One of those books that gets better with a re-read. There is so much here.


Old Review:

So wow. Using the micro chasm of a few families in an Indian slum, Boo looks at how economic forces control lives for removed for the big CEO.

The thing I found most interesting is that while there is no real moral compass, there is no condemning of various people at all. Take the character of Asha; it would've been very easy for Boo to make her a total bitch, but she didn't. While the reader gets Asha's daughter's disapproval, Boo presents Asha, and others, in such a way that while you may not like what she does, you understand it.

That's tough to do.

Boo's writing seems to be a take it or leave type. I found myself to be somewhat neutral. Sometimes I felt the descriptions were a bit too flowerly, but in terms of characterization and conveaying the people to the reader I though she did a good job.

How India's cripplingly poor people live.

I hadn't realised, when I first started reading, that this was a non-fiction book, and I'm so glad that someone pointed this out to me. Knowing that it was true and all the crazy characters were not just a figment of the author's imagination, made it a much more powerful read.

It is a fascinating insight into the way people live in the ramshackle settlement area of Annawadi, that I have only ever seen from a plane. We are told that roughly ninety thousand people live there. The day to day lives of this population of displaced people are heartbreaking in their struggle. Refuse collection is a significant source of income, whether legally or illegally obtained. But even this is not easy, as collectors are chased away from the sources of this 'rubbish'.
It's a cut-throat world and only the strongest survive. When Abdul, a teenage refuse dealer is accused of killing the family's tenant, justice is impossible without money changing hands, and lies are believed as readily as the truth.
"Abdul now understood. Innocence and guilt could be bought and sold like a kilo of polyurethane bags."

Just as the residents think that the new money coming into Mumbai might improve their lives too, the recession hits, and as jobs become even more scarce, so too does their income.
"Poor people didn't unite; they competed ferociously amongst themselves for grains as slender as they were provisional."

Suicide was shockingly prevalent, although that was hardly surprising under the circumstances, but there were also many who just kept picking themselves up and starting over. It is quite amazing what drive keeps them going.

The author became involved with these people over a period of four years, from 2007 to 2011, after her marriage to an Indian citizen. With the help of several translators and a lot of determination, she was able to come to an understanding of the way the Annawadians live, work and think. The result is an eye-opening read.
Recommended.

In this brilliant, breathtaking book by Pulitzer Prize winner Katherine Boo, a bewildering age of global change and inequality is made human through the dramatic story of families striving toward a better life in Annawadi, a makeshift settlement in the shadow of luxury hotels near the Mumbai airport. As India starts to prosper, the residents of Annawadi are electric with hope. Abdul, an enterprising teenager, sees “a fortune beyond counting” in the recyclable garbage that richer people throw away. Meanwhile Asha, a woman of formidable ambition, has identified a shadier route to the middle class. With a little luck, her beautiful daughter, Annawadi’s “most-everything girl,” might become its first female college graduate. And even the poorest children, like the young thief Kalu, feel themselves inching closer to their dreams. But then Abdul is falsely accused in a shocking tragedy; terror and global recession rock the city; and suppressed tensions over religion, caste, sex, power, and economic envy turn brutal. With intelligence, humor, and deep insight into what connects people to one another in an era of tumultuous change, Behind the Beautiful Forevers, based on years of uncompromising reporting, carries the reader headlong into one of the twenty-first century’s hidden worlds—and into the hearts of families impossible to forget.

Amazon.com

Not the best narrative non-fiction I've come across. I had heard such rave reviews about this book so I was excited to find a nice hardback edition secondhand one day -- I could finally see what touched so many people! Or not....

While it's not an awful read, I cannot find why it was so lauded. Boo's journalism background is evident in her writing style, but it was largely the writing style itself I was disappointed with -- where was the heart?! Her particular way of writing narrative non-fiction just did not appeal to me, which is a shame because there was a story here I was interested to hear.

While all the technical facts and figures were there, I did not feel the heart, soul, or hope of the people that the synopsis suggests the reader will come to know. Instead, the writing often felt dry and somewhat clunky in flow, even a bit boring. It was alright for one read-through, but I didn't feel like I came away with much of anything from this particular book that will really resonate with me long-term. But props to the book design team that put together that cover image! Tragic that the book wasn't as moving as the image!