P.38:
"after 3 years of intense effort the team came up with a combination of a methyl derivative of carbamic acid and alpha naphthalon, in the form of whitish crystals soluble in water. those three years had been taken up with hundreds of experiments, not just on all known species of insects, but also on thousands of rats, rabbits, pigeons, fish, bees and even shrimps and lobsters."

P.127:
"the inhabitants of Bhopal may not have understood the function of the chimneys, tanks and pipe work they saw under construction, but they all came rushing to the cricket and volleyball matches the new factory sponsored. carbide had even set up a highly successful hockey team. as a tribute to the particular family of pesticides to which Sevin belonged, it called its team 'the carbamates.' Nor did carbide forget the most poverty stricken. on the eve of the Diwali festival, young padmini saw an official delegation of carbiders handing out baskets full of sweets, bars of chocolate and cookies. while the children launched themselves at the sweets, other employees went around the huts, distributing what carbide considered to be a most useful gift in overpopulated india: condoms." ( )

This isn't a review, more like a reminder for me to pick up the book at the library again next time I visit my mother... that's where I stumbled over it and started reading this story of unimaginable human arrogance. I agree with the critics of the book that the language is occasionally a bit banal (in a sort of patronizing way towards the Indians) but I can't help feeling I get to know the principal characters rather well: the little girl, the legless man... -- Either way, I will replace this temporary blurb with a brief review once I finish the book sometime after the summer, as I won't have chance to track it up before then. For the time being I read barely half of it. Very keen to finish it off, though! The book seems to be rather well researched.

Last year I read Animal's People by Indra Sinha, an excellent novel about the slum dwellers who lived around the Union Carbide plant releasing the deadly chemicals. The novel was set years after the release, and focused on the tragic effects the disaster had on those people and their attempts to hold the company responsible.

This book sets the stage for the disaster with the history of Bhopal, how the plant came to be built, its executives and employees, and the manner of its operation, from the beginning until the accident, which occurred during a period of time the plant's operations were being phased out. It also introduces us to a number of the families who resided in the makeshift dwellings surrounding the plant.

It may be my imagination, but having read Animal's People, I think that this book is slightly too sympathetic to Union Carbide, or at least to the American employees who were running the plant. For example, in the acknowledgements section the author thanks the individual "who made us welcome in their charming house..., enabling us to reconstruct the happy years when Warren was in charge of the Bhopal factory." Or, "The pursuit of perfection was Carbide's hallmark." The accident itself occurred when Americans were ceding management to Indian employees, and it was those employees whose mistakes or inaction caused the chemical release. However, it was the American owners who stinted on proper safety equipment when building the plant, on maintaining what safety equipment there was, and who failed to provide adequate training for the employees.

The book was written shortly after the accident, and does not stress that Union Carbide has failed (and has actively resisted) to pay adequate recompense to the victims. The long-term health problems of the victims is also not completely considered, although the author has a charity which does provide some assistance to victims with health issues. With those caveats, I can state that the book is informative and moving. It is well-written--certainly in such way that it is a page-turner, and tells a compelling story. ( )

A polemic on Union Carbide's catastrophic Bhopal plant and how underserved and victimised the local low-caste population was by them. Great story telling which creates strong empathy with the chosen characters (e.g. Padmini, Sister Felicity, Ragan). The authors clearly identify the cross-cultural issues between the UCC's HQ methods and ethos and the regional work practices of India/Bhopal.

Reminds you of the usefulness of having a friendly engineer on speed dial. ( )