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Summary: my review
Review: I feel this book was powerful and very sad. I could not put the book down but at the end, I was very depressed. I feel that the book offers a good insight into people who live in third world countries and thetype of problems they have. I felt it was a bit too dramamtic at times.
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Summary: A Review of Nectar in a Sieve
Review: A somewhat heartwrenching story of a woman's attempt to keep hope alive. This story suffers from a weak plot that seems un-realistic at times. The character development in the story, save the main protagonist, is lacking. Some heavyhanded plot devices seem too easy. However, the story does give a clear idea of life in India with it's hardships.
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Summary: Bittersweet Eastern Gem of a tale!
Review: Absolutely Fantastic! Reading this book makes you appreciate all the things we take for granted in our life. Markandaya has a way of getting to the heart of the matter and creating emotions that continue to stir in your heart after you put the book down.
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Summary: A Book to make you Cry
Review: Kamala Markandaya's novel of life in rural India is beautiful, as it is haunting. The story follows the life of a young woman who marries a farmer and lives through the trials and tribulations of a changing India. Enduring poverty, starvation, the death of one child, and the decent into prostitution of another, Rukmani somehow survives, her faith unwavering, her love for her husband and children her rock to hold onto in the days when food is scare and shelter but a mat on a roadside. Kamala's book is not about the tragedy of India; rather it is about the human spirit and how it survives against all odds. If you get a chance to read this book then do, it will probably change your life...
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Summary: Nectar in a Sieve
Review: Th is a very well-written book with very strong characters. I recommend it if you like to learn about the old culture in India
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Summary: An Experience Without an End
Review: Reading the novel, "Nectar in a Sieve" is an experience, but most likely not the one one would be looking for. Though it is easy reading and somewhat enjoyable, the plot of the story leaves much to be desired. Not only is the end of the novel left dangling without any form of conclusion, but even minor events throughout the story do not possess a sense of completion. The book, however, was very well written with incredible use of figurative language and was, though lacking closure, certainly a fine read.
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Summary: An Eye-Opener that could have been better
Review: Nectar in a Sieve is about a Indian woman, Rukmani, living in a rural village. The novel depicts Rukmani's ability to survive despite harsh effect of modernization. Firsty, I will start with the good points. Living in a modernized country that has a myriad of luxuries, and the book reveals that in other parts of the world life is not as luxurious. In fact, Rukmani suffers everything from the famines that devastate the family to the loss of her husband. This book had the potential of being one of the greats, but its weak plot line left much to be desired. The plot moved along slowly as expected events such as famine, a stretch of penury, and the death of the husband occured. Most of these were anticipated leaving little excitement or tension in the plot. Over all, this book almost perfectly demonstrates the effects of village life on the characters and gives me a reason to be grateful. However, the plot is a flaw that makes the novel boring at times.
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Summary: Wake-up call to middle-class America
Review: The next time I think: "I wish I could afford to get my second car fixed," I hope I'll think of how Rukmani and frail Nathan had to spend weeks working in a quarry to earn enough money just to be able to afford to pay someone to drive them on a cart so they could return to their home. The next time I hear a whining: "Dad, how come I can't have $10 to buy another pack of Pokemon cards?", then I hope I think of starving Kuti, and how his sister had to turn to prostitution just to earn enough to put a little milk in his mouth. The next time I think: "Why didn't I get a Christmas bonus this year?", I hope I'll think of Rukmani and her anguish over how to make a few handfuls of rice feed a family for a month. The next time I make a meal for my children, and after they've eaten, they all say: "I'm full.", I hope I remember Rukmani, and how she and her brothers and sisters of India and the other lands where people are starving by the millions, would laugh and sing if they could have a tiny fraction of what most Americans take for granted. Markandaya's book was published in the 1950s. But hunger and poverty are of every decade, century and millennia. This book influenced me more than any other I have read in 1999. I am humbled to be able to give my children three meals a day without it busting my budget.
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Summary: enjoyable
Review: This book was very good. It was assigned reading for an College English class - Women Writer's of India. I am so glad that it was assigned or I would have never had a chance to read it. It is a cultural lesson and an eye opener. All women should read this book. It helps to understand other cultures to be more accepting of their ways. This book will do that for you.
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Summary: A porrly constructed plot dampens this novel's chance
Review: This is the first time i have taken the time to review a book online, and i feel compelled to do it only to warn those of you out there who have not read this book. My warning is simply that although the book has interesting events, the plot is strung along haphazardly and with little relation between one mini-chapter and the next. This book could have been a lot better had the publisher forced the writer to construe a story rather than a collection of short stories compiled into a chapter book.
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