feeling like it was going to be all about the 'immigrant' experience and then abandoning it. I am glad that I circled back to it though - this book is definitely worth a read.

The first thing that captures you about this book is perhaps the haunting setting of it. Kiran Desai fills the book with the mountains that are the backdrop to most of the action and the mist that comes in is almost palpable. The setting infiltrates every aspect of the book and enriches it. It also adds texture to the book and gives it a lot of context. The historical setting of the place also has a lot of relevance and together these two are almost a character of their own - they affect the plot much more than some of the actual characters do.

This is the biggest drawback me -usually when you read a novel, you have one protagonist that you relate to and once you start viewing the happening through that lens, it brings the experience of the book closer to you. I felt this missing in this book. There are two places in which the majority of the book takes place - one is in Kalimpong and the other is in the States. The second setting had a clear point of view and it made things easier for us to empathize with the character. Although filled with numerous secondary characters, we have a clear person who is the focal point. Kalimpong, however, is filled with all these beautiful characters that you get close to, but never seem to get close enough. I felt like there was a lack in the exploration of individual characters that got lost in the interactions within the town. I was drawn more to the second setting and narrative due to this lack. If there had been a clearer focus in this part of the book too, it would have made for a much better read.

The way the political unrest is handled is another credit to the book. The author provides a holistic view of the situation and brings out the human cost of it all. The gray in the situation on both sides of the battle is explored along with the toll it takes on the unsuspecting populace in general. The philosophical explorations here along with the social commentary did elevate the book and perhaps contributed to the Booker win.

Overall a good read.

This book could not end fast enough for me. Hated it. It started off strong with the robbery, but after that nothing happened for a long time. Didn't care for any of the characters. Just wasn't my type of book I suppose.

Few novels cover such a broad range of contemporary issues – post-colonialism, globalization, multiculturalism, extremism. Yet, the book doesn’t feel overloaded with ideological burden, but flows naturally with its strange array of characters. I could not fully align with the author’s uniformly dark view of the present and the future, but I was mesmerized by the suffocating atmosphere it creates, and by her beautiful language.

What a beautiful book! A very well-written, heartbreaking, eye-opening account of what it's like to be an undocumented immigrant working in New York City's restaurant kitchens, as well as what it's like to be among the ones left behind in a country in political and ethnic turmoil. Beautifully detailed and evocative. One of my favorite passages is of Biju, the illegal immigrant's, thoughts after a string of horrific experiences in the restaurants, "What was he doing here and why? It hadn't even been a question before he left. Of course, if you could go, you went. And if you went, of course, if you could, you stayed....And if he continued on here? What would happen? Would he, like Harish-Harrry, manufacture a fake version of himself and using what he had created as clues, understand himself backward? Life was not about life for him anymore, and death --what would even that mean to him? It would have nothing to do with death."

Unlike other reviewers, I didn't find the book depressing. I found it illuminating and I hope what I take away is a greater understanding of the immigrant (illegal or not) experience. We could all do with a bit more compassion!

I really wanted to like this book. Thenbook got great reviews but I gave up on page 156/372. I was rooting for Sai but there was so much back and forth it was hard to keep track of everything. Maybe I’m not in the right mental place for this book right now. I kept having to look stuff up and usually I enjoy doing that. The history and culture of that area of the world I found fascinating but not enough to keep going.

The narrator of the audio version of this book is amazing and hilarious.