Ganesh

This novel begins with an interesting character and back story. A teenage boy is orphaned in India and compelled to move to his parents' American Midwest hometown by a promise to his dying father; he adjusts to his new home with an aunt he's never met and a bewildering array of American high school students who come to appreciate his utterly different growing-up experiences. He begins to integrate his Hindu upbringing, vegetarianism, and yoga practice into his new life while making friends with his American peers and learning their culture. Unfortunately, a promising plot along the lines of a modern 'Sara Crewe' is derailed by the author's inconsistent, poorly executed dialogue. The main character, Ganesh, speaks perfectly good English show more with his father in India, but for some reason, upon arriving in America, he is unable to communicate without constantly resorting to the present progressive tense. This makes the dialogue awkward and unnatural. Though one expects Indian English from a child raised entirely in India, the fact that the child spoke English with American parents and was educated in an Irish-run school precludes the sort of hackneyed, non-native-speaker phrasing the author puts in his mouth. show less

A story of a boy torn between two cultures. Jeffrey (Ganesh)has spent the first 14 years of his life living in India with his missionary father and mother. His mother died when he was young, and now he must go through the heartbreaking death of his father. (Warning the cremation scene is rather gruesome and descriptive) Then he must travel to the American mid-west to live with his only other relative an aunt who has never married nor had children. At first Ganesh finds it hard to adjust, but his calm manner and inner peace (he is a Hindu)soon win him many friends. Just when it looks like life will settle down, he is thrown into a new battle for his aunt's house that will be demolished to make way fro a freeway. Ganesh uses the show more principles that Gandhi espoused to stop this and his aunt and friends join in. But how long can they keep up their hunger strike and will his aunt succumb to the same fate as his father as she tries to help him stop the developers? A sweet story about culture clash and faith. show less

Summary: Jeffrey Moore moves from India to the US and feels isolated and alone from everything he once knew. He has a hard time adjusting to his new life in America but after a threat to his family, he needs to let in his friends and help them understand how to protect their family.

Personal reflection: This book was really interesting, especially because I know very little about India and it's customs.

Class use: This book could educate students on some customs of India. Specifically with Hinduism, Yoga and mantras.

We all need a place of shelter, a home of memory as a young American called Ganesh discovers in the Indian village where he lives. His father dies and he has to face a new life in America, where nothing is familiar.

Entre espesuras de bambú, escándalo de papagayos y murciélagos zigzagueantes había vivido trece años el niño Jeffrey Moore. En la lejana India, envuelto en el calor sofocante y pendiente de las nubes que anunciaban el monzón, cazó víboras venenosas al lado de su amigo Rama y nadó en el lago al que acudían los búfalos a refrescarse. Diestro en asustar a los monos y en hurtar frutas de los huertos, recibió el apodo de Ganesh, nombre del bondadoso y sabio dios hindú, cuyos poderes consisten en eliminar todos los obstáculos . Al morir su padre, Ganesh debió regresar a los Estados Unidos de América donde había nacido. Su aprendizaje en la India le permitió superar las numerosas dificultades que le ofreció su nueva vida.

Jeffrey Moore heeft zijn hele leven in India gewoond, zijn moeder stierf toen hij nog jong was en nu gaat het niet goed met zijn vader. Zijn vader laat hem beloven dat hij naar de VS zal gaan als zijn vader overlijdt...
Na het overlijden van zijn vader gaat Jeffrey naar zijn tante in de VS. Het is een grote overgang en hij heeft moeite om te wennen aan het Amerikaanse leven.
Als zijn nieuwe bestaan wankelt, heeft hij inmiddels toch genoeg vrienden gemaakt, die hem graag willen helpen.

Gelezen in november 1993 Kinderboek rondom Indische cultuur. Ik vond het laatste deel dat in de Verenigde Staten speelt tegen het sentimentele aan zitten. verder wel mooi boek