About this title: Uma is the eldest and plainest child in an Indian family and, well into middle age, she is still single, caring for her aging parents. Her privileged, American-educated brother becomes involved with a Massachusetts family whose luxurious lifestyle contrasts starkly with the life of Uma and her parents back in India. Told first from Uma's point of view, then from her brother's, this novel illuminates both cultures. It was a finalist for the Booker Prize in 1999.
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Description: New. 0618065822 Cover has very little shelf wear. No spine seams. No remainder mark. Light tanning on edges. Pages are clean with no markings, no creases and no dog-ears. Trade Paperback. read more
Description: Very Good. Great condition for a used book! Minimal wear. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Acceptable. Former Library book. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. 2000-Paperback----Used-Good-Hall Street Books proudly ships from Brooklyn, NY. All orders are processed and shipped within 24 hours, M-F. 100% money back No-Worry guarantee with expedited delivery and delivery confirmation available. read more
Description: Good. 2000-Paperback----Used-Good-Hall Street Books proudly ships from Brooklyn, NY. All orders are processed and shipped within 24 hours, M-F. 100% money back No-Worry guarantee with expedited delivery and delivery confirmation available. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Thorndike Press
Date Published: 2000-07
ISBN-13:9780786226382ISBN:0786226382
Description: Good. Large print edition. Text is clean and bright. Binding is tight and square. Ex-library copy with typical markings and attachments. Careful packaging and fast shipping. We recommend PRIORITY MAIL for even faster delivery! read more
"Although I enjoyed the characters in this book, the story left me wondering if anyone in this family was ever happy?! An interesting commentary on what tradition and family dictate to us as happiness, and how it often conflicts with the individual wants and desires."
"Having recently read The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai, I was eager to pick up Anita's novel. Although written by mother and daughter, there really are many similarities in their writing styles, and in their messages about the similarities and differences between the India and Indians of our perception, and those of Empire or America and their lives. In the end, Fasting and Feating demonstrates in two parts: 1) set in India and 2) set in the United States, that both lives are filled with disconnection and human struggles to survive.
The first section of the book is set in India, and established around Uma, a homely, nagged at daughter. Her life seems pretty bleak without the option of a husband for whom she can garnish his reputation. Over and over again, we see Uma being rejected and suffering the pains of being an Indian woman who is not chosen as a wife of a man, and yet, Desai also sets this shame amidst the lives of other women who have been married off and are anything but happy. In one case, what was considered an ideal marriage, is later to be seen as a devastatingly horrible one.
Section two is much shorter, but centers around the star of the family, Arun, who is in the United States going to college. You get the sense that this young man is terribly troubled, and unhappy with his life, regardless of where he's located. In no way do you see him in control of his own life, but like his sister, is very much being controlled by the wishes and desires of his family, parents, and society.
While not the cheeriest of reads, the sad ideas pointed out by Desai's novel show us that all cultures can and do put pressures on us to achieve or be things that we may or may not wish for. In a real sense, the novel is about freedoms wished for, but not seen."
"three kids of MAmapapa.They can't seem to marry off Uma,although they try.she's left to care for them while little sister leaves the home to marry and little brother to the usa to study."
"Life in India, parents, siblings. Part Two has us looking at the U.S. through immigrant eyes and it isn't pretty. Sparse dialogue, vivid descriptions."
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