This is a fascinating story that keeps the reader hopping between generations and continents, on common threads of the human condition. I recommend it – it is written beautifully, in wonderful prose.

That having been said, I caution that it is not the most enlightening book about India, or about immigrants. It also does not have the most descriptive prose or unique writing style. When I get around to reading the rest of the short list for the Booker for 2006, perhaps it will shine brightly, but at the moment, while I do recommend it, I am comparing it to other Booker winners, and it pales a bit.

The Inheritance of Loss covers a wide territory – different countries, the past and the present (with the future being hinted at), and the social, religious and ethnic diversity within India itself. Initially this is rather daunting. I wondered where the book was going, although I really loved the the atmospheric description of the decaying house and suspected this signalled what was to come.

This book grew on me as the story developed and the threads began to draw together. The major themes in this book seem to be -

Migration, both between India and other countries, and also within India. None of the major characters is actually a native of the part of India the book is set in, so there is this sense of not belonging, of being an outsider.

Disillusionment – the young start off being optimistic and idealistic (Sai, Biju and Gyan) while the old people (the judge, the cook) have lost whatever hopes they once had.

The impact of history on the individual – not only is the story set in a time of political upheaval, the changing shape of India from before independence to the present day has affected the destiny of the main characters.

Loss – the main characters have all lost close family members. This explains many of their emotions and actions.

All the above may seem slightly depressing and rather heavy going. However I really enjoyed this book, because of the way the story portrays the characters’ lives against the backdrop of recent history, and because of the absolutely wonderful descriptive passages. These evoke the atmosphere of the place, linking in the emotions of the main characters at the same time.

I consider The Inheritance of Loss definitely worth reading. In fact I’m planning to read it again as I think I probably missed a lot the first time around because there is so much in the book.

I’m not sure how this book won anything. There were a few nuggets of nice phrasing or imagery scattered throughout, but mostly the book was just a bunch of mostly disparate stories interwoven (and being chopped up into too-small pieces in order to do that) into a loose mass. The author didn’t take the trouble to make me care about any of the characters, nearly none of whom had enough development to make them stand out more than giving them different names did (and several pairs of characters might as well have been one person, considering their sameness and the lack of anything they brought to the story).
Oh, and what’s with the typesetting? My copy was printed so low on the page I had to hold my hand under the book in case some words fell off while I was reading. I’d expect that in a cheapy mass market paperback, but not in a shiny new hardcover.

tediously opaque