Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity in Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge

Oct 02, 2012 Jeff Scott rated it really liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, poverty, e-book, india

Beyond the Beautiful Forevers is a tough book to get through. One of the harshest realizations in the slums of India is that the help and support being sent isn't going to those who need it most. It is a system that exploits that charity and runs on corruption. Nicholas Kristoff first broached the topic in his book Half the Sky. He wanted to provide solutions that really helped the population. Katherine Boo's book almost highlights how fruitless that effort can be. Everywhere you turn poor slum ...more

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Apr 30, 2014 Sharlene rated it it was amazing

Shelves: non-fiction, ebook, 2014

this is a tough read. And I mean that in a gutwrenching, heartbreaking kind of read. To know that these are the actual lives of people, of children, living or rather trying desperately to survive in the slums. The corruption, the poverty, the deaths, they are all not something that were made up. Sure, we see those statistics in the newspapers every day. We know that there are very many men, women and children who live in poverty, who can barely make ends meet. But to read of their stories, to kn ...more

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Aug 23, 2013 Jane rated it really liked it

I was hesitant to read at first. Didn't think that Boo had found a believable voice for the people who inhabit this garbage city on the edge of Mumbai. Rave reviews from fellow Goodreads readers convinced me to try again. I'm glad I did. It's an amazing window into a world that is so distant from suburban Philadelphia. I got over the fact that Boo often chooses literary language to convey the characters' thoughts. Before long I was swept up in the lives of these characters. I'm so glad I read it ...more

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