A state of freedom

a novel

No cover

Neel Mukherjee: A state of freedom (2018)

278 pages

English language

Published Nov. 5, 2018

ISBN:
978-0-393-29290-9
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OCLC Number:
988280796

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What happens when one attempts to exchange the life one is given for something better? Can we transform the possibilities we are born into?--Set in contemporary India and moving between the reality of this world and the shadow of another, this novel of multiple narratives--formally daring, fierce, but full of pity--delivers a devastating and haunting exploration of the unquenchable human urge to strive for a different life.

What happens when one attempts to exchange the life one is given for something better? Five characters in very different circumstances-- from a domestic cook in Mumbai, to a vagrant and his dancing bear, to a girl who escapes terror in her home village for a new life in the city-- find out the meanings of dislocation and the desire for more.

7 editions

I was really pretty disappointed by this audibook. Contrary to what the subtitle says this is not a novel, but a collection of short stories. I kept hopting they would all come together in the end, but alas no. One of the characters from teh second story takes a leading roll for the last story, but nothing satisfactory occurs. returnreturnMost of the stories just kind of end, no climax, and certainly no happy ending. From rich man's kid dies, to servant girl gets fired, to someone MIGHT have found out wear the dancing bear guy lives. returnreturnThe best story was the second story about an Indian guy who lives in Britain who gets his employer to pay for his annual trip home under the guise of writing an authentic Indian breakfast cook book travel to each state and sampling their unique cuisine. It was interesting and made me hungry but …

Subjects

  • Self-actualization (Psychology)
  • Internal Migration
  • Fiction

Places

  • India