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meaghanjohns's review
3.0
“There is beauty yet in this brutal, damaged world of ours."
3.5 stars. This is a book of two essays on India, published in 1999. These essays are intended to scare you out of complacency. They are not warm, and they are not comforting. They lay bare the horrors of humanity while somehow still making you want to protect humanity all the more.
Roy's first essay speaks about the Narmada Dam in India, which is perhaps old news but contains familiar themes — governments and people doubling down on what has been shown to be a damaging or untrue belief, exploitation of the lower class (or caste) for profit, questionable moral codes, and the ongoing exploitation of our world’s resources.
It’s easy to see how skilled writers like Roy make the written word their weapon. In her war against the Indian government’s actions, she crafts a dam(n)ing picture of millions of displaced Indians, irresponsible environmental impact, and decisions made purely for money and politics - not to mention questionable acts of "International Aid" given by the World Bank and first world countries.
The second essay shares Roy’s viewpoint on India’s development of the nuclear bomb. She rails against it, emphasizing that the nuclear bomb does not have to be used to be damaging. It causes enough damage to the human psyche purely by existing.
Roy has a tendency to be hyperbolic and make frequent appeals to fear, especially in the second essay, which kept me from truly connecting to the book. That said, these essays contain a lot of interesting information about India's history along with one of my all-time favourite quotes (which, incidentally, is the reason I picked this book up in the first place). That, alone, made it a worthwhile read.
"To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never, to forget."
3.5 stars. This is a book of two essays on India, published in 1999. These essays are intended to scare you out of complacency. They are not warm, and they are not comforting. They lay bare the horrors of humanity while somehow still making you want to protect humanity all the more.
Roy's first essay speaks about the Narmada Dam in India, which is perhaps old news but contains familiar themes — governments and people doubling down on what has been shown to be a damaging or untrue belief, exploitation of the lower class (or caste) for profit, questionable moral codes, and the ongoing exploitation of our world’s resources.
It’s easy to see how skilled writers like Roy make the written word their weapon. In her war against the Indian government’s actions, she crafts a dam(n)ing picture of millions of displaced Indians, irresponsible environmental impact, and decisions made purely for money and politics - not to mention questionable acts of "International Aid" given by the World Bank and first world countries.
The second essay shares Roy’s viewpoint on India’s development of the nuclear bomb. She rails against it, emphasizing that the nuclear bomb does not have to be used to be damaging. It causes enough damage to the human psyche purely by existing.
Roy has a tendency to be hyperbolic and make frequent appeals to fear, especially in the second essay, which kept me from truly connecting to the book. That said, these essays contain a lot of interesting information about India's history along with one of my all-time favourite quotes (which, incidentally, is the reason I picked this book up in the first place). That, alone, made it a worthwhile read.
"To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never, to forget."
ris_stitches's review
5.0
I finally read this - have been meaning to for years. A great quick read, and you're made to feel like you're having a frank conversation with Roy, instead of being preached to, like many essays feel to me. I think everyone should read this - even though it is a little late!
koreilly's review
4.0
A powerful, angry and eye opening picture of two important issues plaguing modern India, the state's suicidal desire to build dams that have no benefit and it's even more suicidal desire to obtain nuclear weapons. With a razor sharp wit and a heart full of righteous indignation, Arundhati takes a scalpel to the dams of India and peels back the motivations behind these seemingly pointless monstrosity, implicating Indian officials, the World Bank and more.
A very breezy read (it's really two longform magazine articles stapled together) but an essential one for a brief peak into the complex world of Modern India.
A very breezy read (it's really two longform magazine articles stapled together) but an essential one for a brief peak into the complex world of Modern India.
kimberly_b's review
4.0
These are two amazing essays on India. They are sad, thought-provoking, and powerful.
pennymine's review
1.0
After 5 months of trying to get through this book, I give up. I got about 1/3 of the way through it, but it's just too dry and cynical for my taste.
ayrang's review
5.0
Definitely a perspective altering book. Must read for those interested in fields of Sustainability Studies, Human Rights, Cosmopolitan Exploitation of Land and People, Indian Solidarity Movements, Economic Inequalities and Third World Feminism. Very powerful.
Her point on nuclear weapons in The End of Imagination chapter is something everyone (not just International Relations, Politics, Political Science, etc major) should read.
carmenakamasi's review against another edition
I honestly struggled a bit with rating this one. I read it out of scholastic-inspired interest, because the dam projects of India was a topic in my geography a-levels and I kinda grew fond of the subject of social injustice in India. Maybe I struggled with it, because of the way it was written. It felt very lyrical and more aspirational writing rather than the socio-political discussion I originally anticipated. And don't get me wrong, it still is a socio-political issue and writing, but the way it is packed in shockingly beautiful words was just not something I was prepared for.
Definitely a recommend for everyone interested in the topics at hand.
Definitely a recommend for everyone interested in the topics at hand.
s_mavin's review
4.0
Arundhati Roy’s work is the polemic we need. These are discussions we need to have. A lot of what she talks about happened when I was very young. None of this was talked about in school or college or anywhere else. Mine was a generation that never knew of the sheer scale of the damage caused by our post-Independence nation building. It was spoken off as plain progress sans human or environmental annihilation in our textbooks.
Development always has a cost. Is development when done by taking lives or marginal native communities, worth it? Is this the nature of growth we’re looking for?
Development always has a cost. Is development when done by taking lives or marginal native communities, worth it? Is this the nature of growth we’re looking for?