The End

I liked the end of the book and how it seems to tie a lot of the different pieces of the plot together. There are little aspects that we can see tied together at the end. I also found that the use of Indian words was a little difficult to read past, yet it really brought into what Sai was like, it was kind of like a final touch on the character. I thought that since all the characters were some how involved in the conclusion it was settling. Well, at least you could see the characters being reflected in the conclusion of the story. I like this book, and I'd actually recommend this book if you are the kind of person who is interested in an conflicted novel, with cultures intertwined, and who likes a little splash of love in their novel.

The End

The Inheritance of Loss was a good book. It really captivated the story of a young girl figuring her way through life and the love she finds along the way. I do have to admit though, it did loose my attention at times, and sometimes got a little hard to follow. Maybe though it was because of a ton of indian words used throughout the book. I didn't understand what they were talking about a lot of the time because of the indian words used throughout the story. I did find it was a good story though and really helps you appreciate what you have. The life and journey's of some of these characters is amazing. And it really puts in perspective how hard one must work to achieve greatness. 

Week Five

Welcome to Week Five, and our last week week of blogging. This week's post should be on your overall thoughts about the book. It must be a ten sentence summary. You do not need to comment on anyone else's blog, but your post should be up here by Sunday, March 29 You should have made up any missing work by then as well.

Thought Provoking Question

My thought provoking question is...

Will Sai and Biju cross paths and learn things from each other? Will they be able to gain things from one another's experience? I think that this might be possible. What kind of things do you think that they would learn from one another if they did meet, and how do you think their relationship would function? 

Thought Provoking Question

My though provoking question is...

Will Sai escape the dreaded life of being an orphan? Will she be like Biju and try to make something of herself in order to achieve a better life? Hopefully we can assume Sai will want to get out of her hard life and hopefully help the judge and cook get out of hardships as well. And even though her tutor/lover Gyan is four years older than her, I hope he can aid Sai in getting out of a dreaded life and he go with her. Maybe they'll escape together? One can only hope. 

Week Four

Welcome to Week Four!

For this week's blog you will post a thought-provoking question that does not have only one answer. Remember that you must make 10 comments this week, not 5. Please do not leave this until the last minute, you have the whole week to get it done.

Figurative Language

In the story figurative language is often used in order to create a setting and draw and image in the readers' mind. I found that it was helpful to make me relate to the plot line, and I found these pieces of figurative language as poetic. One example of this figurative language in Inheritance of Loss is "Suddenly, as if a secret door had opened in her hearing, she became aware of the sound of microscopic jaws slow-milling the house to sawdust (pg. 39)." This piece brings the reader into the sensation of knowing that one's house is being eaten my termites, and things are slowly falling apart. This quote also seems to hold a deeper meaning. One could draw from the text that Sai is noticing how her family's honor and dignity is falling, yet it appears decent, underneath it is rotting. 

Figurative Language

"All day, the colors had been those of of dusk, mist moving like a water creature across the great flanks of mountains possessed of ocean shadows and depths." (pg. 1) This was the first sentence of the book. Using these descriptions of the setting in India, Desai immediately captures the reader in and helps to put a clearer picture of the setting. Using figurative language aids to helping the reader picturing more clearly the setting and exactly what is occurring in the story. It can show a happy picture or sad. Depending on how the author uses figurative language and description, the mood of the story can shift dramatically. 

Week Three

Welcome to Week Three of the Discussion! This weeks discussion will run from Monday, March 9 to Sunday, March 15.

This week's discussion will be on figurative language and literary elements in your book. Please find an example of these in your book and POST a 10-sentence comment on it. Don't forget to comment on 5 other posts on this blog. You have all week to complete this assignment, please don't wait until the last minute.

The Setting of The Inheritance of Loss

One setting in the novel is in India, and the time period ranges, depending on if it is a flashback or if it is present day. Another setting in the novel is New York, New York, generally, present day. I think that I find both settings engaging and interesting for different reasons. I find the Indian plot line interesting because the it was something that I wasn't used to and I also found that the cultural splash exciting and engaging. One example of this cultural splash would be the criminals they encounter at the beginning of the book. The interesting thing that I like in the New York setting was the diversity of characters and specific settings. The different jobs that Biju takes show us the diversity of this country, and the different kinds of people in the world. The diversity of people is also present in the Indian settings. I find that the settings provide certain qualities are brought out of Biju and Sai, their situations provide for development and revealing of characteristics. I'm anxious to see what will happen in both settings and I'm expecting change. 

Setting

The setting in The Inheritance of Loss takes place in India and New York City. Sai, lives with her grandfather, the judge, on Mount Kanchenjunga in the Himalayas. She lives in more of a run down area with not many things to do. The other part of the story about Biju, the judges son, takes place in New York City. Traveling from restaurant to restaurant, Biju takes us to all parts of New York. From the most elite parts of town to the most run down. The setting is an important part to the novel because it really differentiates culture from India and America. Everything is so much more fast paced in the American setting, and so much more slower in the Indian setting. Also, there seems to be a lot more danger in India than in America. With it's essence there is a way to feel sorry for the characters because of the place they live in.  

Week Two

Welcome to Week Two of our discussion. This discussion will last from Monday, March 2nd to Sunday, March 9th.

This week's discussion is on Setting. Please POST a 10-sentence comment on setting. Don't forget to comment on 5 other posts on this blog. You have all week to complete this assignment, but waiting is not recommended!

Sai

In the section of The Inheritance of Loss which I read recently, we are introduced to the main character Sai. Sai is the granddaughter of a retired judge, Justice Jemubhai Patel. In India near the Himalayas Sai lives with her cook and dog. Poverty is a conflict she has to deal with daily and robbery is common in which the area she lives in. Sai and her family are robbed while she is waiting for her tutor to come. This leads to the police coming to do a search of her home. While the police are searching, they uncover the true state which Sai is living, and discover letters of Sai's history.

Sai's mother was a young college student who would often go study outside her college dorm. Sai's father would job by each day, and eventually became aquainted. They eloped with one another and soon Sai was born. When Sai was six years old her father was selected by the Indian Russian colaberative Air Force to be the first Indian man to travel into space. Sai's mother and father went to train in Russia and it is there where they died in a tragic bus accident, two years later after they arrived in Russia. Sai was then a orphan. Her grandfather was paying for her to stay in a covenant, although she was unaware of it. Then, poverty hit the judge and Sai was no longer able to stay in the covanant. She moved in with her grandfather. Sai has a unique intelligence and a great stive for education, which she seems she has adapted from her deceast well educated parents. Although she faces poverty everyday, Sai overcomes her struggles and stays strong with a confident attitude.

Week One!

Welcome to Week 1 of our Discussion. This discussion will last from Monday, February 23rd to Sunday, March 1.

This week's discussion is on Character. Please POST a 10 sentence comment on character. Don't forget to comment on 5 other posts on this blog. You have all week to complete this assignment, but don't wait until the last minute!!!

ARE YOU GOING TO READ THIS BOOK?

ARE YOU GOING TO READ THIS BOOK?

If so, please comment on this post with your name and hr and answer the following 2 questions by Monday, February 2nd.

1. Why do you want to read this?
2. How are you going to acquire the book?

Welcome!

Welcome to 3rd quarter. The book being discussed on this blog is The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai. What follows is a short summary.

"This stunning second novel from Desai (Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard) is set in mid-1980s India, on the cusp of the Nepalese movement for an independent state. Jemubhai Popatlal, a retired Cambridge-educated judge, lives in Kalimpong, at the foot of the Himalayas, with his orphaned granddaughter, Sai, and his cook. The makeshift family's neighbors include a coterie of Anglophiles who might be savvy readers of V.S. Naipaul but who are, perhaps, less aware of how fragile their own social standing is-at least until a surge of unrest disturbs the region. Jemubhai, with his hunting rifles and English biscuits, becomes an obvious target. Besides threatening their very lives, the revolution also stymies the fledgling romance between 16-year-old Sai and her Nepalese tutor, Gyan. The cook's son, Biju, meanwhile, lives miserably as an illegal alien in New York. All of these characters struggle with their cultural identity and the forces of modernization while trying to maintain their emotional connection to one another. In this alternately comical and contemplative novel, Desai deftly shuttles between first and third worlds, illuminating the pain of exile, the ambiguities of post-colonialism and the blinding desire for a "better life," when one person's wealth means another's poverty." Courtesy of:
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Inheritance-of-Loss/Kiran-Desai/e/9780802142818/?itm=1