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What Members Thought
I don't usually get all gushy over anything that's been written in the last 40 years or so, but I couldn't put this one down. The book describes the trials and hardships and yet more trials and hardships (there seem to be no positive experiences) of the residents of the Annawadi slum, "a stretch where new India and old India collided and made new India late."
The book reads like fiction: it is so very hard to believe that such a thoroughly corrupt system could exist in the current era of mobilit ...more
The book reads like fiction: it is so very hard to believe that such a thoroughly corrupt system could exist in the current era of mobilit ...more
It's a riddle... and it's not
As heartbreaking as the individual lives that are depicted in this book are, even more striking is Boo's unblinking assessment of human nature. Toward the end of this painfully honest book, the author ponders why the poor of slums like the one she writes about simply don't rise up and mount an insurrection. Then she answers her own question:
"But the slum dwellers rarely got mad together.... Instead, powerless individuals blamed other powerless individuals for what t ...more
As heartbreaking as the individual lives that are depicted in this book are, even more striking is Boo's unblinking assessment of human nature. Toward the end of this painfully honest book, the author ponders why the poor of slums like the one she writes about simply don't rise up and mount an insurrection. Then she answers her own question:
"But the slum dwellers rarely got mad together.... Instead, powerless individuals blamed other powerless individuals for what t ...more
Eye-opening, frustrating, unforgettable. The lives of these families in the slums of Mumbai are told matter of factly but make you want to scream about the injustices done to them by both the government and each other.
reads like fiction. sadly it's not.
...more
A great book on understanding insurmountable levels of poverty. Boo worked with translators and interviewers for four years to interview her subjects and help share their world.
Aug 27, 2012
Sam
marked it as to-read
Oct 20, 2012
Jen
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Dec 05, 2012
Lindsay
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Dec 28, 2012
Catherine
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Feb 10, 2013
Deedee
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Feb 28, 2013
J
marked it as to-read
So good.
Sep 29, 2014
Carey
is currently reading it
Jan 19, 2015
Andy Plonka
marked it as to-read
Mar 29, 2015
Stacey
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Mar 29, 2015
Alyson Zikmund
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Sep 09, 2015
Jocelyn
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Feb 08, 2016
Dana Arbelaez
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Mar 24, 2017
Jo
marked it as to-read
Sep 25, 2017
Anya
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