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The Blue Notebook
Dear Reader:
Every now and then, we come across a novel that moves us like no other, that seems like a miracle of the imagination, and that haunts us long after the book is closed. James Levine’s The Blue Notebook is that kind of book. It is the story of Batuk, an Indian girl who is taken to Mumbai from the countryside and sold into prostitution by her father; the blue note...more
Every now and then, we come across a novel that moves us like no other, that seems like a miracle of the imagination, and that haunts us long after the book is closed. James Levine’s The Blue Notebook is that kind of book. It is the story of Batuk, an Indian girl who is taken to Mumbai from the countryside and sold into prostitution by her father; the blue note...more
Hardcover, 224 pages
Published
July 7th 2009
by Spiegel & Grau
(first published January 1st 2009)
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Read Jess S's review of this, and it sounds like the saddest book ever, in a wonderful way.
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If I could give half-stars, I'd have gone with 3.5.
It was sad, and I appreciate the awareness that the author is trying to bring to this horrid practice, and think it's fantastic that by purchasing the book a contribution is made to the International and National Centers for Missing and Exploited Children. But, that said, I just didn't really feel co...more
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If I could give half-stars, I'd have gone with 3.5.
It was sad, and I appreciate the awareness that the author is trying to bring to this horrid practice, and think it's fantastic that by purchasing the book a contribution is made to the International and National Centers for Missing and Exploited Children. But, that said, I just didn't really feel co...more
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Batuk, the protagonist, was a real child prostitute living in Mumbai, India, and this book is her journal, translated into flawless and engrossing prose by Dr. Levine.
I found it very hard to finish this book, but thankfully, it's only 200 pages. I had to skim most of it for the vivid descriptions of child rape, sexual mutilation and unspeakable torture were just a bit much to visualize. At times, especially towards the end, I had to put the book down to catch my breath!
Read...more
I found it very hard to finish this book, but thankfully, it's only 200 pages. I had to skim most of it for the vivid descriptions of child rape, sexual mutilation and unspeakable torture were just a bit much to visualize. At times, especially towards the end, I had to put the book down to catch my breath!
Read...more
This book is not for the light-hearted, and it's not a light read. It is, however, a deeply moving and disturbing story about children in the sex slavery trade in India. It is not meant to be an enjoyable read, but it is a book that brings awareness about the problem of children sex slavery throughout the world.
Batuk is only 9 years old when her family sells her into sex slavery. She is brough to Mumbai by her father and left in a brothel with a newfound "uncle." She refers to her...more
Batuk is only 9 years old when her family sells her into sex slavery. She is brough to Mumbai by her father and left in a brothel with a newfound "uncle." She refers to her...more
I have been wanting to read this novel for about 18 months. However, I initially didn't read the novel because I had my doubts about whether an American male could write a female character - a character who is an Indian teen when the novel begins. (And yes, I also struggle with women who try to write male protagonists). I've picked up and put down this novel numerous times in the last year and a half. And so I was rather excited when it made my book club's list of books. While I found the parts ...more
I wish I liked this book more. It's the story of a 9 year old girl sold into prostitution in the filthy slums of Mumbai by her parents. Batuk narrates her story and records her grim experiences in a blue notebook. This novel was inspired by the author's experiences interviewing homeless children in India, in particular one girl who wrote in a journal outside her "nest".
While the concept of the novel is noble, and indeed the proceeds of the book go directly to help exploite...more
While the concept of the novel is noble, and indeed the proceeds of the book go directly to help exploite...more
This is a really, really, really, really violent little book about child prostitution in India. The main character is Batuk, a little girl with a really really really really stupid father. When she is nine, her father goes bankrupt and sells her into prostitution. She winds up on the common street in Mumbai as a whore where she manages to obtain the blue notebook that becomes her journal. In it she records her thoughts. She's really really really really really smart and really really really real...more
The Blue Notebook was written by a British-born doctor from the Mayo Clinic, Dr. James Levine. As part of his medical research, he interviewed homeless children in Mumbai. This book came from those interviews, the main character is inspired by one small girl sitting outside her cage writing in a notebook. I was very skeptical of an author who writes from a place of incredible amount of privilege in the voice of an extremely marginalized protagonist, but I suspended judgement until after I read i...more
What a horrifying story. From the book jacket, the story of how this book was written is told. Levine, a doctor at the Mayo Clinic, was interviewing homeless children on a street in Mumbai where the child prostitutes work. A young woman was writing in a notebook outside of her cage. This captured his attention and, in turn, resulted in this book.
The imagery is horrifying - too much so, in my opinion. I understand that the author was trying to impress upon his readers the gravity...more
The imagery is horrifying - too much so, in my opinion. I understand that the author was trying to impress upon his readers the gravity...more
If a book can tear your heart out, then The Blue Notebook by James Levine M.D. is the book to do it. How can such a heartbreaking story be so beautiful?
This is the story of Batuk, a fifteen year old girl sold into sexual slavery at age nine. Batuk writes in the blue notebook between customers and tells us of her life. Her writing also reveals her own imagination, resillisance, wisdom and naivety. Batuk is an astute observer of others and we get to see some of what her world is like....more
This is the story of Batuk, a fifteen year old girl sold into sexual slavery at age nine. Batuk writes in the blue notebook between customers and tells us of her life. Her writing also reveals her own imagination, resillisance, wisdom and naivety. Batuk is an astute observer of others and we get to see some of what her world is like....more
Upton Sinclair wrote a painfully graphic book about the horrors of Chicago's meat-packing district, The Jungle. He later famously said, "I aimed at the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach."
Dr. Levine does much the same in his book, The Blue Notebook. This is one of the most difficult and painful books I have ever read. Batuk writes in a beautifully lyrical voice, and so it is all the more jarring when she turns from her happy and playful thoughts and dre...more
Dr. Levine does much the same in his book, The Blue Notebook. This is one of the most difficult and painful books I have ever read. Batuk writes in a beautifully lyrical voice, and so it is all the more jarring when she turns from her happy and playful thoughts and dre...more
There are some books that I just can’t wait to read. I’m excited about them and I know I’m going to love them just for their pure entertainment value. The Blue Notebook is not one of those books, though since it was hugely enlightening I am very glad I read it.
The story follows a 15 year-old prostitute in Mumbai who finds a pencil and begins writing the story of her life. Batuk manages to find a level of comfort through writing her thoughts and experiences as she goes about her work....more
The story follows a 15 year-old prostitute in Mumbai who finds a pencil and begins writing the story of her life. Batuk manages to find a level of comfort through writing her thoughts and experiences as she goes about her work....more
This is definitely not a book for children. It covers some of the same ground as the movie Slumdog Millionaire. Batuk was 9 when her father sold her into prostitution in Mumbai. She is "nested" on the Common Street, where Mamaki Briila oversees the girls and one boy, Puneet, who is Batuk's good friend. The story begins as Batuk is 15. She keeps writings of her days, because she was taught to read and write in the hospital where she spent months recovering from TB, and because one of th...more
“You can never fully straighten bent metal; you can only make it less bent.”
Sometimes when I read a book that is particularly affecting, I refer to it as “life altering.” But when I refer to The Blue Notebook as life altering, it isn’t to remark of its genius rendition, sumptuous prose, or eerily strong characterization. Simply put; The Blue Notebook by James Levine so thoroughly disturbed me, it left me haunted. I think we all know that the sickening practice of child sex slavery...more
Sometimes when I read a book that is particularly affecting, I refer to it as “life altering.” But when I refer to The Blue Notebook as life altering, it isn’t to remark of its genius rendition, sumptuous prose, or eerily strong characterization. Simply put; The Blue Notebook by James Levine so thoroughly disturbed me, it left me haunted. I think we all know that the sickening practice of child sex slavery...more
The Blue Notebook is the story of a little girl in India who is sold into the lowest brothel in Mumbai by her father. Batuk is sweet, innocent and educated to read and write. Her father, a man with a weakness for women, falls into debt. To feed himself and be able to continue seeing women other than Batuk's mother, he sells her. In the brothel, Batuk weaves beautiful stories in which she imagines she is a princess living in a golden bower in order to cope with her life. She makes one close frien...more
Pretty heartbreaking and graphic so don't approach this lightly.
Batuk's flights of fancy, ways of escape from the grim reality of her life, make this book special. They helped me feel as though I was getting to know her, the way I would sit with any kid and listen to them tell me the crazy things they talk about.
That said, I had a rough time with the extravagant grammar used throughout the book because though I think Batuk would have used that type of language if she kne...more
Batuk's flights of fancy, ways of escape from the grim reality of her life, make this book special. They helped me feel as though I was getting to know her, the way I would sit with any kid and listen to them tell me the crazy things they talk about.
That said, I had a rough time with the extravagant grammar used throughout the book because though I think Batuk would have used that type of language if she kne...more
Louise
rated it
Recommends it for:
child sex slavery, india, human rights
Recommended to Louise by:
Denver Public Library
Let's be clear: this young woman is a sex-slave, not a prostitute. She will never see any of the money that she brings in for her captors. She was sold into this life by her father so that he could "save the farm".
If she lives to be old enough to be turned out of sex-slavery, she will still be used in the industry to "break" the new girls; we see her future in the old woman who prepares her to be broken by the highest bidder: her new "uncle".
...more
If she lives to be old enough to be turned out of sex-slavery, she will still be used in the industry to "break" the new girls; we see her future in the old woman who prepares her to be broken by the highest bidder: her new "uncle".
...more
Levine's story of Batuk, a fifteen-year-old girl living in Mumbai as a prostitute, is a difficult story to sum up without the revealing all of the different aspects of this somewhat haunting story.
As Batuk navigates her existence, she finds different ways to cope with her world around her; the various escapes from reality and distractions she finds are the most compelling part of the book, because it is through these images that she is able to tell her story in a way that she is able...more
As Batuk navigates her existence, she finds different ways to cope with her world around her; the various escapes from reality and distractions she finds are the most compelling part of the book, because it is through these images that she is able to tell her story in a way that she is able...more
This was a bitter heart-wrenching modern day tale.... a young girl sold into prostitution in Mumbai by her poor parents, the heinous life she leads in her 'cage' as it is literally called and literally is, and how life and food and reasonable treatment are all contingent on how well and how often she 'makes sweet-cakes' with her customers. The author of the Kite Runner aptly reviewed this book by saying it is "a deeply moving story and a searing reminder of the resilience of the human spiri...more
I'm one of the few apparently who really didn't like this novel. I thought the plot overly contrived and shallow, too specific to the protagonist's view point (narration is first person, something I don't think works when you are trying for a novel which is hoping for a "people are resilient" feel, as espoused in the blurb). Yes, child prostitution is rife over there, class society is unfair, people are mean, power corrupts, and everyone gets by in the best way they can... I'm not l...more
This is a fascinating story written in a journal format at times about a young girl sold into sexual slavery in India. We follow her tragic life from age nine to fifteen.
It is obviously fiction but is supposedly based on true accounts of child prostitution over there. I wasn't aware of some of the goings on over there until I read this. If things are really like the book describes, it makes me appreciate how safe things are here in the U.S. for children.
It would be...more
It is obviously fiction but is supposedly based on true accounts of child prostitution over there. I wasn't aware of some of the goings on over there until I read this. If things are really like the book describes, it makes me appreciate how safe things are here in the U.S. for children.
It would be...more
Batuk writes in a blue notebook of her sexual encounters as she is sold into a type of orphanage that exists solely to profit from the sadistic torture of children. The words she writes are haunting and yet Batuk still writes with a teenager-inspired attitude. Disturbing and dirty are the perfect adjectives for this read. Although the storyline is on the outrageous and shocking side, the actual writing was fluid and pleasant, for quite an unpleasant topic. There were synonyms used for certain th...more
Kathy
added it
I found that despite the subject matter, this was an easy read. Batuk, a 15-year old prostitute living in an impoverished area in Mumbai, India, has one foot rooted in the world of fantasy and childhood and the other foot rooted in a harsh reality where violence is commonplace, almost expected. The language she uses to describe the unspeakable, horrible acts she witnesses and she herself endures often seek to create a sense of escapism from her situation. She looks to inanimate objects, such as ...more
Batuk is a 15 year-old Indian girl that was sold into prostitution at the age of 9 by her father (we never really find out the reason why, but there is a reference to the father having lost everything). The Blue Notebook is a journal written by Batuk in between her sessions of “making sweet-cake” with her customers. In this journal she tells us of her life prior to being sold - what it was like living by the river, her family, her bout with TB and how she was taught to read and write by the nur...more
From my blog:
I picked this book after a I read its review at my friend Ramya's blog. Let me warn you at the outset that this book is a very powerful and disturbing read!! It gives you a peek into the life of a 15 year old child prostitute, Batuk, who lives in the city of Bombay in India.
The book describes various incidents from Batuk's childhood-her happy times with her family and also talks about the circumstances which led to her being sold at the tender age of 9, to a...more
I picked this book after a I read its review at my friend Ramya's blog. Let me warn you at the outset that this book is a very powerful and disturbing read!! It gives you a peek into the life of a 15 year old child prostitute, Batuk, who lives in the city of Bombay in India.
The book describes various incidents from Batuk's childhood-her happy times with her family and also talks about the circumstances which led to her being sold at the tender age of 9, to a...more
I will think of Batuk for the rest of my life. She's not a fictional character. She is a representation of millions of children living the nightmare that is child sex slavery. Its not something we want to think about but its something we have to think about. Ignorance is not bliss. These kids need help. We are their hope. I was very happy to find out all the proceeds for this book are going to a foundation that is trying to change this very serious issue. I wish I could by a bulk order of this b...more
NOTE: The author's U.S. royalties from this novel are being donated to the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children (www.icmec.org) and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (www.missingkids.com). For more information, visit www.BatukFoundation.org.
Little Batuk's tale is tragic and horrifying - being sold into sexual slavery by her father at the young age of nine.
I understand the concern and protest of some reviewers before me regarding the gr...more
Little Batuk's tale is tragic and horrifying - being sold into sexual slavery by her father at the young age of nine.
I understand the concern and protest of some reviewers before me regarding the gr...more
I received this book in the mail. I opened the packaged, sat down, and read the entire book. My daughter found the book on my nightstand, took it to her room, and stayed up all night reading the entire book.
The book was riveting. I found it to be life-changing- I had heard of child slavery but I don't think it was actually real to me until I read this graphic story. I am haunted and disturbed that places exist where children are valued only as a way to make money. I don't think I will eve...more
The book was riveting. I found it to be life-changing- I had heard of child slavery but I don't think it was actually real to me until I read this graphic story. I am haunted and disturbed that places exist where children are valued only as a way to make money. I don't think I will eve...more
The Blue Notebook by James Levine is told in the point of view of Batuk, a young girl who has been sold into prostitution by her father. From then on, she works through several places, including the streets of Mumbai, then being bought from place to place where her final place ends up being in some sort of hotel.
It's a hard read. Although being only two hundred pages, it is an account in extreme graphic detail of Batuk's life after being sold by her father. She does not skimp away t...more
It's a hard read. Although being only two hundred pages, it is an account in extreme graphic detail of Batuk's life after being sold by her father. She does not skimp away t...more
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I won an advanced copy of this book and received it in the mail today. I read the book in one sitting - no joke. I was riveted by the story.
Batuk, a nine-year old Indian girl, is sold into sex slavery. At fifteen, she understands her lot in life, but believes in something more... and she finds it with pen and paper. Despite the abuses at so many hands, she is resilient and hopeful.
Beautifully heartbreaking... a harsh, lyrical read that I highly recommend. Well-crafte...more
Batuk, a nine-year old Indian girl, is sold into sex slavery. At fifteen, she understands her lot in life, but believes in something more... and she finds it with pen and paper. Despite the abuses at so many hands, she is resilient and hopeful.
Beautifully heartbreaking... a harsh, lyrical read that I highly recommend. Well-crafte...more
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