I bought this book the first week it was released hoping and waiting for my book club to choose it. This is not, or is not positioned as, a work of fiction. In spite of the inevitable pain of the characters, i could not stop reading. Katherine boos first book, behind the beautiful forevers. Embracing the world boo describes and the lives of her characters was inevitable for me. In the book, she uses one familys story to highlight the realities of life in the slum. Life, death and hope in a mumbai undercity, a nonfiction account of life in the annawadi slums of mumbai, india. She has been a staff writer for the new yorker magazine since 2003. The squids book club behind the beautiful forevers. He considers the role of luck, global capitalism, and the hierarchies of poverty. Please be aware that this discussion guide may contain spoilers. To briefly sum up the plot, this is a the story of annawadi, a slum settled right in the heart of the airport and luxury hotels of mumbai, and what happened to its residents over the course of three years.
The book weaves humour and pathos into a tapestry of astonishing acts of courage, despair, and human limitations, while teaching its readers about indias economy, politics and shifting. Reading guide for behind the beautiful forevers by katherine boo. This book is the result of the three years shes spent in and out of india, surveying a. Life, death, and hope in a mumbai undercity katherine boo, 2012 random house 288 pp. Behind the beautiful forevers new york times bestseller national book award winner named one of times ten best nonfiction books of the decade inspiring. See more ideas about slums, beautiful and poverty in india. Life, death, and hope in a mumbai undercity behind the beautiful forevers. The lives of ordinary women their working lives, domestic lives, and inner lives are an important part of behind the beautiful forevers. Beautiful forevers plays out like a swift, richly plotted novel. Book summary in this brilliantly written, fastpaced book, based on three years of uncom. The audio book club on behind the beautiful forevers our critics visit mumbai in katherine boos awardwinning book. Life, death, and hope in a mumbai undercity paperback. Well be meeting on tuesday, february 27th at madhatter and will be discussing the critically praised winner of the national book award the penjohn kenneth galbr. The novel opens with a prologue that introduces abdul, a garbage sorter in the mumbai slum of annawadi.
Behind the beautiful forevers needs no heavy hand to pack a wallop. It has also been adapted into a play by david hare in 2014, shown on national theatre live in 2015. In which john kicks off the nerdfighter book clubs discussion on katherine boos behind the beautiful forevers. What specifically is she trying to escape when she drinks rat poison. But its also because over the course of three years in india she got extraordinary access to the lives and minds of the annawadi slum, a settlement nestled jarringly. Food wasnt one of the amenities at cooper, the 500bed hospital on which millions of poor people depended, ms. Profiles everyday life in the settlement of annawadi as experienced by a muslim teen, an ambitious rural mother, and a young scrap metal thief, illuminating how their efforts to build better lives are challenged by religious.
I know he loves and sees all of these people in this book, but yet he restrains himself and waits for us to bring hope to the hopeless. Abdul is hiding in his familys garbage shed, afraid of being arrested for setting his neighbor fatima on fire, despite that he is innocent and has tried as hard as possible to stay out of trouble all his life. In the slum of annawadi, the smallest coincidence can. What are some examples, from the book, of women fighting against the system. Behind the beautiful forevers chapter 16 summary the average student has to read dozens of books per year. A pulitzer prize winner and recipient of a macarthur genius award, boo spent more than three years exhaustively researching behind the beautiful forevers, interviewing residents, visiting jails and courts, and poring over thousands of pages of public records. The intent of the prompts in the first two sections is to foster classroom and group discussion. Barbara ehrenreich calls behind the beautiful forevers one of the most powerful indictments of economic inequality ive ever read. I read it for my book club, and so knew nothing about it when i picked it up. Marjorie deluca was born in the beautiful cathedral city of durham in northeastern england and spent her childhood on a quirky little country lane. But its also because over the course of three years in india she got extraordinary access to the lives and minds of the annawadi slum, a settlement nestled jarringly close to a shiny international airport and a row of luxury hotels. New york times bestseller national book award winner named one of times ten best nonfiction books of the decade inspiring. The author has noted elsewhere that shed felt a shortage of such accounts in nonfiction about urban india. The raw pathos to the stories of the characters in behind the beautiful forevers is of the kind usually found in great fiction, except that, as boo confirms, they are all real, down to their.
But its also because over the course of three years in india she got extraordinary access to the lives and minds of the annawadi slum, a settlement nestled jarringly close to a shiny. Behind the beautiful forevers life, death, and hope in a mumbai undercity book club kit. Yet the book shows the world of the indian rich lavish bollywood parties, an increasingly glamorous new airport almost exclusively through the eyes of the annawadians. The book does not give easy answers of a prescription for change, but it. Instant downloads of all 1297 litchart pdfs including behind the beautiful forevers. Ravenna book club behind the beautiful forevers by. Behind the beautiful forevers book club central pick.
Katherine boo shows us how people in the most desperate circumstances can find the resilience to hang on to their humanity. Yet the book shows the world of the indian richlavish bollywood parties, an increasingly glamorous new airportalmost exclusively through the eyes of the annawadians. Katherine boo audio books, best sellers, author bio. Behind the beautiful forevers, a powerful work of narrative nonfiction, supports. While behind the beautiful forevers describes in specific detail life in a makeshift community neighboring the mumbai india international airport, it explains what poverty looks like, feels like and how it shapes the lives of millions who live without any basic resources, including shelter, water and. What does fatima hope to accomplish by setting herself on fire. She said that boo writes about so many scavenging kids, boisterously quarrelsome families and corrupt officials that the book is too crowded although she added that the mumbai setting justified the density. Nonfic book club behind the beautiful forevers katherine. What are the two reasons abdul is fearful of his neighbors. Pick up the book at your local progressive coop and join the audio book club on feb. Katherine boos book, a work of narrative nonfiction, tells a story of the new india that. Behind the beautiful forevers discussion questions. The novel then skips backward to january of 2008, seven months before the burning. It seeks to recount the seldom told accounts of the lower rungs of indian society, and its a good book to help you understand india, from the humble perspective of a wastepicker.
In 2012, boo published her first book behind the beautiful forevers. No one has time to read them all, but its important to go over them at least briefly. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Behind the beautiful forevers audiobook by katherine boo. Life, death, and hope in a mumbai undercity kindle edition by boo, katherine. Behind the beautiful forevers by katherine boo penguin. Behind the beautiful forevers book club central pick february 20 by katherine boo. Behind the beautiful forevers book club central pick february. The audio book club on behind the beautiful forevers. Life, death, and hope in a mumbai undercity has a blurb even longer than its title.
I hope to occasionally return to be a participant in the group, but not for a bit. Behind the beautiful forevers discussion questions for book. What does this quote tell you about desensitization to scenes. Is manju too educatedaccomplished to find happiness.
One group of annawadians register to vote but still havent received their voter cards a year later. Behind the beautiful forevers was a deeply affecting book for me. Reading guide for behind the beautiful forevers by. Behind the beautiful forevers book club velvet ashes. I cant help but think that even in the horrible slum of annawadi, if all those poor people. Its all right for sparks schoolgirl sandy, a native of. Each month the selected title is 20% off for all, and everyone is welcome to attend the discussion. Teach your students to analyze literature like litcharts does. Katherine boo behind the beautiful forevers similar books. What are the qualities of a child like sunil that might flourish in a society that did a. This brings me to the most shocking thing about the book. Also, i will be entering into a new book discussion venture that will be.
The first book john has suggested is behind the beautiful forevers by. Who do you think had the best life in the book, and why. Life, death, and hope in a mumbai undercity is a nonfiction book written by the pulitzer prizewinner katherine boo in 2012. Ive already had some experience living intheslums in india. With intelligence, humor, and deep insight into what connects human beings to one another in an era of tumultuous change, behind the beautiful forevers carries the reader headlong into one of the twentyfirst centurys hidden worlds, and into the lives of people impossible to forget. Influence, airports, and the nerdfighter book club youtube. Katherine boo spent several years in an indian slum. Behind the beautiful forevers may be katherine boos first book, but its certainly not her first foray into covering disadvantaged communities and societal rifts between rich and poor shes won a pulitzer and a macarthur grant for her journalistic work. Janet maslin praised behind the beautiful forevers in the new york times but had one reservation. Every last wednesday of the month our book club meets to discuss a book. We strive to look at books that matter, stirs the heart, and provide a deep understanding of our world, with a selection of titles to match a theme every month. Matchbook book club toronto, ontario, canada the matchbook book club meets once a month in various locations in toronto. Behind the beautiful forevers is a nonfiction book written in a narrative style.
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