Fasting, Feasting

from BlueJeanOnline.comby Dashini Ann Jeyathurai, age 19, Teen CorrespondentIn Fasting, Feasting, Anita Desai takes on a task that many Indian and expatriate authors have deemed Herculean in nature, a task that involves delving into the inner sanctum of an orthodox Indian family in India. Many who have attempted this challenge failed and came out looking ignorant and insensitive of certain aspects of the culture. Few have succeeded, and among them is Anita Desai. The reader is faced with several poignant issues played upon in a middle-class family attempting to deal with modernization, but they ultimately that realize life is meant to be lived in their society. A society with a veritable amount of prejudices weaved into its complex tapestry of customs and beliefs.The story in itself is told from the perspective of the protagonist, Uma, who starts out as a wide-eyed child at a convent who has an enthusiasm for education and an awe of the enigmatic nuns who seem to glide through the school grounds. Unlike her younger sister Aruna, our protagonist does not have the privilege of having "books marked healthily in green and blue for success and approval." Instead, with the birth of her brother Arun, Uma takes on the role of nanny. Here, one encounters the distinct preference her parents have for the male child - a practice that was not uncommon at the time. The teenage Uma questions this sexism when she points out that an ayah had looked after both Aruna and herself as children. Why wasn't the ayah's care sufficient for a male child? Desai next explores the conventional belief that tied a woman's worth to her physical appearance. A woman who lacked beauty was often rushed into the first marital offer she received, only to pay a heavy price later on. Desai shows the challenges a single woman faces regardless of how successful she is. By contrast, Uma's cousin is portrayed as the ultimate success because she is able to marry well thanks to her looks. One wonders how happy she truly was, however, when she eventually takes her own life. Arun, Uma's brother, takes center stage several chapters into the book as he begins his studies in America, where he meets the dysfunctional Patton family. Arun is faced with unlimited freedom and grapples with an alien culture in which his landlord's daughter periodically vomits after meals and Ms. Patton is almost a non-entity in the family.Ultimately, Anita Desai has established herself as one of India's finest fiction writers. To me, great authors are the ones who can make you keep turning the pages, eager to read the next line although there may be more pressing matters at hand - and Desai fulfills that description....

This was the first book I've read by Desai, and I'm a fan! Desai demonstrates the thin line between fasting and feasting in this novel. Rather than divide the book between two "halves," she combines both and contrasts the hording mentality of Arun's host mother with the obsessive weight control programs by his host siblings. In the land of plenty, and a stocked freezer, daughter Melanie has an easily recognizable eating disorder. Her brother, however, also works out incessantly to keep himself in shape. In the first part of the book, which is set in India, food takes a back burner and emotions take the front. In the second half, it is just the opposite. Desai exposes the depth (or lack of) of Indian and American society, and does so artfully. This book is not fast-paced or plot-centered, but is rather crafty, reflective, and telling.

I am amazed at some of the negative or lukewarm reviews this book has received. I read this when it was first published and was left breathless. I was in a state of bliss. This is what literature is supposed to be, I thought. This book, the first I had read by Anita Desai, restored my faith in fiction. I have been dissatisfied with the state of fiction for years and was ecstatic that I had found a book that could please me in a way that only great art is capable of doing. It is unfortunate that Desai has not received the popular acclaim that she deserves, despite her critical acclaim. She will undoubtedly be recognized as one of the best writers of the late twentieth century. I simply cannot say enough about this powerful, beautifully written, and subtle novel.

Yes, yes, Anita Desai does it again. The words are simple and precise, but the world weaved through them is profound and sad. The narrative is restrained. The characters are restrained. But the reader can be anything but.

The books deals with two differant cultures. First part of the book highlights the Indian traditions, cultures and mostly the place of a woman in an Indian family. Anita Desai has done an excellent job in describing the indian family to every single detail of existance. Though this type of families still exists in India, Please do not generalise this view to the whole nation. It is only a 40% of families that could relate to the book specially in states where literacy is meagre. I must say however, there are lots of uma's in India, today, and all they need is a little encouragement with education and exposure to the outside world, and she could definitely be a very strong woman. I loved this character of Uma in the book because she was both willing to take a chance with life and at the same time dedicated to her family. And she took all that happened to her life with such grace that she did not give me a chance to cry for her. Thats her inner strength.The second part of the book deals with the dillemma of Arun in a world which he could not have imagined. Arun, the younger brother of Uma reaches Massachusettes for his higher studies, and is totally taken aback by the lifestyles of the west.The most beautiful part of the book is its literatrue. So well written and with accurate details, its definitely a joyful read.