TIOL: Week 1, Chapters 1 - 15

[Melissa_W Moderator]

Please discuss chapters 1 through 15 of The Inheritance of Loss in this thread.  Please post a SPOILER WARNING if necessary.

[Melissa_W Moderator]

What did you think of the epigraph, Jorge Luis Borges' poem Boast of Quietness?  Does it put you in a certain mood starting the book?

[Fozzie]

---

Melissa_W wrote:

What did you think of the epigraph, Jorge Luis Borges' poem Boast of Quietness?  Does it put you in a certain mood starting the book?

---

I realized when thinking about this question that my response has probably been tainted by the cover blurb (what is that called?) and the review excerpts printed at the beginning of the book.

I noticed the contrasts in the poem --- 

light and darkness

city and countryside

life and death

day and night

I also noticed the line, “My name is someone and anyone,” a contrast of sorts also.

Based on the poem, I expect the book to be filled with contrasts and for the characters to be both unique and yet representative of everyman.

There is also mention of homeland in the poem, so I expect feelings of and/or about a homeland will also play into the story.

[Melissa_W Moderator]

Yes, many contrasts.  I also see grieving for a lost home or lost time.  The city that takes over the countryside, ambition (i love the imagery of the greedy lariat).

---

Fozzie wrote:

---

Melissa_W wrote:

What did you think of the epigraph, Jorge Luis Borges' poem Boast of Quietness?  Does it put you in a certain mood starting the book?

---

I realized when thinking about this question that my response has probably been tainted by the cover blurb (what is that called?) and the review excerpts printed at the beginning of the book.

I noticed the contrasts in the poem --- 

light and darkness

city and countryside

life and death

day and night

I also noticed the line, “My name is someone and anyone,” a contrast of sorts also.

Based on the poem, I expect the book to be filled with contrasts and for the characters to be both unique and yet representative of everyman.

There is also mention of homeland in the poem, so I expect feelings of and/or about a homeland will also play into the story.

---

[Melissa_W Moderator]

I have to say, I was not expecting the rebels to come raid the house in the first chapter!  I was thinking the book would open on Sai's arrival at her grandfather's house.

[Peppermill]

---

Melissa_W wrote:

I have to say, I was not expecting the rebels to come raid the house in the first chapter!  I was thinking the book would open on Sai's arrival at her grandfather's house.

---

Xx chapters later (thru CD5), I still haven't figured out what the ties with that scene are going to be.  I am frustrated, because it seems so far to me to be a story without a plot, although I am greatly enjoying the images.  (Hope you won't consider that a "spoiler."  I do think it is worth keeping on reading/listening.)

Thanks to you both for the comments on the poem -- I'd not particularly had any insights.

Another trivia  Kiran Desai is the daughter of Anita Desai,

Kiran Desai's character Jemubhai Patel in Inheritance of Loss and Anita Desai's character Nanda Kaul in Fire on the Mountain (1977) apparently have enough similarities that Kiran is presumed to have been influenced by her mother's work.

In reading of the experiences of the immigrants in NYC, I am reminded of Nadine Gordimer's The Pickup, where the main female protagonist recognizes so well this would be the future her husband will face, while she chooses to stay with his family, even though she herself has come from a well-to-do American family (whose values she rejects).  (We did read that here, so my apologies if I am repeating the obvious.)

[Fozzie]

---

Peppermill wrote:

---

Melissa_W wrote:

I have to say, I was not expecting the rebels to come raid the house in the first chapter!  I was thinking the book would open on Sai's arrival at her grandfather's house.

---

Xx chapters later (thru CD5), I still haven't figured out what the ties with that scene are going to be.  I am frustrated, because it seems so far to me to be a story without a plot, although I am greatly enjoying the images.  (Hope you won't consider that a "spoiler."  I do think it is worth keeping on reading/listening.)

---

I am getting ready to start chapter seven.  This book switches scenes and time periods more than any other book I have read, I do believe!  I have read lots of books that are not linear in terms of the timeline, but this jumps around so much.  My brain is really working to piece everything together.

I am thoroughly enjoying the book.

My expectation about the first scene is that it begins the book with a bang, so to speak, and then the book goes on to explain how that scene came to be.

[Fozzie]

Having completed the first section of reading, I find myself agreeing with Pepper’s comment that there doesn’t seem to be a plot.  We have been given a lot of background information, but haven’t yet come to where we started.  Not a lot has happened, so to speak.

There is a lot of humor associated with the quirky characters in the book, especially with Noni and Lola, which adds a lighthearted touch to what could otherwise be a bit melancholy. 

A favorite quote:

“At home, his mother was weeping because she had not estimated the imbalance between the finality of good-bye and the briefness of the last moment.”  (Chapter Eight, pg. 41)

I like the title of the book very much.  I am constantly keeping it in mind as I read.  I found this quote that may provide some insight:

“Could fulfillment ever be felt as deeply as loss?”  (pg. 3)

It seems that all the characters have suffered losses.  Maybe the author chose to write about loss rather than fulfillment because her characters could experience deeper emotions.

[chadadanielleKR]

True, not much of a  plot but it seems that time is taking over the chararters' life: political events, weather, feelings... and the characters are having a hard time keeping up with all of this.

[Peppermill]

Here are some images of Kalimpong:

 

http://www.kalimpong.info/photos/

This site has a list of other sites with photos of Kalimpong.  I have explored only a tiny fraction.  Some okay, others frustrating.

http://www.tripadvisor.in/LocationPhotos-g503707-Kalimpong_West_Bengal.html

If one chooses "Hotels" here, one has to flick through a lot of pictures of twin beds, but there are some really wonderful shots of the fog and atmosphere than Sai describes in the story.

[Peppermill]

Shows closeness to Nepal.

[Peppermill]

Not sure I understand the orientation of this map yet.  (But it is pretty!)

[Peppermill]

[Peppermill]

Some background on Kalimpong.  The entire article from which this is excerpted is very good and I recommend it, especially the section on the history of the area.  There is a reference to local reaction to the novel we are reading.  (See end of this excerpt for link.)

"Kalimpong is a hill station in the Mahabharat Range (or Lesser Himalaya) in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located at an average elevation of 1,250 metres (4,101 ft). The town is the headquarters of the Kalimpong subdivision, a part of the district of Darjeeling. The Indian Army's 27 Mountain Division is located on the outskirts of the town.

"Kalimpong is known for its educational institutions many of which were established during the British colonial period. It used to be a gateway in the trade between Tibet and India prior to China's annexation of Tibet and the Sino-Indian War. Kalimpong and neighbouring Darjeeling were major centres calling for a separate Gorkhaland state in the 1980s.There has been a Rotary club in Kalimpong since 1993.

"Kalimpong, located on a ridge overlooking River Teesta, is a tourist destination owing to its temperate climate and proximity to popular tourist locations in the region. Horticulture is also important to Kalimpong: it has a flower market notable for its wide array of orchids; nurseries, which export Himalayan grown flower bulbs, tubers and rhizomes, contribute to the economy of Kalimpong. Home to ethnic Nepalis, indigenous ethnic groups and non-native migrants from other parts of India, the town also is a religious centre of Buddhism. The Buddhist monastery Zang Dhok Palri Phodang holds a number of rare Tibetan Buddhist scriptures."

http://touristplacesinindia1.blogspot.com/2011/08/kalimpong-sightseeing-kalimpong-tourism.html

[Fozzie]

---

Peppermill wrote:

http://touristplacesinindia1.blogspot.com/2011/08/kalimpong-sightseeing-kalimpong-tourism.html

---

A couple more excerpts from the article which help explain why the judge's house was raided at the beginning of the book:

Between 1986 and 1988, the demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland and Kamtapur based on ethnic lines grew strong. Riots between the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) and the West Bengal government reached a stand-off after a forty-day strike. The town was virtually under siege, and the state government called in the Indian army to maintain law and order. This led to the formation of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council, a body that was given semi-autonomous powers to govern the Darjeeling district, except the area under the Siliguri subdivision. 

Kiran Desai's 2006 Booker Prize-winning novel, The Inheritance of Loss, set in Kalimpong the 1980s, tells the story of a retired judge's family and their neighbours, with the Nepalalese insurgent movement led by the GNLF. It was reported that some Nepalese, led by author D B Gurung, were angered by what were allegedly negative stereotypes of Indian Nepalese people in the novel.

[Peppermill]

   Mount Kanchenjunga

I suggest searching for images of this spectacular peak.  I could not have named the world's third highest peak, as this is claimed to be.

Wonderful pictures are here:

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/travelblogs/751/44923/Darjeeling+hill+station,+West+Bengal,+India?destId...

[chadadanielleKR]

Thank you for all these interesting information and nice pictures.

I remember the first time I read the book I also looked for information because the place seemed very nice.  Usually when I heard about India, it was about overcrowded cities or flooded landscape.  The fact that the main character was reading the National Geographic made her look very estranged  to her  local environment and made me want to read more about her...