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williamc's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
marie_gg's review
2.0
http://mariesbookgarden.blogspot.com/2012/07/miss-new-india.html
I picked this up at the library, intrigued by the premise and undeterred by the lukewarm (and sometimes outright negative) reviews on Goodreads. A novel about Bangalore, call centers, and the new Indian woman? Sure--sounds promising. I've read other Mukherjee novels and liked them, so I thought this was worth a try.
Sadly, this was not a winner. The main character, Anjali, is not likable and she's completely shallow...which I could live with, perhaps, if I cared anything about what happened to these characters. Once she made it to Bangalore, I lost track of some of the characters--they just were not drawn vividly enough--and then when the Bagehot House fell, I began skimming.
Why were all these people helping her? Anjali was ungrateful, not particularly talented, and lackadaisical, but everything seemed to go her way in the end, which seemed too good to be true.
Minnie, Anjali's obnoxiously snobby landlady, reminded me of a woman who ran a hostel in Jaipur, India. I believe she was Anglo-Indian as well. I remember that she "kindly" invited us to stay to dinner. The next morning when we were ready to leave, she presented us with an exorbitant bill for that dinner!
This book could have been so much better. I'm fascinated with the idea of the new India, but this was an uneven, shoddy attempt for a well-known and accomplished author. Disappointing...and glad to be done with it.
I picked this up at the library, intrigued by the premise and undeterred by the lukewarm (and sometimes outright negative) reviews on Goodreads. A novel about Bangalore, call centers, and the new Indian woman? Sure--sounds promising. I've read other Mukherjee novels and liked them, so I thought this was worth a try.
Sadly, this was not a winner. The main character, Anjali, is not likable and she's completely shallow...which I could live with, perhaps, if I cared anything about what happened to these characters. Once she made it to Bangalore, I lost track of some of the characters--they just were not drawn vividly enough--and then when the Bagehot House fell, I began skimming.
Why were all these people helping her? Anjali was ungrateful, not particularly talented, and lackadaisical, but everything seemed to go her way in the end, which seemed too good to be true.
Minnie, Anjali's obnoxiously snobby landlady, reminded me of a woman who ran a hostel in Jaipur, India. I believe she was Anglo-Indian as well. I remember that she "kindly" invited us to stay to dinner. The next morning when we were ready to leave, she presented us with an exorbitant bill for that dinner!
This book could have been so much better. I'm fascinated with the idea of the new India, but this was an uneven, shoddy attempt for a well-known and accomplished author. Disappointing...and glad to be done with it.
nglofile's review against another edition
3.0
An intriguing book, but I wish I'd liked the protagonist more. Anjali is described as a mirror personality, one who reflects back to those with whom she interacts, and I understand how the author intended to use this to illustrate a theme. Even so, I kept being distracted with wondering why others were so drawn to her. Some interesting perspectives on contemporary India, especially regarding "customer support centers" are presented, and I liked that Mukherjee leaves the conclusions for the reader to draw.
saralynnburnett's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I would - yes, the characters have no emotional depth, BUT the plot moves along so quickly that I couldn't put it down. It is the (fictional) story of a young Indian woman who leaves her backwater town to escape an arranged marriage and ends up in Bangalore trying to get a job at a call center. As one of the Americans on the other end of the phone line I found this part to be the most interesting in the book. The training these people receive: practicing various American accents (by watching Sex and the City and the Sopranos), memorizing time zone and state codes, keeping up to date with American sporting events, how do deflect games that American callers play called 'root out the Indian' - was fascinating! I also really appreciated the novelty of the setting. I've read books about India before, but they were all set during the British rule and this one was set in the present day. I believe the author to be completely correct in saying that 'India is on fire' - and we'd all do well to pay more attention to it.
kendyllgull's review against another edition
3.0
Out of all of the Three Sisters from Calcutta books I've had to read for class, Miss New India is my favorite. There are many themes in this book, but one that sticks out to me is the idea of a new up and coming generation. This generation is one that readers my age can relate more to; there are technological and economic changes as well as the ideas of sexuality and cultural change. This book felt more real to me.
sarswack's review against another edition
4.0
it was good actually... i liked that the protagonist was so fickle/changeable and at times unsympathetic; and that there was so much "crammed in" as other reviewers have said. to me those things made it feel much more authentic and true. let stories about the messy and chaotic world be messy and chaotic honestly
kelliepalmer's review against another edition
2.0
I was bored at the beginning. It started to get more interesting towards the middle. Because I borrowed it from the library, I had to hurry and finish it. This lead me to skipping a few pages at a time. Even though I did skip many pages, I don't feel like I missed much of the story or any important parts.
kairosdreaming's review against another edition
3.0
I'd heard a lot of good things about this book. So it was somewhat a disappointment when I finally read through it. I just couldn't bring myself to like the protagonist, Anjali, Angie, and that spoiled the rest of the book for me.
It started off quite well, with Anjali being in her hometown and trying to figure out what she wanted for her life. Somewhat traditional because she wants to appease her parents and have an "ease" of life so to speak, she entertains their plans for her and a potential marriage. But the other side of her doesn't want that life, and encouraged by a past teacher, seeks more adventure and independence. The second part of the book, in which she gets that adventure was so rushed, hurried, and confusing; and Anjali becomes that unlikable protagonist to me.
For characterization, I actually thought all of the side characters were pretty well developed. I liked Mr. Champion and his significant other. I thought they were the best characters of the whole book. The rest, while not quite as well developed, still had decent background and motivations. It was Anjali I didn't understand. Her way of interacting with the world, and the decisions she made, were kind of nonsensical to me. I could see it argued that her upbringing and trauma made her act the way she did, but I just found her unauthentic as a whole.
Ok, but not really the book for me. I'd rate this as solidly average.
Review by M. Reynard 2019
It started off quite well, with Anjali being in her hometown and trying to figure out what she wanted for her life. Somewhat traditional because she wants to appease her parents and have an "ease" of life so to speak, she entertains their plans for her and a potential marriage. But the other side of her doesn't want that life, and encouraged by a past teacher, seeks more adventure and independence. The second part of the book, in which she gets that adventure was so rushed, hurried, and confusing; and Anjali becomes that unlikable protagonist to me.
For characterization, I actually thought all of the side characters were pretty well developed. I liked Mr. Champion and his significant other. I thought they were the best characters of the whole book. The rest, while not quite as well developed, still had decent background and motivations. It was Anjali I didn't understand. Her way of interacting with the world, and the decisions she made, were kind of nonsensical to me. I could see it argued that her upbringing and trauma made her act the way she did, but I just found her unauthentic as a whole.
Ok, but not really the book for me. I'd rate this as solidly average.
Review by M. Reynard 2019
lizzo_reads's review against another edition
3.0
Mukherjee is a good writer. I enjoyed reading this book for the cultural context, and somewhat for the plot. The clash between old and new India is fascinating. However, I kept waiting to like Anjali, the main character...and I just never could. I felt empathy for her situation--especially at the beginning during her encounter with a potential husband (I won't reveal details at the risk of spoiling it). But...that was about it.
*sigh*
All of the people who believe in Anjali and keep talking about how she's special and has a "spark"...well, seriously, what are they seeing? She keeps making poor choices. Men keep saving her from herself. Whenever she thinks of herself, she thinks she's an idiot. And it's not until the last 10 pages of the book that she seems to shake any of these bad habits, but we have no explanations about the why or the how.
It's possible that I don't connect with her and her struggles, and perhaps that's ruining the reading experience for me. I like to walk away from a book feeling that I've learned something about the world, or something about myself, and I just didn't get that with Miss New India. The ending was also too neat and tidy for a story that had a girl go through the supposed trauma that Anjali did.
Giving this 3 stars because the writing is good.
*sigh*
All of the people who believe in Anjali and keep talking about how she's special and has a "spark"...well, seriously, what are they seeing? She keeps making poor choices. Men keep saving her from herself. Whenever she thinks of herself, she thinks she's an idiot. And it's not until the last 10 pages of the book that she seems to shake any of these bad habits, but we have no explanations about the why or the how.
It's possible that I don't connect with her and her struggles, and perhaps that's ruining the reading experience for me. I like to walk away from a book feeling that I've learned something about the world, or something about myself, and I just didn't get that with Miss New India. The ending was also too neat and tidy for a story that had a girl go through the supposed trauma that Anjali did.
Giving this 3 stars because the writing is good.