336:, leaked hints of divisions and encampments on the panel — so incurring the wrath of the other judges, who wrote furious articles of their own, lambasting him for his indiscretion. The jury was divided and the two female judges, writers Shena Mackay and Natasha Walter, were convinced the Fasting, Feasting should take the prize. Outnumbered on the panel, their opinion was nevertheless strong enough to demand expression, and the Booker Prize judges took the unprecedented step of naming Fasting, Feasting as runner-up.
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occasion, a marriage took place but it turns out the Uma's new husband already has a wife. She lives with his sisters while he lives in another town spending her dowry on his ailing business. Uma's father quickly spirits her home and gets her marriage annulled. Her family then gives up on the attempts to marry her off and instead focus on their younger daughter.
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become as educated as possible. The story focuses on the life of the unmarried main character, Uma, a spinster, the family's older daughter, with Arun, the boy, and baby of the family. Uma spends her life in subservience to her older demanding parents, while massive effort and energy are expended to ensure Arun's education and placement in a university in
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is a novel not of plot but of comparison. In beautifully detailed prose Desai draws the foods and textures of an Indian small town and of an
American suburb. In both, she suggests, family life is a complex mixture of generosity and meanness, license and restriction: The novel's subtle revelation is
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We are also told of the episode of
Anamika's (Uma's cousin) sad fate. She has won a scholarship to Oxford but her parents insist that she get married. She does and fails to please her husband by providing him with children. He keeps her for a time as a servant but eventually she dies by burning. It
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Uma's parents attempt to marry her off on three occasions; on the first occasion, the chosen man fell for Uma's younger sister, Aruna. On the second her parents accept her marriage on behalf of her before finding out later that their dowry has been spent and the engagement is canceled. On the third
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The novel is in two parts. The first part is set in India and is focused on the life of Uma who is the overworked daughter of Mama and Papa. She is put upon by them at every turn, preparing food, running errands. In the early part of the novel we see her struggling at school. She is not very bright
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Anita Desai's novel of intricate family relations plays out in two countries, India and the United States. The core characters comprise a family living in a small town in India, where provincial customs and attitudes dictate the future of all children: girls are to be married off and boys are to
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In Part 2 we meet Arun, Uma's privileged brother. He is attending college in
America and during summer holidays he lives with the Pattons, an all-American family. Again, the plot is not complex or intricate. The events are told in a serial manner as Arun encounters them.
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While apparently close, the family are actually distant from one another, something very different from Arun's experience of family life in India. Arun spends most of his time alone and isolated. Arun tries his best to escape from western society but in vain.
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Of note is his intense dislike of
American food and cooking methods. He is dismayed at the behavior of Melanie, the daughter who is deeply troubled and suffering from bulimia. Although Mrs Patton seems to care about Melanie, she does little to help.
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Rather a series of events from life than a complexly plotted work, we follow the fortunes of Uma and Arun as they engage with family and strangers and the intricacy of day-to-day living.
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Another character is the religious Mira Masi who tells Uma all the tales of
Krishna and takes her to the ashram allowing her to escape her mother's domination for a time.
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We meet many interesting characters through her; Ramu-Bhai is a traveling bon viveur who tries to show Uma a good time. He is banished by her parents.
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wrote "A certain starkness of vision, an uncompromising realism and superbly evocative images are immediately striking in the novel."
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We are left with great sympathy for Uma and her simple kindness as she survives as best she can in a not altogether friendly world.
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is strongly hinted that her in-laws killed her. The final scene of Part 1 is the immersion of
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but loves the sisters who teach and appreciate her. Finally, she is made to leave school and serve her parents.
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the article contains irrelevant, subjective and improperly worded information.
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India Today Book Review: Fasting, Feasting India Today
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535:Introduction to Anita Desai's Fasting, Feasting
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354:"Fasting, Feasting | the Booker Prizes"
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446:"Books of the moment: What the papers said"
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368:"Books of the moment: What the papers said"
332:, John Sutherland, Professor of English at
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68:Learn how and when to remove this message
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492:"Judges snipe in Booker war of words"
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515:Prose, Francine (9 January 2000).
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214:shortlisted for the Booker Prize
162:228 pp (first edition, hardback)
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480:Salon Review: Fasting, Feasting
452:. 25 September 1999. p. 68
308:in the unlikely similarities."
700:Diamond Dust and Other Stories
620:Where Shall We Go This Summer?
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754:Fiction about Indian diaspora
204:, first published in 1999 in
200:is a novel by Indian writer
716:The Artist of Disappearance
43:. The specific problem is:
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426:. 10 July 1999. p. 66
400:. 26 June 1999. p. 64
374:. 19 June 1999. p. 66
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39:to meet Knowledge (XXG)'s
749:Chatto & Windus books
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280:In an initial review for
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216:for fiction in 1999.
660:The Village By The Sea
744:Novels by Anita Desai
739:1999 American novels
676:Baumgartner's Bombay
636:Fire on the Mountain
521:New York Times Books
517:"Let Them Eat Curry"
50:improve this article
16:Novel by Anita Desai
450:The Daily Telegraph
424:The Daily Telegraph
398:The Daily Telegraph
372:The Daily Telegraph
210:Chatto & Windus
127:Chatto & Windus
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652:Clear Light of Day
628:Cat on a Houseboat
612:The Peacock Garden
596:Voices in the City
500:. 27 October 1999.
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576:Anita Desai
312:Controversy
288:Jyoti Arora
283:India Today
202:Anita Desai
101:Anita Desai
52:if you can.
733:Categories
668:In Custody
574:Novels by
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318:JM Coetzee
269:Reception
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