Reviews

Clear Light of Day by Anita Desai

ariskat's review

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reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.5

isitfiction's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced

3.75

dee_1985's review

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

pjv1013's review against another edition

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4.0

COMENTÁRIO
⭐⭐⭐⭐
“A luz brilhante do dia”
Anita Desai
Tradução de Carmo Vasconcelos Romão

Anita Desai aparentemente "revisita" a sua infância e juventude neste livro dando-nos ao mesmo tempo um retrato fulgurante da no processo de pós-independência no final dos anos 40.

Este é um livro centrado na relação, nem sempre fácil, entre quatro irmãos. Em especial duas das irmãs - Bim e Tara – que mostram dois lados das vivências do feminino na sociedade indiana. Bim é a defensora de uma tradição ligada à casa da família e aos processo de ensino como professora. Tara é a mulher de um diplomata que pretende mudanças e transformações no seio familiar. Esta tensão é sentida desde os tempos da adolescência de ambas e culmina numa festa familiar a acontecer já nos anos 70 em que as duas irmãs demonstram essa diferença.

Desai envolve-nos neste romance no caminho do passado, do sentido que damos às memórias e à construção da história de uma família criando uma continua tensão que nos acompanha ao longo do livro. É uma história de desencontros e ressentimentos dentro de uma família. Uma história de recordações, mas também de remorsos!

Ainda que sejam apresentadas os diferentes membros da família, as personagens femininas deste livro são essenciais para compreender a trama e a intensidade narrativa, dando por isso um olhar intenso sobre o papel da mulher na sociedade indiana, em especial no espaço da casa de família.

Um outro elemento interessante deste livro relaciona-se com o momento político que nos apresenta, nomeadamente a tensão pós-independência entre hindus e muçulmanos que leva à independência do Paquistão e à perseguição da população muçulmana entre 1948 e 1950. O assassinato de Mahatma Gandhi, por um hinduísta fanático, é referido no processo de tensão das recordações do passado por parte do membros desta família.

A escrita de Desai é cuidada e cheia de imagens belas e tocantes que vão prendendo e encantando o leitor. O modo como descreve os espaços, as dinâmicas de interação familiar foram elementos do meu interesse na leitura deste livro.

(li de 19 a 21 de Agosto de 2022)

sophronisba's review

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

 Maaaaybe a little bit pat in the end but I just could not get over how beautifully written it was. The kind of book that makes you want to just luxuriate in its sentences. For a 184-page book, that's enough. 

romanticist's review

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

the_moody_marshmallow's review

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emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Nostalgia for a time I have never lived in. Another story set in the backdrop of partition, where partition truly remains just that - a backdrop (for the most part). It surprises me as to how relevant I found this book to people and relationships (of many kinds) for today's time. Clear Light Of Day is about four siblings - Bimla, Raja, Tara and Baba - dealing with conflict within, with each other and with the outside world.

It starts with Tara and her husband Bakul visiting her family home in Delhi which is now only occupied by her older sister (Bimla) and younger brother (Baba). Tara who is glad to be back home is also guilty for not being there for Bimla as she cares for Bakul who is autistic and their late aunt Mira who suffered from alcoholism. Bimla and Raja who were inseparable through their childhood, don’t talk to each other anymore. Bimla even refuses to attend his daughter’s wedding. Old skeletons are brought out as the story moves from present to past to present again, and each sibling looks back on the choices they’ve made, realising that what each thought they wanted probably wasn’t it. Especially, the two sisters. A story about a family coming together through scattered memories and bittersweet epiphanies.

What I particularly loved about this book were the character descriptions and arcs. Though I wish I could've gotten a deeper understanding of characters like Baba and Bakul, I loved the the way Anita Desai has fleshed out her female characters as well as Raja and Dr. Biswas. Bimla and Tara's relationship is an interesting one as each of them admires and envies the other but also come to realise that they are not that different from the other. I found myself relating most to Bimla and seeing a younger me within Tara. I also found myself comparing characters from the book to people I know in real life haha.

Anita Desai's style of writing is slow and beautiful yet the kind that teases. There are pages which are written in stunning language as she describes every single aspect in a scene almost like she really wants you to feel like you're in that world with her characters. It can be painfully slow sometimes. Then, she'll grab you with the tiniest detail and quicken pace like a summer storm before going back into a lull.

I recommend this book if you're someone who enjoys exhaustively descriptive writing and character driven stories. A book that will demand you to savour and absorb each and every word.

themelissamoody's review against another edition

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Just couldn’t get into it 

noorak's review

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

sanfordc11's review

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reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0