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Animal's People: A Novel

by Indra Sinha

3.76 · rating details · 644 ratings · 131 reviews

"I used to be human once. So I'm told. I don't remember it myself, but people who knew me when I was small say I walked on two feet, just like a human being..."

Ever since he can remember, Animal has gone on all fours, his back twisted beyond repair by the catastrophic events of "that night" when a burning fog of poison smoke from the local factory blaz

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Paperback, 366 pages

Published March 4th 2008 by Simon & Schuster (first published 2007)

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books with compelling young narrators

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Nov 18, 2009

jo rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: hard to understand why some people didn't like it

Recommended to jo by: Merike

Shelves: south-asia, the-body, kids, blew-my-mind, books-i-teach, trauma

Animal is a teenage boy who, as a consequence of the bhopal disaster of 1984, which is here thinly fictionalized maybe for legal reasons, is bent at the bottom of his spine and thus forced to walk on all fours. on the day of the disaster his parents dropped baby Animal in front of a convent of french nuns, almost certainly before going to their death, and it is one of these nuns, Ma Franci, who raised him. Animal developed his deformity when he was no longer a baby, so his early years were norma...moreAnimal is a teenage boy who, as a consequence of the bhopal disaster of 1984, which is here thinly fictionalized maybe for legal reasons, is bent at the bottom of his spine and thus forced to walk on all fours. on the day of the disaster his parents dropped baby Animal in front of a convent of french nuns, almost certainly before going to their death, and it is one of these nuns, Ma Franci, who raised him. Animal developed his deformity when he was no longer a baby, so his early years were normal and an object of much regret for him, who does not remember them except through Ma Franci’s stories.

i feel i can do little justice to the intense poetry of this book. Animal, who refuses to be called by any other name or, for that matter, act in any other way (as least until he meets the people who constitute the main characters of the story), is both profoundly dejected and much in touch with the wry tenderness of life through an indefatigable, irresistible, tremendous sense of discovery and laughter. this book, so sodden with tragedy and despair, is also extremely funny. the language is probably the most obscene i've ever read but it's also really childish and joyful, Animal's flaunting of life while diving deep into its delights (just like he did as a kid, in artificial ponds chock full of poison).

according to the author's blurb, indra sinha has been working for years to raise funds for the victims of the bhopal disaster (looks like the american company that's responsible for it, Union Carbide, doesn't believe in reparation or even just cleaning up). i imagine this man as he ruminates how to write a novel about this horrible tragedy and comes up with this, and it strikes me as genius.

the language of the novel is, to me, one of its main attraction. a native hindi speaker, Animal "writes" the book by tape-recording his story in english for a journalist who asked him to do so. he also knows french (or some version of it) thanks for Ma Franci, who only understands and speaks french and, in the craziness of her old age, thinks that all other languages are unintelligible sounds people use because they are brutes. the resulting language is for the most part really lovely english, but the generous detours into crazy transliterations of Animal's perception of english words he doesn't know, french, and hindi, make the writing exhilarating (there is a glossary at the end but after a bit i felt i got the hindi just fine, even though, obviously, i don't know a word of it).

speaking about the novel's bitter critique of american and corporate callousness and first world's indifference to the plight of the poor on whose back it builds its wealth is stating the obvious. you feel this must have been sinha's original intent, at which he succeeds perfectly. but this novel plays way beyond its political scope. it's love story, coming of age, meditation on the body, exploration of the doomed sexuality of the disabled, fairy tale about the large soul of the poor and blistering indictment of the rich and powerful who keep them so by deception and betrayal, political reflection on revolution, and, ultimately, a traditionally plotted story of reversals and errors with a {blank} ending.

i love many things about this book, and a number of long scenes and narrative threads are truly priceless, but let me mention here just one. the city of bhopal is renamed khaufpur (i wouldn't be surprised if there were a play on words here). sinha describes the khaufpuri poor as united beyond religion, which is saying something given the history of india. muslims and hindus mingle seamlessly in the slums of khaufpur because their enemies are outside – in the "kampani" that ruined their lives and the corrupt indian politicians who are colluding with it. when an american doctor comes into town to open a free clinic for the damaged poor of khaufpur, though, this dream-turned-reality doesn't quite work. the poor of khaufpur find it impossible to accept the help of the american woman.

the reason for this may seem obvious – why trust americans? but what struck me is the way in which sinha represents the delicate interaction of people of vastly different cultures and, also, power quotient. offering, and getting the other to accept, help does not end with the simple act of offering. it requires an active cultural and political engagement that involves the whole being of the offerer, especially when the offerer is assimilated by the one who needs help with the perpetrator. you hear all the time in this first world of ours about "solutions" for the problems of the third world (i'm just going to mention the war in afghanistan and our intent to bring democracy -- thank goodness the word "freedom" has been dropped by the american diplomatic language -- to this country). in reality, nothing good will happen before we realize that we don't know the other. when we think we do, we dehumanize and objectify them, we actively do violence to them.

the resistance of the citizens of khaufpur may not be entirely realistic but it speaks of a need for intercultural translations that is the conditio sine qua non of cooperation.

the other day some of my friends lost their cool at obama's bow to the emperor of japan. it seemed to them an unthinkable act of submission (what, we are bowing to the japanese?!) AND the recognition/sanctioning of an antiquate and oppressive hierarchical system. but, really, who is obama to dictate the way the japanese see themselves? no one, as he clearly understood. this, i think, is the question that sinha asks himself throughout this book: who are we to claim we understand the needs of others?

in case i’m giving the impression that this is a sentimental and earnest book, well, no, it isn’t. it’s as irreverent as they come, and hilarious, and not one serious moment happens that is not quickly demolished by Animal’s (or someone else’s) sharp-as-a-blade cynical, hardscrabble realism.
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Nov 08, 2007

Jesse rated it

· review of another edition

Animal's People is a clever book. As with his first novel, The Death of Mr Love, author Indra Sinha again strives to be the Indian answer to Nabokov with his sly double-meanings and quick wordplay. However, despite effectively tackling an important issue—the Bhopal chemical disaster of 1984—Animal's People is perhaps too clever for its own good. Unless you have expert knowledge of Urdu, Hindi and French in addition to English (I don't) subtleties will be missed. Additionally, as with Mr Love, th...more

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Jul 19, 2007

Sarah rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: all!

Intense and beautiful book, based on the story of the Bhopal chemical disaster in India. Read it!

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Oct 07, 2008

Beth F. rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: dystopia-and-apocalyptica, 2008, 9-11-reference, 1001-books, eastern-hemisphere

This book was hard for me to get into. It was one of those books that I was content to read while I was physically holding the open book on my lap. But as soon as I put it down to go do something else, I felt no compulsion whatsoever to pick it up again. Something about the way the characters spoke reminded me of Yoda (it was very silly) and the author’s wordplay fell on deaf ears where I was concerned because I don’t speak French, Hindi OR Urdu. Even with the assistance of the glossary at t...moreThis book was hard for me to get into. It was one of those books that I was content to read while I was physically holding the open book on my lap. But as soon as I put it down to go do something else, I felt no compulsion whatsoever to pick it up again. Something about the way the characters spoke reminded me of Yoda (it was very silly) and the author’s wordplay fell on deaf ears where I was concerned because I don’t speak French, Hindi OR Urdu. Even with the assistance of the glossary at the back of the book to help define many of the non-English words, I felt like I’d been left out of some clever joke (to make myself feel better I’m blaming it on the fact that I’m not a librarian, I didn’t major in literature, I’m not a teacher and I actually work in the financial industry so I’m basically a nonentity in the literary world and am not supposed to “get” clever books). Anyway, despite my difficulties with the writing style, I thought the story was okay and was definitely curious about what would happen in the end.

The narrator is Animal, a fictional young man who survived a tragedy that is mirrored after the Bhopal Gas Tragedy in India from the mid 1980’s. As a result of his exposure to the poisonous gases released in that explosion, Animal’s spine was damaged so seriously that he is forced to walk on all fours (hence the nickname Animal). He lost both his parents in the accident and the one person he looks to as a parent is Ma Franci, an aging, French nun who herself is suffering from some mental deficiencies as a result of poison exposure.

Animal has spent much of his life in the streets of Khaufpur, India, running scams that have gotten him in trouble with the local authorities but that earn him enough of an income to buy food for himself and Ma Franci. But Animal’s life changes for the better when he meets Nisha, a young woman close to his age who doesn’t mistreat Animal because of his disability. He quickly falls in love with her. He also meets Zafar, who is a cross between a humanitarian and an activist. Zafar urges Animal to get involved with his work by helping local people and demanding someone take accountability for the factory explosion.

Life is shaken up for all the residents of Khaufpur when Elli Barber, an American doctor unexpectedly arrives in town and announces her intent to open a free clinic for sick people who can’t afford the fees charged by the government hospital. Unfortunately, Zafar believes that Dr. Barber is some sort of secret operative employed by the company that caused the tragedy and refuses to take responsibility and make amends to those who were harmed. He manages to convince the rest of the residents in the neighborhood of her suspected ill intent and warns them to stay away.

They boycott her clinic. Antics ensue. Can their differences ever be resolved? And so goes the plot.

To a big extent, Animal is the kind of character you can’t help but pity. He is constantly ostracized by his neighbors and even many of the people he considers “friends” taunt and torment him at inappropriate moments. However, by the end of the book, Animal makes some surprising decisions and stands up for himself in an honorable way and my opinion of him changed significantly by the end of the book once I realized that he had grown into a strong, intelligent young man. His character shows that the adaptability of human beings is amazing.

However, I should warn that if you are sensitive to hardcore swearing and reading about a young man’s obsessive desire to get laid for the first time, this might not be the book for you. Animal is a sexually vulgar character who swears freely and openly narrates his opinions about masturbation, climbing trees to spy on his nude, female friends and trying to cope with his seemingly constant struggle of getting unwanted erections in public places. Several of the characters engage in repeated conversations about the unusual size of Animal’s penis and how unfortunate it is that such a magnificent tool is attached to someone no woman would want to sleep with.

I didn’t think this was a fabulous book but neither did I hate it. I can’t think of anyone off the top of my head who absolutely needs to rush out and read this book immediately but it was okay. If you like wordplay, reading about how people cope with impossible situations and don’t mind flipping back and forth between the story and the dictionary of Hindi/Urdu curse words in the back, you might want to give this one a shot.
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Jan 20, 2009

Nancy rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: booker-prize-nominee

I wasn't even 30 at the time of the original Union Carbide Bhopal disaster, but remember thinking that this was one of the worst things I'd ever heard about in my life. Now I've revisited a slice of that incident here in Animal's People by Indra
Sinha. And what I think is simply the best part of this novel is that now other people who may not have ever known about what happened when this disaster occurred, or those who weren't even born at the time may gain some interest in the topic.
...more

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Oct 16, 2007

Vanessa rated it

· review of another edition

I felt like I was being re-told a the same thread-bare story. Much of what was beautiful about this book felt unoriginal. Oh, look, the crippled narrator is falling in love with an idealistic girl. I bet you $5 he can't have her, but is too noble to do anything else about it, and then is resigned--cheerfully so--about her relationship to another man. What, no bet? Oops.

I bet he rages against his fate and then gratefully accepts it. C'mon, bet me a measly $5. Hosw about $2?

...more

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Aug 14, 2007

Deeksha Kapoor rated it

· review of another edition

Just put down this book, and I’m left a little confused whether I liked it or not. It is the first time I am reading a fictional story set against the back drop of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy in India. The author does a commendable job describing the life of the main protagonist - Animal - a survivor of the Bhopal gas tragedy; who is forced him move on all fours like an animal due to the poisonous affect on his body. The story is narrated through his eyes and you can very easily visualise the life ar...more

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Aug 16, 2011

Lisa rated it

· review of another edition

I picked this book up in the library after searching India--fiction. Couldn't have guessed what I was getting into. Turns out to look like its about the shadowed poor but its equally about the quiet giant of American capitalism. Great book. Animal makes a very interesting character. I would reccomend this book to many readers especially those whose tap water stills runs and runs and runs while doing the dishes or brushing their teeth!

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Sep 22, 2008

Colleen Fuller rated it

· review of another edition

This is one of the best books I've ever read and helped me understand some of the impact on the people of Bhopal, India, who suffered the consequences of Union Carbide's chemical explosion and its on-going refusal to take responsibility for it or for the pollution from the plant. According to Amnesty Internationl, "UCC continues to refuse to appear before the court in Bhopal to face trial and the Indian Supreme Court-endorsed final settlement has left survivors living in penury." Dow, ...more

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Mar 12, 2009

Paula rated it

· review of another edition

Though a work of fiction, this novel is based upon the 1984 middle-of-the-night Union Carbide poison gas leak in Bhopal, India. The depth and breadth of the long lasting sufferings, not to mention deaths, that can be attributed to this event coupled with a lack of admission of culpability by Union Carbide is profoundly shameful to me as an American. I had never heard about this horrible catastrophe until I met Animal and his people.

Animal was just a baby the night the poison gas leak...moreThough a work of fiction, this novel is based upon the 1984 middle-of-the-night Union Carbide poison gas leak in Bhopal, India. The depth and breadth of the long lasting sufferings, not to mention deaths, that can be attributed to this event coupled with a lack of admission of culpability by Union Carbide is profoundly shameful to me as an American. I had never heard about this horrible catastrophe until I met Animal and his people.

Animal was just a baby the night the poison gas leaked from the nearby factory in the middle of the night. The gas killed his parents and the rest of his family, leaving the baby boy an orphan. As Animal grew, the effects of the gas twisted his spine causing him to walk on all fours. When the story opens, Animal (the name the boy has chosen for himself) is nineteen and lives alone in the ruins of the factory, but his world expands when Nisha, a girl his own age, befriends him in town one day.

Abject poverty is a daily fact for those who live in and near Khaufpur (fictionalized Bhopal), and life is hard. Yet, when Elli Barber, an American doctor, sets up a free clinic, she tells Animal that an operation in America could straighten his spine. Animal begins to dream of the day he will stand erect and declare his love for Nisha, a day when he will once again be human. Nisha, however, is in love with the selfless activist, Zafar, who seeks justice from the Indian courts and punishment for the Kampani, whose American officials fled India that horrible, long ago night. Never called to account (Indian government officials were often paid off), the Kampani has never acknowledged its responsibility to the Khaufpuris, leaving the people to drink the poisoned water and grow food in the contaminated soil. Babies continue to be born with birth defects. People slowly go mad or die from painful, chronic illnesses. Will there ever be justice for Animal and his people? And will there ever be justice for the real life Bhopalis?

A note of warning: Animal's thoughts and expressions can be quite vulgar and can take some getting used to.(less)

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Nov 12, 2011

Jian Barazi rated it

· review of another edition

In the book "Animal's People" it tells the tale of a young boy who has been deformed due to a nearby chemical factory disposing of their waste improperly. The boy doesn't speak English, so a journalist went, had him explain his life day by day into a tape recorder and the journalist then wrote it up.
This story is all based on true life experiences. The boy who is called Animal by everyone and himself lives in the poverty stricken city of Khaufpur. He lives with a crazy old nun na...more

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Aug 20, 2011

Alyssia Cooke rated it

· review of another edition

In 1984 one of the world’s largest industrial catastrophes happened; a pesticide factory in Bhopal leaked poisonous gasses into the surrounding area, thousands died many more were severely affected by the leak and the people responsible refused to take the rap. It was before my time, before I was even born and I am ashamed to admit I had never even heard of the disaster. Until I read this book. And if there’s one thing I can get across to you, it’s that you should read this book. If the Bhopal a...more

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May 21, 2009

Stephanie rated it

· review of another edition

THIS novel was one of the six shortlisted for the 2007 Man Booker Prize, and it’s not hard to see why.

First, the ripped-from-the-headlines premise: The people of Khaufpur, a
poverty-stricken Indian city ravaged by the leak from an American chemical plant, seek justice from the company.

This comes with some big themes: globalisation, culture clashes, self versus society and social responsibility.

Then there’s the cantankerous narrator. Animal is a teenager w...more

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May 05, 2009

Michelle rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

Shortlisted for the Booker Prize, Sinha's prose hits you like a punch in the face. Although our book club was not enamored with the story (primarily because of the lead character's in-your-face attitude), all members agreed that it was well worth reading.
Synopsis review from the Times Literary Supplement:
"It is language that is the real hero of this Man Booker-shortlisted novel. The polyglot Animal communicates in an exhilarating torrent of words, a riddling rush of English, Fre...more

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Jul 25, 2011

Manu Prasad rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: review

"I used to be human once. So I'm told. I don't remember it myself, but people who knew me when I was small say I walked on two feet just like a human being.." That's how the book begins, and sets the tone and perspective for the book.

The title of the book could have been built around Khaufpur (based on Bhopal and its 1984 tragedy) as well, after all, the entire story hinges around the one night that changed life in the city forever. But Indra Sinha's success lies in creating a charact...more

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May 20, 2011

Fabian rated it

· review of another edition

Don't worry if you begin this book and want to put it away. If you do, you will be justified since the topic of the Bhopal disaster in Khaufpur in 1984 is just horrifying. You meet the main character (whose spine is so twisted as a result of the "Kampani" that he must go around on all fours) and you are immediately unsure that you want to take the Inferno-like trek through his hometown, so much devestation and woe is omnipresent. If you decide to put it away, oh well, too bad-- you are...more

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Jun 30, 2011

Mohd Nazmi Yaakub rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: india, inggeris, man-booker, novel, sastera

SUKAR untuk mengelak daripada jatuh cinta kepada novel Animal's People apatah lagi seawal ayat pertamanya sudah menyihir: ‘I used to be human once.’

Diangkat daripada tragedi kebocoran kilang pemprosesan bahan kimia di India, lebih 20 tahun lalu, pantas menjadikan isu Lynas dan letupan rektor nuklear di Jepun selepas dirempuh tsunami bagai tergantung-gantung sepanjang pembacaan.

Animal's People bergerak lancar selepas membawa kita mengenali watak utamanya, Animal, yang tiba-tib...more

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Oct 09, 2011

Siobhan Senier rated it

· review of another edition

Phenomenal, heartbreaking, beautiful. Had trouble putting it down. . and when I did have to put it down, could not stop thinking about it. This novel is based on the Bhopal disaster in India of the 1980s, when a pesticide plant operated by the American corporation Union Carbide leaked poisonous gas. The leak killed thousands immediately and has killed many more thousands since; Union Carbide (which has been bought by Dow Chemical) pulled out of India and left the facility leaching poison into...more

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Oct 16, 2009

Katrina rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: Those Who like Their Books a Little Off the Wall

Shelves: adult, historical-fiction

This book was hard for me to get into. Animal's People is a clever book but it was one of those books that, while I was content to read it while I was physically holding the open book on my lap, as soon as I put it down to go do something else, I felt no compulsion whatsoever to pick it up again. However, despite effectively tackling an important issue—the Bhopal chemical disaster of 1984—Animal's People is perhaps too clever for its own good. Unless you have expert knowledge of Urdu, Hindi an...moreThis book was hard for me to get into. Animal's People is a clever book but it was one of those books that, while I was content to read it while I was physically holding the open book on my lap, as soon as I put it down to go do something else, I felt no compulsion whatsoever to pick it up again. However, despite effectively tackling an important issue—the Bhopal chemical disaster of 1984—Animal's People is perhaps too clever for its own good. Unless you have expert knowledge of Urdu, Hindi and French in addition to English subtleties will be missed. Even with the assistance of the glossary at the back of the book to help define many of the non-English words, I felt like I’d been left out of some clever joke.

To a big extent, Animal is the kind of character you can’t help but pity. However, by the end of the book, Animal makes some surprising decisions and stands up for himself in an honorable way and my opinion of him changed significantly by the end of the book once I realized that he had grown into a strong, intelligent young man. His character shows that the adaptability of human beings is amazing.

Warning!!! In good consciousness, I have to warn that if you are sensitive to hardcore swearing and reading about a young man’s obsessive desire to get laid for the first time, this might not be the book for you. Animal is a sexually vulgar character who swears freely and openly narrates his opinions about masturbation, climbing trees to spy on his nude, female friends and trying to cope with his seemingly constant struggle of getting unwanted erections in public places. Several of the characters engage in repeated conversations about the unusual size of Animal’s penis and how unfortunate it is that such a magnificent tool is attached to someone no woman would want to sleep with. While I largely stopped noticing these things (as Animal matures, the foul language tapers off) it is definitely there.

I thought, this novel took a bizarre turn in the third act and rushed to an unsatisfying ending that seemed out of place with what came before. I can’t think of anyone off the top of my head who absolutely needs to rush out and read this book immediately but I’m glad a read it.
Recommended, but certainly not everyone's cup of chai.
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Jul 16, 2009

Janet Lindsay rated it

· review of another edition

A piece of fiction based on the Union Carbide Gas leak in Bhopal India based around the main character of Animal, so called as he walks around on all fours as a result of being crippled by the gas poison effect.

Brilliant. Highly original in use of language and scope. Animal is a highly cocky but likeable character who negotiates the slums of the fictional Khaufpur sometimes with verve and sometimes melancholia but always with his libido well intact! We meet a group of people fi...more

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Sep 23, 2007

sisterimapoet rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: fiction2007

In Animal Sinha created a character that will stay with the reader for a long long time. He takes you by the hand and leads you through his world, seeing things through his eyes. His distinctive voice will infect your thoughts until you find yourself speaking in his tongue at unexpected moments.

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Sep 03, 2009

Jackie rated it

· review of another edition

This book features an unusual narrator--"Animal," a young man who was badly injured in an industrial accident and now walks on all fours. Animal lives in extreme poverty in an Indian slum, and at first seems to be rather an off-putting character. He's profane, he's a bit mad, he rails against the universe. But as I read, I grew to love him. His hopes and desires resonate, as do his faults and his pettiness. The book is based on an actual incident in which a Union Carbide factory accid...more

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Apr 20, 2011

Jo rated it

· review of another edition

Written in the voice of a young man called Animal, who walks on all fours as a result of a medical condition that stemmed from the chemical leak in his town. Raised by a loopy French nun, Animal has managed to figure out how to survive on next to nothing. This story chronicals his involvement with the group trying to seek justice in the courts from the American company (the Kampani) and with a American doctor who had turned up in his town with the expectation of healing the people injuring on...more

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Feb 27, 2009

Peter rated it

· review of another edition

This is the story of a streetboy living in "Khaufpur," a city in India very reminiscent of Bhopal. Animal, the protagonist so dubbed because of spinal deformities that force him to walk on all fours, guides the reader through both the city and attempts by advocates of the poor to gain some recognition and compensation for the chemical of explosion of the American "Kampanie" that occurred some years back. Animal also describes for the reader in exquisite detail his own passi...more

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Jan 06, 2012

Brian rated it

· review of another edition

I'd forgotten Bophal, but the word returned to me early in Animal's People. Corporations (and governments) like Union Carbide and Dow Chemical (and yes, the Canadian Government's recent approval of asbestos sales to India) count heavily on our short memories. In fact, it was just June 2010 when some of the employees responsible for the thousands of deaths and decades of suffering by the survivors finally received small fines and short sentences for their quarter century old crimes. A non-event...more

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Dec 11, 2009

Kirstie rated it

· review of another edition

This is a fictionalized account of someone severely effected physically by a chemical disaster in India. Indra Sinha raises money for and has a great knowledge of the Bhopal Chemical Disaster and it's clear he must have gotten some of his ideas from his experience knowing how damaging this was to so many people. Animal, the main character, is highly intriguing as a character...utterly human even though he insists on being called an Animal. He is instinctive and full of hope even when he knows...more

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Feb 08, 2012

Mary Winn rated it

· review of another edition

This book was incredible. I'm not going to lie, I approached it somewhat tentatively, due to my unjust scepticism in the face of books that take place in more exotic countries. I usually find them extremely difficult to engage with and spend half of the novel forcing myself to imagine the setting and the characters' cultures, but with Animal I slotted in immediately. His blunt, beautiful narration, mixes coarse colloquialisms with vibrant imagery and results in a book of oranges, reds, yellows, ...more

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Feb 20, 2008

Richard rated it

· review of another edition

I thought this was a truly excellent read. The characterisation is spot on and Animal's love of life is infectious. Loved the ending. Should have won the Booker Prize by a country mile.

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Dec 30, 2009

Vikas rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: man-booker

My sincere request to people who want to read Indian Fiction PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE avoid this book.(Same request goes to people who want to read something insightful on Bhopal Gas tragedy).

Pathetic potrayal of one of the saddest tragedy. I wanted to read about Bhopal tragedy so I picked this one (add to that booker nomination)... Books like this definitely questions the booker's shortlist.
To start with, the central character called "Animal",is from start to end annoyin...more

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Dec 11, 2008

Nancy rated it

· review of another edition

Fascinatingly set in a fictionalized version of Bhopal, a city that suffered a massive chemical plant explosion that led to the deaths of thousands.

The narrator is a self-serving, honest, horny, assholey victim of the explosion, forced to walk on all fours, and self-dubbed "Animal."

It's the narrator who makes the novel interesting, and maybe I'm just sad sack of shit and pessimism, but I was expecting the story to end in what I perceive to be a logical conclus...more

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About Indra Sinha

Indra Sinha (born in 1950 in Colaba, which is part of Mumbai in the state of Maharashtra, India) is a British writer of English and Indian descent. Formerly a copywriter for Collett Dickenson Pearce & Partners, Sinha has the distinction of having been voted one of the top ten British copywriters of all time.

Indra Sinha's books, in addition to his translations of ancient Sanskrit texts ...more

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Books by Indra Sinha

The Great Book of Tantra: Translations and Images from the Classic Indian Texts

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Quotes from Animal's People: A Novel

“At the end of time when God judges us humans, I just hope He remembers to judge Himself as well.” — 3 people liked it

“You're well enough looked after now' says Farouq. 'We are your friends. Don't we care about you? All this bitterness, it's in your own mind. To be accepted as a human being, you must behave like one. The more human you act, the more human you'll be.' He spoils the effect of this decent speech by adding with a smirk, 'Four-foot cunt.” — 3 people liked it

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Animal's People: A Novel

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