In this post, we suggest a selection of books that share a common thread: India
Behind the beautiful forevers: Life, death, and hope in a Mumbai
is a novel by Katherine Boo, an American journalist and writer. It describes daily life in Annawadi, a slum at the edge of the Mumbai airport area. The author, winner of the 2000 Pulitzer Prize, has lived in India for many years, and the book, while fictional, describes in a strong and honest way the injustices, the poverty, the caste system, and the tragedies of life in Indian society. Surrounded by the wealth of a growing country, the characters that live in the Annawad slum barely survive, but hope for good luck, and a poignant desire for redemption is still strong in them.
Holy Cow: An Indian Adventure
by Sarah Macdonald, is a funny and honest memoir. It begins with the frank confession: the author had a strong dislike for India after she visited the country as a girl while on vacation. However, before she left the country, a fortune teller told her she would come back, this time for love. In fact, eleven years later, Sarah would move to India with her husband. In New Delhi, she will discover many aspects of India, as contradictory as fascinating, and she will lead us in daring adventures and intimate spiritual experiences.
The Namesake
by Jhumpa Lahiri is a novel that explores themes of cultural identity, traditions, and family expectations. It tells the story of Gogol, an American boy of Indian descent who tries to find his place in the world, despite his family’s desire to keep him closely tied to their homeland, India.
Also touching on the theme of Indian-American culture, The Inscrutable Americans by Anurag Mathur offers a humorous account of Gopal’s journey to America as a student, his accented English, and the stereotypical Eastern perception of the United States.
Calcutta: Two Years in the City
by Amit Chaudhuri, brings us to see the city where the author was born and grew up. His ability to lead the reader along Calcutta’s streets, among street vendors, domestic helpers, sounds, and smells, makes this one of the most interesting and engaging books about India. It tells us of a city that, for certain aspects, seems still quite far from inevitable globalization.
We also suggest two books by Indian/Canadian author Rohinton Mistry. Such a Long Journey is set in Bombay. It’s 1971, and India is at war with Pakistan. Gustav Noble is an ordinary man who is honest and moral. His journey is long, uncertain, tiring, and at times desperate, but it is always rich in a profound humanity that captures the reader all the way to the arrival.
In A Fine Balance, Mistry takes us to India, where Indira Gandhi had just declared a state of emergency. It’s 1975, and in Bombay, four characters try to find a “fine balance” between the desire of evasion and the desolation of everyday life.
A few more books about India:
- Before we visit the goddess by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
- The God of Small Things by Arundhati RoY
- 2 States: the story of my marriage by Chetan Bhagat
Would you like to know more about Indian culture? Read the story of Silvia giving birth in Bangalore as well as Sylvia’s project called Jimi Library in Benares.
If you have suggestions of books to add to our collections, please contact us.
Alessandra Giacchi
Photo by Sam Kolder from Pexels