Scan barcode
paloaltoast's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
sve100's review against another edition
4.0
Има нещо в тази книга, което вярвам че е така, защото изпитах на свой гръб - с Индия трябва да се държиш на разстояние, защото допуснеш ли я в сърцето си, тя лесно може да те завлече ' от другата страна'.
Което, като се замисля, не е толкова лошо.
Което, като се замисля, не е толкова лошо.
serendipitysbooks's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Heat and Dust, the 1975 winner, is set in India and is told via two timelines. In the 1920s Olivia, a rich and bored colonial wife, is attracted to a minor Indian prince. Fifty years later her step-granddaughter returns to learn more about Olivia’s story. The setting and overall feel were very cinematic but this book showed its age. The antics of rich white people almost fetishising Indian culture never really caught my interest.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Colonisation
Minor: Abortion
restyourbones's review against another edition
2.0
Only read this to check off a box in a library reading challenge 😴
misspalah's review against another edition
2.0
"You see," he tried to explain - busy as he is, he always welcomes English conversation - "this climate does not suit you people too well. And let alone you people, it does not suit even us." He explained to me that not only Westerners but even most Indians suffer from amoebic dysentery. They hardly know it, for they also suffer from many other diseases. He became eloquent as he enumerated all the diseases of India. It was indeed a terrible roll call, and by the time he came to the end of it (if there is an end), he said "I think perhaps God never meant that human beings should live in such a place." Here I contradicted him, and we had a discussion on this theme in English. He has already told me that, while at medical college, he was a member of the Debating Society and distinguished himself at several inter-University de-bates. He is indeed skilled at spicing truth with humour, ard this is how he concluded our discussion: "Let us admit for the sake of our argument that we Indians are fit to live here - where else are we fit for?" he asked, leaving a pause for me to laugh in. "But no one else," he said. "None of you. You know in the bad old days you had your Clubs and they were reserved for British only? Well now it is like this that we have our germs and we have reserved these for ourselves only. For Indians only! Keep out!" He threw himself back in his chair to laugh and was still laughing as he turned to jab a needle into an emaciated arm that was held out to him.
- Heat and Dust by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
.
.
How the hell this book managed to win the booker prize is beyond me, but again - i am not much of a booker prize book reader either. The story were narrated by Olivia’s step grand-daughter who travelled to India wanting to trace her past and real story. The narrator remained unnamed - but the POV shifted between Olivia and this narrator’s story (how she coped with India and all the cliche’ and stereotypes of India from the lenses of white people). The story itself was pretty straight forward - Olivia lived in India during 1920s with her husband, Douglas (If you have watched RRR, Just imagined Jenny character from the movie but more bratty) a spoiled, privileged english woman that was bored and in order to adapt to live among Indians and in a tiny town where her husband has been placed to do his job. She, then, met Nawab - a minor Indian Prince. She fell in love hard for him and decided to escape with him. Now , 50 years later , the narrator found herself in India simply because of the letters left behind by Olivia. Listen, i am not Indian but man, i counted 22 pages out of 181 pages that i folded because the phrases / description was offensive as fuck. To top it off, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala is a white woman that has lived in India and married an Indian man - its almost absurd how she got away with this colonial bullshit. Heat and Dust phrase was repeated more than few times in the book referring to the climate of India, the supposed hostile environment according to this Olivia and Nameless narrator (which i presumed is not suitable for colonizers ass) as Indians thrived as usual and in some part, it can referred to suffering and death in India. The characters in this novel - none of them redeemable. Nawab was a misogynist snobbish jerk - “I am liberated and educated because i am impregnated a white woman but i kept my sick wife and mothers confined in the space as they are indian women hence the culture must be preserved as it is” . This is what came to my mind to summarize who Nawab is. I did feel pity for Douglas but only because Olivia eloped with Nawab but his attitude towards Indian and India is just as awful as the rest of british colonial officers mentioned in the book. I am just glad i finished it and Good Lord, what a frustrating journey to read this book.
- Heat and Dust by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
.
.
How the hell this book managed to win the booker prize is beyond me, but again - i am not much of a booker prize book reader either. The story were narrated by Olivia’s step grand-daughter who travelled to India wanting to trace her past and real story. The narrator remained unnamed - but the POV shifted between Olivia and this narrator’s story (how she coped with India and all the cliche’ and stereotypes of India from the lenses of white people). The story itself was pretty straight forward - Olivia lived in India during 1920s with her husband, Douglas (If you have watched RRR, Just imagined Jenny character from the movie but more bratty) a spoiled, privileged english woman that was bored and in order to adapt to live among Indians and in a tiny town where her husband has been placed to do his job. She, then, met Nawab - a minor Indian Prince. She fell in love hard for him and decided to escape with him. Now , 50 years later , the narrator found herself in India simply because of the letters left behind by Olivia. Listen, i am not Indian but man, i counted 22 pages out of 181 pages that i folded because the phrases / description was offensive as fuck. To top it off, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala is a white woman that has lived in India and married an Indian man - its almost absurd how she got away with this colonial bullshit. Heat and Dust phrase was repeated more than few times in the book referring to the climate of India, the supposed hostile environment according to this Olivia and Nameless narrator (which i presumed is not suitable for colonizers ass) as Indians thrived as usual and in some part, it can referred to suffering and death in India. The characters in this novel - none of them redeemable. Nawab was a misogynist snobbish jerk - “I am liberated and educated because i am impregnated a white woman but i kept my sick wife and mothers confined in the space as they are indian women hence the culture must be preserved as it is” . This is what came to my mind to summarize who Nawab is. I did feel pity for Douglas but only because Olivia eloped with Nawab but his attitude towards Indian and India is just as awful as the rest of british colonial officers mentioned in the book. I am just glad i finished it and Good Lord, what a frustrating journey to read this book.
hugo_ldc's review
2.0
A tremendous disappointment.
The history is so predictable that by the time we get to 1/3 of the book we can almost be sure of how it will end. Sometimes the geniality of the writing can save these books (stories). Not the case...
The history is so predictable that by the time we get to 1/3 of the book we can almost be sure of how it will end. Sometimes the geniality of the writing can save these books (stories). Not the case...
impla77's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
The only strong thing about this book is the background, unfortunately all the characters were too vapid and one dimensional for me to really care about what was occuring
meganbyrne14's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
blueskygreentreesyellowsun's review
4.0
The modern story weaves perfectly with the past story. Lovely.