[37F]⋙ PDF One Amazing Thing Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni Books

One Amazing Thing Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni Books

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One Amazing Thing Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni Books

First, let me say that I have read numerous other books by the author and she is quite good. That said, I really didn't like her new book. It wasn't boring perse, but it felt as if none of the individual stories were meaty enough, nor did they come to a satisfactory conclusion. The main character's tale was particularly weak and the story ended just there. As you may read from the summary, this is the story of different people stuck together in a basement of a government building during an earthquake. Like Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, which Uma, the protagonist, is reading at the time, each person tells their story. What's remarkable is that at the end of the book, I remember only my dissatisfaction with the end of Uma's story - not what happened to the people in the basement. Each of the stories could have been compelling, but they were either too scattered in their telling - spread across chapters so that you might forget what happened - or they were just too short to really grab you. The book is only 220 pages, so it would be difficult to fully develop nine characters. It has the feeling of a short story, or a series of short stories. I think this book could be so much better, but I don't know what it needs. Maybe it needs to be presented as short stories, to set expectations, or maybe it needs to be expanded. Or maybe the stories need to be resolved better, or better tied to each other, or have more of an overarching theme amongst them. I did enjoy most the story of Malathi and her adventures in Lola's beauty salon. I wanted to know much more about Tariq and Cameron, but their stories were abbreviated. The author tried to cover different races, ages, nationalities, experiences - but some of those experiences did not come off as authentic. In fact, I'd say not one of the characters was someone I could relate to strongly. The most I could say is that I got really sad about the story of Mr. Pritchett, but that still doesn't explain why he was such a jerk about smoking.


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One Amazing Thing Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni Books Reviews

Chitra Divakaruni had me at "Mistress of Spices", and this is another big winner! A group of people are stranded in the basement of a San Francisco office building by an earthquake. An African-American war veteran with a heart as big as the world takes charge and the group follows his lead--especially after he renders a young Muslim college student unconscious when he tries to open the office door to escape, since doing so could cause collapse of the remaining structure. Diverse, interesting characters shatter stereotypes, tell fascinating stories suggested by an Indian-American college student who knows the value of stories to absorb us. In the process of storytelling, the group bonds closely. As the reader I was as transformed by the stories as the group. Detesting Mr. Mangalam, the office manager I found sexist and self-absorbed, learning his story, I came to feel compassion and care for him. Jiang, a Chinese immigrant to the USA from India, revealed she could speak English all along. The Chinese immigrant from India I know says, "Jiang's story is accurate. This is almost exactly what happened to me." Knowing India to be diverse, I had no idea how diverse it is. This book is gripping, inspiring, and hard to put down, but easy to read as it is divided into almost short story. Spoiler alert You won't know if they escape.
I picked up this book at a used book sale (Friends of the Library) for $1 because of the Lisa See quote on the cover (I love Lisa See). I feel in love with it for the "tale within the tale," for the survival aspect (I have always been curious of my own behavior in such a circumstance), and for the variety of personalities and cultures all thrown together and stirred with appropriate crisis and tension. I recommended it to my book club and will be leading the discussion next month, which has prompted me to conduct more in depth analysis of the book, research on the author and creating thought provoking questions. A great read and a great book for discussion. If you liked Bel Canto by Ann Patchett, you will love One Amazing Thing.
What started as merely research for a speech I was giving quickly captivated me. I rapidly read the book in just a couple sittings, I was eager to find out how the fate of the nine key characters unfolded. The novel takes place in the basement of the Indian embassy in San Francisco, and the tension ramps up as an earthquake traps the nine characters in the basement hoping and waiting for help to come. To pass the time, the narrator, a young graduate students, asks each person to share a story of “one amazing thing” from their lives. These nine stories form the core of the book, with the earthquake narrative wrapping around each short story. The author is best known for her short stories, and for that reason this book format is perfect for her abilities and she creates strong characters and a lot of heart in each short narrative arch within the larger plot.
First, let me say that I have read numerous other books by the author and she is quite good. That said, I really didn't like her new book. It wasn't boring perse, but it felt as if none of the individual stories were meaty enough, nor did they come to a satisfactory conclusion. The main character's tale was particularly weak and the story ended just there. As you may read from the summary, this is the story of different people stuck together in a basement of a government building during an earthquake. Like Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, which Uma, the protagonist, is reading at the time, each person tells their story. What's remarkable is that at the end of the book, I remember only my dissatisfaction with the end of Uma's story - not what happened to the people in the basement. Each of the stories could have been compelling, but they were either too scattered in their telling - spread across chapters so that you might forget what happened - or they were just too short to really grab you. The book is only 220 pages, so it would be difficult to fully develop nine characters. It has the feeling of a short story, or a series of short stories. I think this book could be so much better, but I don't know what it needs. Maybe it needs to be presented as short stories, to set expectations, or maybe it needs to be expanded. Or maybe the stories need to be resolved better, or better tied to each other, or have more of an overarching theme amongst them. I did enjoy most the story of Malathi and her adventures in Lola's beauty salon. I wanted to know much more about Tariq and Cameron, but their stories were abbreviated. The author tried to cover different races, ages, nationalities, experiences - but some of those experiences did not come off as authentic. In fact, I'd say not one of the characters was someone I could relate to strongly. The most I could say is that I got really sad about the story of Mr. Pritchett, but that still doesn't explain why he was such a jerk about smoking.