The Read Around The World Book Club discussion
May 2017 Malaysia
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Chapter 4 - 6
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Melanie
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Apr 26, 2017 08:46AM
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The chapter of the cremation and how the whole family deals with it is something else completely, we get to know them all a bit better and whilst I feel sorry for them, I am very weary to actually allow myself care too much about any of them as I have a feeling we will learn more about them later.
I have to say that I am really enjoying this book.
Melanie wrote: "I love the chapter titles. How do you think they reflect on the story told within those chapters?"They are most fitting - especially The Old Fashioned Courtship in chapter 4. Appa certainly was taking his time courting Amma, and having her two youngest brothers as chaperones! By bringing the food back to the family I thought was as sure sign he was ready to propose so that was still slow and steady.
I really liked chapter 4 as it was quite the insight into Amma's homelife and wow, how awful her father was to her! So terrible. Her mother checking out, leaving her daughter to do everything while she was solo in her room and oh how that woman's room must have smelled!!!!!!! Yes, Cinderella tones spoke loudly in parts. What a scene when Appa had brought the food for the family and they're all seated and then the mother comes out of her room! And the stench and the starting of the fan and blaming the smell on a neighbor. lol You have to wonder if Appa DID have a sense a smell ... how the story would differ, at all.
I thought Appa was quite loyal to his family - tending to get his sisters married off before he himself entered in a relationship. But his mother, Paati - how awful she was too to Amma and thinking her not worthy of her son.
In chapter 5, I wondered what all Uma was thinking before she was to go away. I thought it funny Paati was a hungry ghost :)
Appa is getting on my nerves in chapter 6 ... how he seems he is showing himself up by marrying Amma and all the seeds he sowed, how he harkens back to those times! It is good that he at least stands up for her when his mother continually goes negative about her. I thought how wrong it was for Paati to badmouth Uma's mother to her and then Uma doesn't seem to have respect or love for Amma. It was heartbreaking when they were going on the trip to her sister's and Uma didn't want to go with her! Amma wanting Uma to be by her side in that house of loneliness and bordem and of course, Uma sides with the others. Very sad for Amma. I have to wonder why she married him - she doesn't seem to have feeling for him but then she just swapped one house of ill for another.
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That's what I thought, did she really expect to be rescued?
Melanie wrote: "Tanya wrote: "Appa is getting on my nerves in chapter 6 ... how he seems he is showing himself up by marrying Amma and all the seeds he sowed, how he harkens back to those times! It is good that he..."During this time, Amma seems non-committal - almost numb what she is feeling, if anything, for Appa. I didn't sense a lovey-dovey feeling for Appa - more of an in aweness ... with his fancy car, his nice suit ... this is what an "English lawyer looked like" ... I don't think she put it all together in her head what being married to him would be. More of a trade for houses and what awaited her next door was different and yet the same in a way. I think she wanted to be rescued but maybe didn't really know what that all meant.
Ilka wrote: "I like how the book plays with my perception of the characters. In the chapters set in the 1980s I really dislike Amma and she seems to be both condescending and really ignorant. To then see where ..."The author does a very good job at keeping the reader engaged ... giving us a snippet here and there, in the present or past, and def makes me want more as each chapter moves on.
I'm afraid I'm still struggling to engage with this book. I really don't like a lot of the graphic imagery that is used, and often the humour just isn't my style. I still find the characters very two dimensional; for me depth is lacking. Often the characters seem to me to be mouthpieces for types of people rather than individuals.
The style of the continued hints of what actually happened to Paati is a bit too obvious for me. Again it is a personal taste. I do love a good mystery thread but this just doesn't do it for me.
The connection between the character of Raju and the political system is interesting in that I am learning about a part of the world, of which i have next to no knowledge. Again I think the link is a bit clumsy, sometimes feeling a bit forced in order to educate.
But ending on a positive I continue to enjoy Aasha very much indeed. When she is present I see this book world through different eyes, with heart and incredible perception. I also like how this world of ghosts exists whilst the rest of the characters are completely oblivious.
I felt really sorry for Amma , her upbringing with two unsuitable parents and how she has to care for her younger siblings. I was surprised that she changed as soon as she was married. Whilst you can understand she has to toughen up against her mother in law and Appa, however its how she treats people when she had first hand experience of bad treatment. At the moment I am feeling annoyed at all of them. Really enjoying it still.
oh BTW didn't like the sound of being handed a few leftover bones from the cremation!!!!
I am still finding it hard connecting with this book. I think the reason is just so that I'm not liking any of these characters except for Aasha. I thought the courtship was really strange. Everything including the proposal was devoid of any feeling.
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Malaysia's history is certainly an interesting one, I found this one interesting http://www.historytoday.com/richard-c...
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Yeah the bones! Such an odd thing to us...
Thanks for that article Mel. This books not as clear to me distinguishing what's happening from the historical side during the story as All The Rivers and I want to learn more.My heart goes out to Amma. What a lonely life. Living with a mother in law who doesn't like you maybe worse than a father that is mean to you? Because she is not blood..Idk. Doesn't excuse her for being mean to her Chellam but in a way, she has had to make a new character of herself, The Rich Wife, to protect herself to be able to survive. It is interesting how the pecking order shifts in the family once Uma is born. I did not expect this to be the reason why Uma is close with Paati.
Hopefully I did not screw up any of the characters names lol.
Found these chapters really interesting especially chapter 4 and 6, I felt so sorry for Amma swapping one bad house hold for another I also thought it was interesting how we saw Amma change in light of marriage and what Appa excepted of her, it was so sad the loneliness she felt. I really dislike Patti and feel she is injustly cruel to Amma and hasn't given her a proper chance and Amma just can't be herself. I am very curious to see what happened to Patti and feel maybe Uma had something to do with it. Really enjoying this now and although it's a slow read can't put it down.
Keriann wrote: "Found these chapters really interesting especially chapter 4 and 6, I felt so sorry for Amma swapping one bad house hold for another I also thought it was interesting how we saw Amma change in ligh..."It would have been interesting to know more about Paati's backstory - how did she become so nasty.
