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The Inheritance of Loss (2006)

by Kiran Desai

Other authors: See the other authors section.

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingConversations / Mentions
6,8221891,311 (3.41)1 / 559
Fiction. Literature. In a crumbling, isolated house at the foot of Mount Kanchenjunga in the Himalayas lives an embittered judge who wants only to retire in peace, when his orphaned granddaughter, Sai, arrives on his doorstep. The judge's cook watches over her distractedly, for his thoughts are often on his son, Biju, who is hopscotching from one gritty New York restaurant to another. Kiran Desai's brilliant novel, published to huge acclaim, is a story of joy and despair. Her characters face numerous choices that majestically illuminate the consequences of colonialism as it collides with the modern world.… (more)
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» See also 559 mentions

English (180)  Spanish (2)  French (1)  German (1)  Catalan (1)  Dutch (1)  Finnish (1)  Swedish (1)  All languages (188)
Showing 1-5 of 180 (next | show all)
I feel like this deserves a better review than I will give it, I struggled through to 300 pages but it was just too dense for me and I couldn’t get into it. ( )
  LiteraryReadaholic | Aug 13, 2023 |
Well, I never wrote any comment about this book and don't have a good memory of reading it. Best guess: it was quickly read on vacation (check timeline with other reads) ( )
  MGADMJK | Jul 30, 2023 |
A bit bloated and meandering. Also a little dour and scatalogical. And not quite what I wanted after her first book, but I can't hold that against it. ( )
  3Oranges | Jun 24, 2023 |
I started reading this book more than once. I finally decided that it had wonderful reviews so it must be good. My conclusion is that yes, it is good, but has a hard message.

Many books reveal the triumph of the human spirit in difficult situations. I don't think that anyone in this book ends up happy. Nepal/Gujariti is certainly portrayed as an unhappy place. This is not the only location where feuding/rebelling groups end up creating more unhappiness than they promote. The language is lovely and the descriptions are splendid. don't read it if you want a happy ending. ( )
  cathy.lemann | Mar 21, 2023 |
I quite liked this but it wasn't a stand out Booker winner for me. It had a great sense of place with some sections set in the Himalayas and others set in New York kitchens or Cambridge. It spans a few generations and there is a lot of nice detail and scene setting. I'm not sure it fully works as a narrative, but it was an enjoyable read. ( )
  AlisonSakai | Jan 17, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 180 (next | show all)
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» Add other authors (17 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Desai, Kiranprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Drews, KristiinaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Lai, Chin-YeeCover designersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Montijn, HienTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Simhan, MeeraNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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Epigraph
Boast of Quietness

Writings of light assault the darkness, more prodigious than meteors.
The tall unknowable city takes over the countryside.
Sure of my life and my death, I observe the ambitious and would like to understand them.
Their day is greedy as a lariat in the air.
Their night is a rest from the rage within steel, quick to attack.
They speak of humanity.
My humanity is in feeling we are all voices of the same poverty.
They speak of homeland.
My homeland is the rhythm of a guitar, a few portraits, an old sword, the willow grove's visible prayer as evening falls.
Time is living me.
More silent than my shadow, I pass through the loftily covetous multitude.
They are indispensable, singular, worthy of tomorrow.
My name is someone and anyone.
I walk slowly, like one who comes from so far away he doesn't expect to arrive.

-Jorge Luis Borges
Dedication
To my mother with so much love
First words
All day, the colours had been those of dusk, mist moving like a water creature across the great flanks of mountains possessed of ocean shadows and depths.
Quotations
An accident, they said, and there was nobody to blame - it was just fate in the way fate has of providing the destitute with a greater quota of accidents for which nobody can be blamed.
Just ordinary humans in ordinary opaque boiled-egg light, without grace, without revelation, composite of contradictions, easy principles, arguing about what they half believed in or even what they didn't believe in at all, desiring comfort as much as raw austerity, authenticity as much as playacting, desiring coziness of family as much as to abandon it forever.
...and he felt a flash of jealousy as do friends when they lose another to love, especially those who have understood that friendship is enough, steadier, healthier, easier on the heart. Something that always added and never took away. (Ch 39)
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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Information from the Dutch Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to your language.
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Wikipedia in English (4)

Fiction. Literature. In a crumbling, isolated house at the foot of Mount Kanchenjunga in the Himalayas lives an embittered judge who wants only to retire in peace, when his orphaned granddaughter, Sai, arrives on his doorstep. The judge's cook watches over her distractedly, for his thoughts are often on his son, Biju, who is hopscotching from one gritty New York restaurant to another. Kiran Desai's brilliant novel, published to huge acclaim, is a story of joy and despair. Her characters face numerous choices that majestically illuminate the consequences of colonialism as it collides with the modern world.

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Average: (3.41)
0.5 6
1 46
1.5 11
2 159
2.5 52
3 420
3.5 126
4 426
4.5 52
5 176

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Penguin Australia

2 editions of this book were published by Penguin Australia.

Editions: 0141027282, 0141399368

 

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