Kirkus Review had this to say about The Invoice while Arifa Akbar wrote this about the book on the Independent website.
Looking forward to hearing what our readers think of this tiny offering about a big question.
Happy reading!
Thursday 30 June 2016
How would your invoice add up?
This month's read is an easy read which poses some uneasy questions. The writer is a young Swedish actor cum author who challenges us to question the value of happiness.
Most considered 'The Runaways' off to a slow start
Most of our readers agreed that Sunjeev Sahota's novel, which was shortlisted for The Man Booker Prize 2015 was a worthy read once one had persisted through the slow start. Most of our readers understood that with such a cast of characters that are spread so widely, there was the need to introduce them all to start gathering them in.
Some of our readers considered the characters one-dimensional while others found it difficult to empathise with them despite their difficult situations. One book clubber while being unable to relate to the actual characters found the story as a whole very engaging. Some of our readers had either travelled through the Punjab and Bihar or lived close by, so were able to relate to the background and context of some of the characters.
There was discussion about how little we really knew of the variety of Indian customs and beliefs. While folks were accustomed to men wearing turbans they were surprised when the female character Narinder was dressed in a turban.
There was much discussion about the caste system and the way that this hierarchy, while associated with Hinduism, wasn't an integral aspect of this religion as such but rather a social construct of convenience which is now very entrenched. Readers mentioned the way Mahatma Gandhi, while supporting the customs and traditions of multicultural India, tried to break down the caste system but was unsuccessful. Some folk were surprised about how zealously this system has been transported with migration.
There was talk of the degree of corruption required to migrate and how topical it was with these allegations currently being made about Indian migration to Australia. There was also discussion about how often it was other Indian migrants who were making the life of 'our' Indian migrants so miserable. There was chat about the concept that when survival was at stake the niceties of values such as loyalty, equity and fairness were values that were too luxurious to be indulged in.
One of our BTLBCers was very disappointed in the ending and considered it just too tidy while most other folk were relieved that all of the characters' endured ordeals finally resulted in a life that was more comfortable than what they would have had in India. There was discussion about what it might be like to consider migration to another country as the best possibility of succeeding in life, especially when working and living conditions that are described in the book have to be endured to attain their goal. Our readers spoke about how one family member would be supported by the whole family and the way this indebtedness then provided a conduit for more family members to migrate later.
One of our readers was most concerned about the Narinder character and there was much chat about the confusion which came about when the traditional roles of women collided with the modern roles of women.
Overall this novel evoked much discussion which ranged over a variety of topics. One of our readers was very disappointed in the novel and another considered it a 'B' version of Aravind Adiga's Man Booker Prize 2008 winning The White Tiger but the rest of the group were generally pleased to have read it and found it an enlightening, engaging read.
Our next read is a small Swedish novel, The Invoice by Jonas Karlsson which offers a change of pace and topic. No doubt we will have yet another interesting book club discussion at the Community Meeting Room at Gordon White Library on Thursday 28 July.
Some of our readers considered the characters one-dimensional while others found it difficult to empathise with them despite their difficult situations. One book clubber while being unable to relate to the actual characters found the story as a whole very engaging. Some of our readers had either travelled through the Punjab and Bihar or lived close by, so were able to relate to the background and context of some of the characters.
There was discussion about how little we really knew of the variety of Indian customs and beliefs. While folks were accustomed to men wearing turbans they were surprised when the female character Narinder was dressed in a turban.
There was much discussion about the caste system and the way that this hierarchy, while associated with Hinduism, wasn't an integral aspect of this religion as such but rather a social construct of convenience which is now very entrenched. Readers mentioned the way Mahatma Gandhi, while supporting the customs and traditions of multicultural India, tried to break down the caste system but was unsuccessful. Some folk were surprised about how zealously this system has been transported with migration.
There was talk of the degree of corruption required to migrate and how topical it was with these allegations currently being made about Indian migration to Australia. There was also discussion about how often it was other Indian migrants who were making the life of 'our' Indian migrants so miserable. There was chat about the concept that when survival was at stake the niceties of values such as loyalty, equity and fairness were values that were too luxurious to be indulged in.
One of our BTLBCers was very disappointed in the ending and considered it just too tidy while most other folk were relieved that all of the characters' endured ordeals finally resulted in a life that was more comfortable than what they would have had in India. There was discussion about what it might be like to consider migration to another country as the best possibility of succeeding in life, especially when working and living conditions that are described in the book have to be endured to attain their goal. Our readers spoke about how one family member would be supported by the whole family and the way this indebtedness then provided a conduit for more family members to migrate later.
One of our readers was most concerned about the Narinder character and there was much chat about the confusion which came about when the traditional roles of women collided with the modern roles of women.
Overall this novel evoked much discussion which ranged over a variety of topics. One of our readers was very disappointed in the novel and another considered it a 'B' version of Aravind Adiga's Man Booker Prize 2008 winning The White Tiger but the rest of the group were generally pleased to have read it and found it an enlightening, engaging read.
Our next read is a small Swedish novel, The Invoice by Jonas Karlsson which offers a change of pace and topic. No doubt we will have yet another interesting book club discussion at the Community Meeting Room at Gordon White Library on Thursday 28 July.
Thursday 2 June 2016
Some reviews for "The Runaways"
This month's read The Runaways by Sunjeev Sahota was shortlisted for the 2015 Man Booker Prize and is the non-sentimental tale of life in Great Britain for Indian migrants fleeing home with a dream of a future.
Lucy Daniel from The Telegraph had this to say about Sahota's novel while Patricia Wall from The New York Times wrote this review.
Looking forward to hearing our BTLBCers' reviews on Thursday 30 June 2016 at 6.00pm at the Community Meeting Room at Gordon White Library!
Happy reading!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)