Search - The Inheritance of Loss

There is no doubt this was a well-written book - Desai packs each sentence with deep thought and an elevated vocabulary. The characters are fleshed out and really come alive as you read. However, she covers the text with Indian words, some of which I've never seen; and given her sentence structure, it is impossible to pick up their contextual meaning. I lost a lot of delight in the book because of that.

A theme Desai touched on well here was injustice - is it right to hurt and steal from those whom you consider "too good" or "too bad" in the name of enforcing justice? One of the examples of this, near the end of the book, made me so angry I had to stop reading and come back to it. I was so worked up that my husband made me take a Clonazepam. I dare you to read the book and *not* feel that way.

If a book can evoke an emotional reaction from its reader, then it's worth the read. Stick through the first 50 pages, it gets better. Recommended for a patient reader who doesn't mind getting worked up.

Four stories of the lives of very different characters. I was saddened by the conditions they found themselves in, but hopeful that each would find happiness.

Lyrically written but I felt like I needed a degree in Indian history to really understand the dynamics of the characters.

I found this a very difficult read with many foriegn words, but it is also a winner of the Man Booker prize 2006. Not for light summmer reading.

This is an absolutely wonderful, albeit heartbreaking, novel. I highly recommend this book to other literature lovers.

Desai uses language beautifully to give the reader a vivid image of life for these characters in India. You can feel the dampness from rain, smell the mountain air, taste Cook's odd concoctions from her words. The beginning is slow and I, personally, was saddened by the ending, but it was still worth reading. If you have lived or traveled abroad, this may give you an opportunity to see your culture through the eyes of another. 2006 Booker Prize Winner. Recommended.

This book was a little on the dark side for my taste, but it was very well written. I felt like I was in the position of each character.

Absolutely wonderful - her writing is amazing
Takes a while to get into the sttory but very dramatic

The after effects of colonization, insecurities, identity crises.
Status, ever-changing depending on the beholder
Human nature
Ignorance of culture, suppression of one's own culture,
Plenty to chew on in this book . With beautiful sentence construction the characters are well developed, the era well described etc
Good read

truly did not touch me like some other books, but still a worthwhile read.

What a fabulous and rich read - wonderfully lush in her descriptions and reading this book makes you easily imagine you are there with the characters...Wonderful!

Winner of the 2006 Booker Prize for fiction.

Book filled with emotion and characters one has sincere empathy for. Not as stellar as I may have expected, but rich language and feeling throughout.

Heartbreaking and sad, too realistic reminder that racism still exists, even in the most remote areas of the world. This book almost reads like poetry. It is almost a pity this is being made into a movie.

Glimpse into the life of some lonely characters set against the backdrop of the Himalayas and the seedy underbelly of New York City. The aching of the characters bleeds through the well-written text and you are transported.

I just love this author! This novel is not funny like "Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard", but it's wonderful.

2006 Man Booker Prize winner. Indian diaspora - set in both India and NYC - very well written.

Could not finish but is beautifully written.

Winner of the Man Booker Prize in 2006.This takes place in an isolated house at the foot of Mount Kanchenjunga in Himalyas. It is the story of an embittered judge who wants to retire in peace and his granddaughter. The judge's cook watches over the granddaughter. The cook's son is the center of the cook's attention. The characters face numerous choices that majestically illuminate the consquences of colonialism as it collides with the modern world.