The Cost of Living
by Arundhati Roy
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This selection is a misnomer -- I picked up one-half of this book, a pamphlet called "The End of Imagination," in India in 2000. Roy's fiction has never really interested me; her work has always been trumped by Jhumpa Lahiri, a similar but more intriguing fictioneer. But Roy's polemics are breathtaking: She describes nuclear war -- and damns the Indian nuclear proliferation program -- in the most aggressive language I've ever read on the subject. She writes with the brutal conciseness ...more
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Two great essays. One concerning the building of a damn in India and the other their first nuclear testing. Contains her famous quote:
To love. To be loved. To never forget you own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. T...more
To love. To be loved. To never forget you own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. T...more
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recommends it for:
EVERYONE!
Everyone must read this book! Her writing is poetic, and compelling. She displays complex political situations in such a light that you cannot help but laugh at the reality that is, and cry at her description of what should be. Arundhati was politically blacklisted and cannot return to her home in India as a result of these essays.
This book is comprised of two short essays on the state of India. One a commentary on India developing nuclear weaponry, and the other a look at the building of a ...more
This book is comprised of two short essays on the state of India. One a commentary on India developing nuclear weaponry, and the other a look at the building of a ...more
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Read in December, 2005
Terus terang aku tertarik dengan buku ini setelah membaca resensinya di Kompas. Who is Arundhati Roy? Aku menemukan bukunya di toko buku beberapa minggu kemudian dan langsung membeli. Ulasan yang sangat bagus. Orang-orang seperti Arundhati inilah yang dapat menggiring opini ke arah yang diinginkan. Semoga mereka diberkahi sehingga dengan tulisannya mampu merubah dunia menjadi tempat yang lebih baik. Aku masih mencari buku lainnya The God of Small Thing yang belum aku temukan sampai sekarang
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Read in May, 2008
Arundhati Roy writes a necessary polemic. Roy brings up real issues that cause real concern. Even more, she elucidates the terrible processes and ways by which governments quite simply screw over their peoples. Although the specific issues about which she writes are now slightly dated, the message remains clear and important.
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I think this book is better thanthe more popular, God of Small Things. I guess its apples & oranges to say that but her writing manages to be extremely beautiful and also so powerful that you want to drop what you're doing and go to India to stop dam-building. The second part about the bomb will take your breath away.
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Read in January, 2007
Definitely not the author's strongest work, the best part of this book might be the footnotes, which are extensive. Still, it is a useful, and passionate, introduction to some global issues that people need to know more about. Reader might do better with Roy's other book of essays on similar topics - "War Talk".
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Read in February, 2003
this was the first book i read by Roy and I fell in love with her. She is soo witty and sarcastic, I love it. But really this was really written well and it really puts the smack down on the dam issue in India and nuclear power issue between Pakistan and India.
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Read in March, 2008
Two essay's in Ms. Roy's normal fashion. One on India's giant dams, one on the use of nuclear warfare in India, so not your "God of Small Things" but beautifully written and so IMPORTANT! I love her ability to be angry and write poetically simultaneously!
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This book is so informative about a topic I had never broached- the Sardovar dams. It is very fascinating, especially for environmentalists. I think it's a win-win kind of read. And it's short.
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Two long essays about the Big Bad Indian government and its nuclear program and village-devastating large dams.
She's my hero - I don't hand that title out to many.
She's my hero - I don't hand that title out to many.
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Actually, I only got halfway through. It was not as engrossing as I had hoped, but then again, it's a different sort of book than I thought it would be.
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Read in May, 2008
After 5 months of trying to get through this book, I give up. I got about 1/3 of the way through it, but it's just too dry and cynical for my taste.
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Some people in India told me this was propaganda, but I still like it, and everything else she writes.
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Read in January, 2006
I just simply love her ability to speak frankly about the worlds' crises. A must read.
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Read in June, 2007
astonishing, a great paradox between government's Project and cultural heritage
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sleepless nights. Haven't dared to read any other of her non fiction work.
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Read in January, 1999
Like all her non-fiction, quite emotive for an essay, but I enjoy that.
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