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Sleeping on Jupiter
A train stops at a railway station. A young woman jumps off. She has wild hair, sloppy clothes, a distracted air. She looks Indian, yet she is somehow not. The sudden violence of what happens next leaves the other passengers gasping.The train terminates at Jarmuli, a temple town by the sea. Here, among pilgrims, priests and ashrams, three old women disembark only to encounter the girl once again. What is someone like her doing in this remote corner, which attracts only worshippers? Over the next five days, the old women live out their long-planned dream of a holiday together; their temple guide finds ecstasy in forbidden love; and the girl is joined by a photographer battling his own demons. The fullforce of the evil and violence beneath the serene surface of the town becomes evident when their lives overlap and collide. Unexpected connections are revealed between devotion and violence, friendship and fear as Jarmuli is revealed as a place with a long, dark past that transforms all who encounter it. This is a stark and unflinching novel by a spellbinding storyteller, about religion, love, and violence in the modern world.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published April 2, 2015
195 people are currently reading
5461 people want to read
About the author
Anuradha Roy
24 books535 followersAnuradha Roy was educated in Hyderabad, Calcutta and Cambridge (UK). She is an editor at Permanent Black, an independent press publishing in South Asian history, politics and culture. She lives mainly in Ranikhet, India, with her husband Rukun Advani and their dog, Biscoot.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 421 reviews
January 13, 2018
I really don't know how to rate this book. I hate to slam it and the author because there truly was so much potential in it in terms of content, literary writing, and subject matter.
I went into it without reading what it would be about. Perhaps I should have? This is a rollercoaster of a novel, not in the 'excitement/tension, then a breather' way, but in the way of often being dull and then walloping the reader on the head with something utterly disturbing and then some portions that sparkle with intelligence, then back to dull.
The audio reader didn't help. A couple of her character voices were maddeningly grating and her overview diction was often stilted.
I went into it without reading what it would be about. Perhaps I should have? This is a rollercoaster of a novel, not in the 'excitement/tension, then a breather' way, but in the way of often being dull and then walloping the reader on the head with something utterly disturbing and then some portions that sparkle with intelligence, then back to dull.
The audio reader didn't help. A couple of her character voices were maddeningly grating and her overview diction was often stilted.
August 12, 2015
Our narrator, Nomi, retells the stories from her traumatic childhood and paints a harsh picture of Indian society. In a couple of days she witnesses her father's murder and is deserted by her mother, the beginning of this novel is gripping and the prose exudes brutal brilliance. However, as we read on we story becomes more and more generic and I really got bored with this novel at the half-way point. This was incredibly disappointing for me, I thought I had began a great work but I was left with a boring novel that relies on saccharine sentimentality and sympathy for dull characters.
April 27, 2017
I am not sure quite what to make of this story set in a temple resort on the east coast of India, but it was certainly intriguing.
Nomi is a girl orphaned by war, then brought up in an abusive ashram, who has escaped and eventually been adopted by a British woman. She returns to the resort as a young woman working as a researcher for a film, but really to investigate her own background. Her partner on this trip is Suraj, a spoiled middle aged rich boy who is still haunted by a recent divorce. Then there are the three old women (Gouri, Latika and Vidya) who have come to the town on a holiday. Finally there is Badal, who works as a temple guide who has an unrequited crush on a boy who works for a beach tea seller.
The plot is quite complicated, and the paths of these characters cross in all sorts of unexpected ways (with rather too many coincidences for my liking), and the ending is unresolved and rather enigmatic. There are plenty of fine descriptive passages, and Roy can certainly write.
Nomi is a girl orphaned by war, then brought up in an abusive ashram, who has escaped and eventually been adopted by a British woman. She returns to the resort as a young woman working as a researcher for a film, but really to investigate her own background. Her partner on this trip is Suraj, a spoiled middle aged rich boy who is still haunted by a recent divorce. Then there are the three old women (Gouri, Latika and Vidya) who have come to the town on a holiday. Finally there is Badal, who works as a temple guide who has an unrequited crush on a boy who works for a beach tea seller.
The plot is quite complicated, and the paths of these characters cross in all sorts of unexpected ways (with rather too many coincidences for my liking), and the ending is unresolved and rather enigmatic. There are plenty of fine descriptive passages, and Roy can certainly write.
July 26, 2022
Yes, only beautiful covers DO NOT work.
So damn disappointed.
There was nothing about this book that I like. I tried my best to point out something good after struggling for 3 hours trying to complete reading it but you guess - I seriously could not think of anything that I like about this book.
The writing style is dull, boring and monotonous. The characters are so unsure, their development was so incomplete and unsettling. If there's something like a book should and must have a plot, this book has none. The story sequence is so haphazard and nothing much happening till the last page.
Usually, I enjoy a book which is character driven even if there's not much of a plot or a good ending.
But this book drive me insane for having nothing for 250 pages.
What it does is showing that some girls are brought to an ashram run by a godman/paedophile just to sexually abuse them. That's it.
And I don't see the point of all the brutality towards animals and human alike.
The representation of the characters and the sensitive issues of violence, rape and assault have not been represented well at all. And it's insulting to just focus on the vulgar sculptures of religious places again and again without a point or an explanation.
I seriously don't see the point of this book. The ending sucked.
Only the first few pages were fast paced and good.
The rest is just full of crap.
So damn disappointed.
There was nothing about this book that I like. I tried my best to point out something good after struggling for 3 hours trying to complete reading it but you guess - I seriously could not think of anything that I like about this book.
The writing style is dull, boring and monotonous. The characters are so unsure, their development was so incomplete and unsettling. If there's something like a book should and must have a plot, this book has none. The story sequence is so haphazard and nothing much happening till the last page.
Usually, I enjoy a book which is character driven even if there's not much of a plot or a good ending.
But this book drive me insane for having nothing for 250 pages.
What it does is showing that some girls are brought to an ashram run by a godman/paedophile just to sexually abuse them. That's it.
And I don't see the point of all the brutality towards animals and human alike.
The representation of the characters and the sensitive issues of violence, rape and assault have not been represented well at all. And it's insulting to just focus on the vulgar sculptures of religious places again and again without a point or an explanation.
I seriously don't see the point of this book. The ending sucked.
Only the first few pages were fast paced and good.
The rest is just full of crap.
August 4, 2015
Sleeping on Jupiter is a beautifully written novel and longlisted for the 2015 Man Booker Prize. Anuradha Roy brings us a taste of India with a fascinating mix of characters and a main narrative that covers a few days when their lives intersect. Nomi is the lead character and it’s her story and her past that makes this special. Roy adds her voice to the current politically sensitive issues in India of sexual abuse and violence against women while telling a story full of deep feelings, colour and spice with a strong sense of place.
The book begins with Nomi brutally losing her family and she finds herself as a child in an ashram (religious retreat) in Jarmuli where she becomes one of the many wards of a respected and powerful Guru. Roy deftly slips back and forth in time throughout the book to Nomi’s story and what happens to her at the ashram and later when she is 12 years old; adopted by a family in Norway. But in the main narrative she is an adult and returns to Jarmuli in order to research a documentary film, but maybe in reality she is looking for her own past.
Jarmuli is now a busy tourist attraction with its religious temple and setting by the sea. Nomi’s visit there criss-crosses with the lives of the other characters Roy brings to life. Three old ladies make the pilgrimage and reminisce; we hear their heartbreaks, personal longings and fears. Badal is a guide at a major temple, with his unrequited love and escape to dreams of Jupiter. A tea stall owner and his sad songs are among others who Roy adds to the book creating interest and balance. This is an evocative, sensitive and beautifully written book that provides the reader with a colourful escape. While it also touches on some important current issues it is was mostly for me an excellent read. (Received ARC)
September 1, 2015
2.5/5. Video review is here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-53w...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-53w...
August 17, 2015
A young woman with a tragic past, a photographer with a violent streak, three women with winter in their hair and a pilgrimage long time coming, a tour guide coming to terms with his homosexuality when he finds himself attracted to a boy working in tea stall, and the owner of tea stall who sings songs about melancholic earth and bright paddy fields; these people brush one another over course of five days in a temple town. Surrounded by rotting flowers, discarded fruits and sea air, they come face to face with the dark spot from their past and are forced to confront it.
Roy's prose is honest, brilliant and provocative. The violence is visceral and those odd tender moments, gentle. The characters struggle to maintain a semblance of normalcy while touring the town, their conflicts hiding below the grime of sullied streets. The town itself is a character, an instigator and reveals its seedy belly when no one is looking. Roy nails the ambiance of a typical temple town - its smell, the way the air feels, the people and the moving population that leaves a bit of it in the shores and takes something away when they leave.
What starts as a stellar narration slows down in the middle. The three elderly women become a caricature of their earlier selves. Intertwining lives of these characters becomes predictable. Some anecdotes are pointless as they offer no layer to the characters. And this is the reason why the book started off as an obvious five star read and reduced to two/three.
After half way through the book, I continued just to finish it. Though I didn't enjoy the second half as much as the first, Roy's writing is simply marvelous.
Roy's prose is honest, brilliant and provocative. The violence is visceral and those odd tender moments, gentle. The characters struggle to maintain a semblance of normalcy while touring the town, their conflicts hiding below the grime of sullied streets. The town itself is a character, an instigator and reveals its seedy belly when no one is looking. Roy nails the ambiance of a typical temple town - its smell, the way the air feels, the people and the moving population that leaves a bit of it in the shores and takes something away when they leave.
What starts as a stellar narration slows down in the middle. The three elderly women become a caricature of their earlier selves. Intertwining lives of these characters becomes predictable. Some anecdotes are pointless as they offer no layer to the characters. And this is the reason why the book started off as an obvious five star read and reduced to two/three.
After half way through the book, I continued just to finish it. Though I didn't enjoy the second half as much as the first, Roy's writing is simply marvelous.
November 7, 2015
Overall, a good read. I loved the beginning which promised intrigue, exploration of small town India, especially a place I haven't been to, the solitary young traveller, train journey,the three old ladies and their camaraderie, the young temple guide with his secret, Raghu, the opportunistic tea vendor not, Jimmy the tea vendor, Duran, the journalist; all whose lives intertwined in a manner, they themselves were least aware of. Threading these various stories is the sinister face of India - the Godman with his racket
August 31, 2016
Jai Shree Ganesh... Phew ! This year's my first Booker Prize long-listed book.
And from India. What I should say ?
Beautifully written.
The story takes in its circle, course of four days, the city of Jarmuli. Three old women , Vidya Latika and Gouri, all are on Pilgrim holiday, their struggle for loss of memory, knee joints, old age, past memories of their husbands; one girl, Nomi, Indian, but looking like a foreigner, who was a victim of sexual abuse of a Guruji (Spiritual leader) during her childhood, came to India after spending many years of her life in Norway at her foster mother's home and working on a project of a Documentary; the Guide Badal who is homosexual and have his deep desires for a young guy called Raghu who is working on a Jhony Toppo's Tea stall; and last a guy called Suraj, who has his own fixes of life, like upcoming divorce and all.
First of all it's very well written book. Some of the things are brilliant described.
"Your memories can be concrete and detailed even about the things that never happened to you ... Like fungus that takes birth in warm and wet place, memories ooze from the crevices of your brain"
But in entire length of book, that is what I felt, something was missing. DEPTH. As far as my ventures with Booker prize books, my common notion is that all Booker books have their Originality and Intensity, that was not present in this book. With beautiful sea descriptions, and extremely delicate observation, I felt Author was just beating the Bush. Although in some of the last sections of the book, I found intensity but that was too late.
Some flaws that were present in the book :
(1) Nothing mentioned much of a Documentary which was the main subject Nomi and Suraj.
(2) Old three ladies were sometimes looked very irritating and their character details were also looked languid.
(3) In midst of harsh realities of Ashram, the main villain - Guruji, he was given a very small importance in the book. Only at the time of Sex or little activity his presence could be felt.
(4) MAN ! IT WAS TYPICAL NOVEL WHERE ALSO THERE ARE SOME EMPHASIS GIVEN TO TWIST AND TURNS. Hence, a little far from reality. which is not present in Booker books.
(5) Badal was Gay, but nothing much was clear of the opposite person RAGHU.
(6) In between it went little boring and dragging.
(7) Less details of ashram, though I admit it was given in wonderful 1st narration of Nomi, but still.
(8) Most of the characters were not evolved in skin.
I really DOUBT that it can make up to BOOKER SHORTLIST.
I am giving 4/5 only for EXTREMELY WELL WRITTEN DESCRIPTIONS. But some substance was missing, though that was present intermittently, but less in number.
And from India. What I should say ?
Beautifully written.
The story takes in its circle, course of four days, the city of Jarmuli. Three old women , Vidya Latika and Gouri, all are on Pilgrim holiday, their struggle for loss of memory, knee joints, old age, past memories of their husbands; one girl, Nomi, Indian, but looking like a foreigner, who was a victim of sexual abuse of a Guruji (Spiritual leader) during her childhood, came to India after spending many years of her life in Norway at her foster mother's home and working on a project of a Documentary; the Guide Badal who is homosexual and have his deep desires for a young guy called Raghu who is working on a Jhony Toppo's Tea stall; and last a guy called Suraj, who has his own fixes of life, like upcoming divorce and all.
First of all it's very well written book. Some of the things are brilliant described.
"Your memories can be concrete and detailed even about the things that never happened to you ... Like fungus that takes birth in warm and wet place, memories ooze from the crevices of your brain"
But in entire length of book, that is what I felt, something was missing. DEPTH. As far as my ventures with Booker prize books, my common notion is that all Booker books have their Originality and Intensity, that was not present in this book. With beautiful sea descriptions, and extremely delicate observation, I felt Author was just beating the Bush. Although in some of the last sections of the book, I found intensity but that was too late.
Some flaws that were present in the book :
(1) Nothing mentioned much of a Documentary which was the main subject Nomi and Suraj.
(2) Old three ladies were sometimes looked very irritating and their character details were also looked languid.
(3) In midst of harsh realities of Ashram, the main villain - Guruji, he was given a very small importance in the book. Only at the time of Sex or little activity his presence could be felt.
(4) MAN ! IT WAS TYPICAL NOVEL WHERE ALSO THERE ARE SOME EMPHASIS GIVEN TO TWIST AND TURNS. Hence, a little far from reality. which is not present in Booker books.
(5) Badal was Gay, but nothing much was clear of the opposite person RAGHU.
(6) In between it went little boring and dragging.
(7) Less details of ashram, though I admit it was given in wonderful 1st narration of Nomi, but still.
(8) Most of the characters were not evolved in skin.
I really DOUBT that it can make up to BOOKER SHORTLIST.
I am giving 4/5 only for EXTREMELY WELL WRITTEN DESCRIPTIONS. But some substance was missing, though that was present intermittently, but less in number.
May 8, 2017
This was my second reading of this book. First time round, I liked it a lot. Second time round, even more.
It still reminds me of my favourite movie, Magnolia. It tells the stories of several unconnected people whose lives intersect for a few days. The book tracks Nomi as probably the main character as she tries to investigate the ashram in which she grew up. But the book's title comes from something Badal, a temple guide, remembers from his school days. He takes Nomi and Suraj round the temple, but he also takes a group of three elderly women on a tour, one of whom happens to be Suraj's mother and who arrived on the same train as Nomi, sharing a carriage for the first chapter of the book. The lives of these people thread through the story and keep crossing one another. As a general rule, I love books where that happens! Alongside Nomi, Suraj, Badal, Latika, Gouri and Vidya, there are several other supporting characters who give us a flavour of life in India.
It's beautifully written and it touches on some important topics (perhaps especially child abuse). On my second time through, I think I caught more of the intersections of the stories. I'm still a bit confused by the ending, though. However, unlike some who have commented on the book, I have to say that I am very comfortable with the fact that it does not answer all the questions and leaves some of the characters' stories unresolved (that's another thing I often find myself liking in a book: loose ends).
----------------
Not sure what I have just read! It made me think of the film Magnolia where different story lines cross and link. There isn't really a central character, although I guess the closest thing is Nomi, mainly because she is on a more obvious journey trying to find a place significant in her past. But, the other characters have their stories, too which makes it an interesting read.
It still reminds me of my favourite movie, Magnolia. It tells the stories of several unconnected people whose lives intersect for a few days. The book tracks Nomi as probably the main character as she tries to investigate the ashram in which she grew up. But the book's title comes from something Badal, a temple guide, remembers from his school days. He takes Nomi and Suraj round the temple, but he also takes a group of three elderly women on a tour, one of whom happens to be Suraj's mother and who arrived on the same train as Nomi, sharing a carriage for the first chapter of the book. The lives of these people thread through the story and keep crossing one another. As a general rule, I love books where that happens! Alongside Nomi, Suraj, Badal, Latika, Gouri and Vidya, there are several other supporting characters who give us a flavour of life in India.
It's beautifully written and it touches on some important topics (perhaps especially child abuse). On my second time through, I think I caught more of the intersections of the stories. I'm still a bit confused by the ending, though. However, unlike some who have commented on the book, I have to say that I am very comfortable with the fact that it does not answer all the questions and leaves some of the characters' stories unresolved (that's another thing I often find myself liking in a book: loose ends).
----------------
Not sure what I have just read! It made me think of the film Magnolia where different story lines cross and link. There isn't really a central character, although I guess the closest thing is Nomi, mainly because she is on a more obvious journey trying to find a place significant in her past. But, the other characters have their stories, too which makes it an interesting read.
September 14, 2015
Sleeping on Jupiter is a quick and sharp novel with interconnected stories, but I'm left somewhat dissatisfied with the book as a whole.
The first few chapters of Sleeping on Jupiter are exhilarating and suspenseful. We're introduced to an array of characters each with clear and unique voices. As the story progresses we see how each voice is relevant to the others. I had two favorites, but I think the voice of Nomi tied everything together nicely.
I happen to love stories with connections hidden throughout, but an abundance of this can sour the experience of reading a story. Sleeping on Jupiter surprised me at first when I realized that these characters were not just living alongside each other seperately, but that each plot was furthering the other's. This realization became less pleasant as the story reached the middle point, as new connections became predictable. Practically no one exists in this plot without some connection to the near or distant past of another, and this took it's toll on me as a reader.
With each character, Roy formulated contemporary thoughts on timeless themes. The surprise and aftermath of violence, love, religion, and home all occurred throughout the story. And while perhaps the lives and plots felt too connected, these themes flowed nicely among the differences of each personality. Roy's writing doesn't flinch from the realities of violence and it's many perspectives, and I enjoyed her style.
The first few chapters of Sleeping on Jupiter are exhilarating and suspenseful. We're introduced to an array of characters each with clear and unique voices. As the story progresses we see how each voice is relevant to the others. I had two favorites, but I think the voice of Nomi tied everything together nicely.
I happen to love stories with connections hidden throughout, but an abundance of this can sour the experience of reading a story. Sleeping on Jupiter surprised me at first when I realized that these characters were not just living alongside each other seperately, but that each plot was furthering the other's. This realization became less pleasant as the story reached the middle point, as new connections became predictable. Practically no one exists in this plot without some connection to the near or distant past of another, and this took it's toll on me as a reader.
With each character, Roy formulated contemporary thoughts on timeless themes. The surprise and aftermath of violence, love, religion, and home all occurred throughout the story. And while perhaps the lives and plots felt too connected, these themes flowed nicely among the differences of each personality. Roy's writing doesn't flinch from the realities of violence and it's many perspectives, and I enjoyed her style.
December 10, 2021
A book I was drawn in for its title and scintillating cover.
Loved the bits and pieces, kind of like a bunch of short stories offering a slice of life - each deliving into the underbelly of some sort of crime and corruption.
The narration in and around Nomi is what attracted me most. Somehow did not like the way the stories intermingled... or were supposed to!
Read through the first half like a breeze, while in the latter part it was difficult to touch the finish line.
Loved the bits and pieces, kind of like a bunch of short stories offering a slice of life - each deliving into the underbelly of some sort of crime and corruption.
The narration in and around Nomi is what attracted me most. Somehow did not like the way the stories intermingled... or were supposed to!
Read through the first half like a breeze, while in the latter part it was difficult to touch the finish line.
October 29, 2015
Morass of woe...
When she was a little girl, Nomi's house was invaded by soldiers. They brutally killed her father and her mother fled with Nomi, looking for safety. But they became separated and Nomi was eventually taken in by an ashram run by a charismatic guru, where she spent her childhood years. Now, in the present, she is on her way to Jarmuli to make a documentary, and also to seek some answers about her past. On the same train are three elderly women, off on holiday together.
It is an unwritten law that the Booker longlist will always contain at least one book from or about India. Unfortunately that law doesn't seem to specify that the book should be good. Which is a pity, since some of the best writing in the English language comes out of India, so one wonders why the Booker committee ends up picking ones like this.
This is a trite mish-mash of oh so liberal concerns piled together in yet another of the great tradition of Indian misery novels – the ones that suggest there is nothing good about India and no hope for change. We have child abuse, rape, dementia, the subordination of women and gays, violence – both domestic and war. Oh, and poverty, religious mania, animal cruelty and madness. And a dying dog, naturally.
The following is a genuine quote from the book, not a pastiche of it, I promise. A depressed drunk is swept out to sea on a current...
Or how about Nomi, on a sunlit day, looking out at the sea...
I am not for one moment suggesting that India doesn't have deep problems of poverty, inequality and violence, but I am tired of reading books that simply describe these things without offering anything in the way of contrast or hope. It feels like a kind of voyeuristic wallowing, bathos in its purest form; especially in this one, where there's no feeling of political anger driving it, as there is for example in Mistry's equally miserable but much better written A Fine Balance. On the upside, this one is much shorter.
For the most part, the writing is average. It starts off quite strongly with the description of the attack on Nomi's village, and then the introduction of the older women. But within a few chapters it sinks into being a list of one sad or violent or abusive incident after another until it eventually drowns itself in a morass of woe, while the pedestrian prose does nothing to buoy it up. I found the characters became increasingly unconvincing as the book dragged on – as I've remarked before about other Indian novels they are merely puppets to be tortured at the whim of the author for the supposed entertainment of the reader. This reader was left feeling unentertained, unenlightened, uninspired and unmoved.
And unbelieving that this book was longlisted when the profound and beautifully written The Way Things Were was not...
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Quercus Books.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
When she was a little girl, Nomi's house was invaded by soldiers. They brutally killed her father and her mother fled with Nomi, looking for safety. But they became separated and Nomi was eventually taken in by an ashram run by a charismatic guru, where she spent her childhood years. Now, in the present, she is on her way to Jarmuli to make a documentary, and also to seek some answers about her past. On the same train are three elderly women, off on holiday together.
It is an unwritten law that the Booker longlist will always contain at least one book from or about India. Unfortunately that law doesn't seem to specify that the book should be good. Which is a pity, since some of the best writing in the English language comes out of India, so one wonders why the Booker committee ends up picking ones like this.
This is a trite mish-mash of oh so liberal concerns piled together in yet another of the great tradition of Indian misery novels – the ones that suggest there is nothing good about India and no hope for change. We have child abuse, rape, dementia, the subordination of women and gays, violence – both domestic and war. Oh, and poverty, religious mania, animal cruelty and madness. And a dying dog, naturally.
The following is a genuine quote from the book, not a pastiche of it, I promise. A depressed drunk is swept out to sea on a current...
He would not move his arms. He would not move at all. The sea could have him. Out there somewhere his wife was drinking beer, eating sandwiches, making love with his friend, and that dog was dying.
Or how about Nomi, on a sunlit day, looking out at the sea...
She had seen – she counted – the Sargasso Sea, the Chilean Sea, the North Sea, the Bass Strait, the South China Sea. She'd even dipped a toe in the Baltic Sea – that was icy – and grey like slate. Whole shiploads of children drowned in the Baltic Sea during the Second World War. Think how they died. Frozen.
I am not for one moment suggesting that India doesn't have deep problems of poverty, inequality and violence, but I am tired of reading books that simply describe these things without offering anything in the way of contrast or hope. It feels like a kind of voyeuristic wallowing, bathos in its purest form; especially in this one, where there's no feeling of political anger driving it, as there is for example in Mistry's equally miserable but much better written A Fine Balance. On the upside, this one is much shorter.
For the most part, the writing is average. It starts off quite strongly with the description of the attack on Nomi's village, and then the introduction of the older women. But within a few chapters it sinks into being a list of one sad or violent or abusive incident after another until it eventually drowns itself in a morass of woe, while the pedestrian prose does nothing to buoy it up. I found the characters became increasingly unconvincing as the book dragged on – as I've remarked before about other Indian novels they are merely puppets to be tortured at the whim of the author for the supposed entertainment of the reader. This reader was left feeling unentertained, unenlightened, uninspired and unmoved.
And unbelieving that this book was longlisted when the profound and beautifully written The Way Things Were was not...
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Quercus Books.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
June 25, 2020
I thought this was going to be another heavily recommended books that I was going to abandon in 56 pages but the way it transformed was really surprising. I found this book fairly dull in certain portions but where the author wanted to make a impact it certainly did.
There are just too many coincidences though, it made it feel unreal in certain parts. I a country where even talking about sex is a taboo , the author manages to write a almost real version of events that happens in the religious ashrams. We all know these self proclaimed god men are the scum of the earth but time and time again we fall at their feel and make a fool of ourselves.
This book was for me about all the small scares and occasional violence women had to face for simply doing something common and as getting off a railway platform. I would like to beleive that India is changing and the simple act of wearing the clothes that make don't make us uncomfortable to buying alcohol will not be looked at as some soulbreaking sin.
There are just too many coincidences though, it made it feel unreal in certain parts. I a country where even talking about sex is a taboo , the author manages to write a almost real version of events that happens in the religious ashrams. We all know these self proclaimed god men are the scum of the earth but time and time again we fall at their feel and make a fool of ourselves.
This book was for me about all the small scares and occasional violence women had to face for simply doing something common and as getting off a railway platform. I would like to beleive that India is changing and the simple act of wearing the clothes that make don't make us uncomfortable to buying alcohol will not be looked at as some soulbreaking sin.
June 26, 2020
Sleeping on Jupiter is far from perfect, it is flawed, but it did not matter. The book was able to evoke disgust and fright in me unlike any other book, and for that, I love this book.
This is a horror novel, but not classified as one. Very early on the book introduces a vague, undefined danger that seems to lurk around every corner, suggesting something terrible could befall these characters at any time without warning. This constant undercurrent of danger was not unlike the insidious waves of the Jarmuli beach, which could pull under the unsuspecting without discrimination. This lingering fear is what kept the story tense throughout and why I could not stop reading.
The writing was a brutally honest depiction of multiple lives. Through several unconnected fragments, the vivid descriptions painted a whole picture of life in an Indian temple town, which was quite reminiscent of Sholokhov's prose.
By the end of the book, the story is unfinished, and I like it that way. Because, how the story might naturally end for these characters is not likely to be kind.
This is a horror novel, but not classified as one. Very early on the book introduces a vague, undefined danger that seems to lurk around every corner, suggesting something terrible could befall these characters at any time without warning. This constant undercurrent of danger was not unlike the insidious waves of the Jarmuli beach, which could pull under the unsuspecting without discrimination. This lingering fear is what kept the story tense throughout and why I could not stop reading.
The writing was a brutally honest depiction of multiple lives. Through several unconnected fragments, the vivid descriptions painted a whole picture of life in an Indian temple town, which was quite reminiscent of Sholokhov's prose.
By the end of the book, the story is unfinished, and I like it that way. Because, how the story might naturally end for these characters is not likely to be kind.
September 5, 2016
A shortish book at 250 pages, I felt like Nomi in the beginning of the book, who gets off the train and runs after it failing to catch up. I liked the atmospheric descriptions of the coastal town, the jabber of kids hawking trinkets, over bright sun, the chai tea with crushed ginger and clove, the press of pilgrims. The subtle, lovely writing would catch me by surprise-why is it that donkey's eyes seem so lonely but not cows? But I felt like I was listening in on a foreign language I hadn't quite mastered, and missing some important points. The enigmatic title Sleeping on Jupiter was an apt one for me.
Three and a half stars
Three and a half stars
August 29, 2016
Sleeping on Jupiter, like the name and the cover, was surreal for me. The prose seemed intense like what you read from another age. The violence and the personal battles have been portrayed unflinchingly with a flourish. The plot is simple enough, but the handling of it - gives the sense of a complex short story.
A group of unconnected lives, each with their own demons to exorcise, come together at Jalmuri, a beach side temple town and get entwined in ways that change things. The pivot of the story is Nomi (who has all the makings of Lisbeth Salander, no?) who is reckless and mysterious and narrates in first person pieces of her horrific past in every chapter. There is also the gay tourist guide, an alcoholic photographer, a tea cart owner singing sad songs, 3 old women on a pilgrimage turned holiday - each battling her own demon. And of course, not far away from violence, is sex and religion.
The narrative does not worry about chronology nor does it offer explanations. So when the girl is left running away from lecherous men, she comes out to free camels in the next paragraph. The reader has to fill in the blanks. Except the ending, where probably, I felt filling in the blanks was in fact an essay.
If you forget the story and focus on the prose, you may come across some beautiful hard hitting gems that express the human aching. You can smell the beach and feel the salty air caress you in the writing.
Sample this
"Now look: this beach, the trawler, the storm coming - wasn't it actually a magic show or a stage set? Afterwards they'd dry the wind, clean up the sand, wipe up the sea, fold away the sky, stow the camel and unstring those lights and nobody else would find this place again"
It's a good book maybe. Rather lacks depth - the past does not explain the present. And maybe feels a bit incomplete too. Mixed bag.
A group of unconnected lives, each with their own demons to exorcise, come together at Jalmuri, a beach side temple town and get entwined in ways that change things. The pivot of the story is Nomi (who has all the makings of Lisbeth Salander, no?) who is reckless and mysterious and narrates in first person pieces of her horrific past in every chapter. There is also the gay tourist guide, an alcoholic photographer, a tea cart owner singing sad songs, 3 old women on a pilgrimage turned holiday - each battling her own demon. And of course, not far away from violence, is sex and religion.
The narrative does not worry about chronology nor does it offer explanations. So when the girl is left running away from lecherous men, she comes out to free camels in the next paragraph. The reader has to fill in the blanks. Except the ending, where probably, I felt filling in the blanks was in fact an essay.
If you forget the story and focus on the prose, you may come across some beautiful hard hitting gems that express the human aching. You can smell the beach and feel the salty air caress you in the writing.
Sample this
"Now look: this beach, the trawler, the storm coming - wasn't it actually a magic show or a stage set? Afterwards they'd dry the wind, clean up the sand, wipe up the sea, fold away the sky, stow the camel and unstring those lights and nobody else would find this place again"
It's a good book maybe. Rather lacks depth - the past does not explain the present. And maybe feels a bit incomplete too. Mixed bag.
August 26, 2015
Having read and adored Roy's previous two novels, I was predisposed to love this one also... and did! Perhaps not as perfectly rendered as her exquisite first book, 'An Atlas of Impossible Longing', this did show a certain maturing in both prose style and plotting. Others have decried the more cryptic passages and the lack of definitive answers, but that is all part of the novel's mystery and charm. A book that I am sure will reward a second reading soon ... and one I hope will at least make the Booker Shortlist, if not even come away the winner. Interesting that I think her strongest competition will come from 'A Little Life', which also centers around issues of childhood sexual abuse.
October 3, 2015
I didn't really enjoy this one and I had such high hopes for it. Roy's beautiful writing was unfortunately over powered by symbolism and too many characters being weaved in and out of the story. If you're really interested in reading it do it for her descriptive emotional writing style. This is what I loved the most about it. Love the cover of the book though. Well executed that idea!
May 6, 2025
This book primarily follows Nomi, a young documentary filmmaker who returns to the (fictional) Indian temple town of Jarmuli to confront childhood trauma. Her narrative intersects with several other characters: three older women on a spiritual holiday, a temple guide harboring his own secrets, and a photographer tormented by his recent divorce.
Through these different perspectives, Roy examines societal issues such as violence, abuse, religious exploitation, and the vulnerabilities of women and children. It raises uncomfortable questions about complicity, memory, and trauma. As much as I appreciated the intent, I felt my interest fading due to the fragmented structure. Readers should be aware in advance that it contains many scenes of difficult and disturbing content.
Through these different perspectives, Roy examines societal issues such as violence, abuse, religious exploitation, and the vulnerabilities of women and children. It raises uncomfortable questions about complicity, memory, and trauma. As much as I appreciated the intent, I felt my interest fading due to the fragmented structure. Readers should be aware in advance that it contains many scenes of difficult and disturbing content.
September 9, 2015
Review @ A Bookworm's Musing
There are books that bring out the beauty of storytelling and make even a simple plot look brilliant. In essence, even though there is nothing simple about the plot of Sleeping on Jupiter, it is the storytelling that takes centrestage. It's the pathos that I feel for the little girl Nomi, who not only loses her family, but undergoes a traumatic life after that that I remember more than the intricate jumps in and out of time. It's the sadness I feel for the woman with the poor memory that I remember more than how beautifully interlinked her character is with her friends and another character. Could the story have been better? Yes. It could have. There are loose ends here, that I have to complete. And other characters that could have and should have been explored further. But in the end, this story and the storytelling in particular will appeal to book lovers I think, because it's good and set in a time where its effect is noticed even further. I hope it makes the shortlist for the Booker, because it definitely merits it.
There are books that bring out the beauty of storytelling and make even a simple plot look brilliant. In essence, even though there is nothing simple about the plot of Sleeping on Jupiter, it is the storytelling that takes centrestage. It's the pathos that I feel for the little girl Nomi, who not only loses her family, but undergoes a traumatic life after that that I remember more than the intricate jumps in and out of time. It's the sadness I feel for the woman with the poor memory that I remember more than how beautifully interlinked her character is with her friends and another character. Could the story have been better? Yes. It could have. There are loose ends here, that I have to complete. And other characters that could have and should have been explored further. But in the end, this story and the storytelling in particular will appeal to book lovers I think, because it's good and set in a time where its effect is noticed even further. I hope it makes the shortlist for the Booker, because it definitely merits it.
Read
June 13, 2015At the heart of the story is an ashram that was led by a powerful, politically linked guru, and the abuse and torture of orphaned or war-affected children who were being brought up there as his wards. The connivance of many other adults who are not merely mute witnesses but active participants to this torture, puts a gruesome, frightening edge to the story. There is an excruciating feeling that the reader knows where this is heading and yet, with every page turned, dreads the revelation. There is little trace of theashram when the adult Nomi returns to Jarmuli but she finds a hint of the old dangers still lurking about in the town in the garb of monks, who are still a threat to vulnerable young boys like Raghu.
Each character brings her (or his) own baggage to Jarmuli.
Read the full review here: http://www.livemint.com/Leisure/VzxI6...
Each character brings her (or his) own baggage to Jarmuli.
Read the full review here: http://www.livemint.com/Leisure/VzxI6...
December 13, 2015
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a review copy of this book.
Opening with a violent scene, the author didn't hold back in terms of her introduction to the main character. Going back to the present we find Nomi, an Indian looking woman with a European accent, travelling in the same train compartment as 3 older Indian women. All are travelling to the pilgrimage town by the sea, but for different reasons.
Nomi was raised in an ashram, the spiritual leader of which held a certain sway over his followers and politicians alike. Brought here as a boat girl, escaping an unnamed war (Partition Wars possibly?, she and her friend Piku try to blend in. Nomi catches the eye of the spiritual leader which has unpleasant consequences. If, as a reader, you prefer not to read about child sexual abuse and violence against children, I'd advise to steer clear of this book. The descriptions feel very real but are worked well into the story but I appreciate some might find it uncomfortable reading.
The three older women have their issues - for example, one is on the verges of dementia and another is grieving for her husband. They wish to visit a temple on pilgrimage and are met by the guide. He also has his own issues as he's lusting after a younger man, who shows no interest in him and his gifts, but is later spotted with ashram "monks" which causes alarm. The other character to mention is the photographer who meets with Nomi to document the temples and pilgrimage sights. He has marriage and drink / drug problems and has a connection to the older women.
This story flits from past to present and that was something I found to work for me. The characters were okay but I was left with unasnwered questions. I did feel that, although the story had some very serious points, it was lightweight in parts and consequently I enjoyed it but wasn't thrilled by it. Saying that, I would read the author again so it hasn't effected me in that respect.
Opening with a violent scene, the author didn't hold back in terms of her introduction to the main character. Going back to the present we find Nomi, an Indian looking woman with a European accent, travelling in the same train compartment as 3 older Indian women. All are travelling to the pilgrimage town by the sea, but for different reasons.
Nomi was raised in an ashram, the spiritual leader of which held a certain sway over his followers and politicians alike. Brought here as a boat girl, escaping an unnamed war (Partition Wars possibly?, she and her friend Piku try to blend in. Nomi catches the eye of the spiritual leader which has unpleasant consequences. If, as a reader, you prefer not to read about child sexual abuse and violence against children, I'd advise to steer clear of this book. The descriptions feel very real but are worked well into the story but I appreciate some might find it uncomfortable reading.
The three older women have their issues - for example, one is on the verges of dementia and another is grieving for her husband. They wish to visit a temple on pilgrimage and are met by the guide. He also has his own issues as he's lusting after a younger man, who shows no interest in him and his gifts, but is later spotted with ashram "monks" which causes alarm. The other character to mention is the photographer who meets with Nomi to document the temples and pilgrimage sights. He has marriage and drink / drug problems and has a connection to the older women.
This story flits from past to present and that was something I found to work for me. The characters were okay but I was left with unasnwered questions. I did feel that, although the story had some very serious points, it was lightweight in parts and consequently I enjoyed it but wasn't thrilled by it. Saying that, I would read the author again so it hasn't effected me in that respect.
July 18, 2020
https://soundingwords.blogspot.com/20...
The train was just a parcel of people rushing through a landscape they had no connection to.
First thing that attracted me towards the book was The Title “Sleeping on Jupiter” and when it got selected in Booker Prize 2015 Longlist. I found the right reason why should I read it? I hope more readers who love to read sensible literature would have picked Anuradha Roy’s latest work already.
From the start, story engulfed all my senses at one go. The way Author described every scene was beyond the words… I stopped reading after few pages and explored her name on Google, as I have not read her stuff before and totally astonished by just few pages, on that place author wins, I believe.
If we talk about a basic story line, a seven year old girl, named Nomi, witnessed her father’s brutal death and lost her whole family at once. Somehow he placed into an Ashram where she suffered a lot in presence of a sinister Guruji. Roy weaved the parallel characters so well, the three women who were vacationing and clashed with the Girl, Nomi. You might be finding hard to get into his book at first but It took me four days to finish it, meanwhile I feel no shame to confess that I read and reread many sections. Now you can imagine the quality of the literature, actually I wanted to savour every word every emotion steadily. Sometimes this poignant tale gave me Goosebumps enveloped with many questions, would ever be the second gender feel safe in this world and somewhere the boldness of characters, the language of the book enthralled me. I would say in bold letters, I Read a spellbound book after long time, maybe last was “The House in Smyrna by Tatiana Salem Levy”
The train was just a parcel of people rushing through a landscape they had no connection to.
First thing that attracted me towards the book was The Title “Sleeping on Jupiter” and when it got selected in Booker Prize 2015 Longlist. I found the right reason why should I read it? I hope more readers who love to read sensible literature would have picked Anuradha Roy’s latest work already.
From the start, story engulfed all my senses at one go. The way Author described every scene was beyond the words… I stopped reading after few pages and explored her name on Google, as I have not read her stuff before and totally astonished by just few pages, on that place author wins, I believe.
If we talk about a basic story line, a seven year old girl, named Nomi, witnessed her father’s brutal death and lost her whole family at once. Somehow he placed into an Ashram where she suffered a lot in presence of a sinister Guruji. Roy weaved the parallel characters so well, the three women who were vacationing and clashed with the Girl, Nomi. You might be finding hard to get into his book at first but It took me four days to finish it, meanwhile I feel no shame to confess that I read and reread many sections. Now you can imagine the quality of the literature, actually I wanted to savour every word every emotion steadily. Sometimes this poignant tale gave me Goosebumps enveloped with many questions, would ever be the second gender feel safe in this world and somewhere the boldness of characters, the language of the book enthralled me. I would say in bold letters, I Read a spellbound book after long time, maybe last was “The House in Smyrna by Tatiana Salem Levy”
July 25, 2016
left me hanging
The story telling was excellent throughout the book and story was interesting in the beginning but became boring eventually. There were many characters related to each other in some or other way. I kept reading with a hope that it will be revealed soon in next chapters and guess what? the story ended. I got really disappointed when I discovered that some of the important characters were not justified at all. I speculated that this book would not have a happy ending but it just left me hanging amid many unanswered questions.
The story telling was excellent throughout the book and story was interesting in the beginning but became boring eventually. There were many characters related to each other in some or other way. I kept reading with a hope that it will be revealed soon in next chapters and guess what? the story ended. I got really disappointed when I discovered that some of the important characters were not justified at all. I speculated that this book would not have a happy ending but it just left me hanging amid many unanswered questions.
February 10, 2016
A great beginning to a banal story. This one was a book I was extremely excited to read when the list for the Man Booker was announced, sadly, it did not grab me after the first 50 pages. If all you have left is sentimentality for your characters going on, then the book is not that great, a character needs more than to rely on sympathy for them to be good characters.
Jen Campbell did a better job than me reviewing this book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-53w...
Jen Campbell did a better job than me reviewing this book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-53w...
August 6, 2017
This book is at best a handful of good enoughs, lacklustre prose with an occasional glimpse of a promise, and shattered expectations in its wake. Also, the author deserves a special place in hell for that ending.
February 11, 2018
This work is a perfect example of lofty aspirations resulting in less than lofty measures. It is also a perfect example of my aesthetic judgments running away from me, making me both choose and purchase books due to a combination of whims and coincidences, and not really justifying the fruits of my labor. However, it is better to traverse less populated paths and discover a casual meander rather than a hoped for stirring escapade, than to be led on by another's bad faith and promise of revolution that actually peters out into nothing but the same old filth, just in a different variation of purple prose. As it stands, I still adore the various covers that adorn this book's editions, and the title is more cleverly evocative in both its first impression and final recovery than those of the majority of texts new and old. However, while Roy did not have the bad taste to namedrop a series of highfalutin literary types in the last few pages of her fiction, the ending interview proves this is a case of a feeding work not measuring up to the works it fed on. In spite of this, such an international scope of reading shows true international tastes beyond the borders of the same old pasty canon, so I can't help think that some marvel has yet to come from this authorship yet.
Yes, I was drawn to this book because of the coincidence of surname of Arundhati Roy. Yes, I was also drawn by the Girl-With-the-Dragon-Tattoo vibes I got from the description. Yes, I was also drawn by such superficialities as the cover, the title, and other less than trustworthy aesthetic baggage. It would have been grand had all this worked in the work's favor, but alas, I was chasing something that resembled past loves but didn't continue in any of their footsteps. On a less tangentially dependent note, I couldn't rid myself of the feeling of being stretched thinly over too many characters and too much distance and too much time over 250 pages, to the point that the line between character driven drama and theoretical meditation collapsed and left a half baked muddle of both. That, and the sensationalism was rather much, as while I recognize that the issues require exposure, I'm wary of the same topics being coupled with the same demographics being the only ones to receive first prize award exposure. I wouldn't mind reading more of Roy, has her taste in literature is admirable to say the least, but there's a vast distance between evaluating the writing and creating said writing. I can, though, say the same about myself, so I'll have to wait till the next A. Roy (of either type) crosses my path.
By the time I post this, I'll have been to the book sale I am so looking forward to this weekend. I may or may not have found more Roy, in addition, ideally, to the fruits of a Black History Month feature. It's not the most rewarding feeling in the world to have medium expectations, but considering how much odious nonsense crosses my path despite preemptive culling of my shelves, this middle of the road narrative is almost welcome in its lack of commitment. On the long term, though, complacency is neither comfortable nor healthy, so I hope that, whatever I find tomorrow, it will either be an unforeseen pleasure, a valuable experience, or both. It's the chance I take on any book.
Yes, I was drawn to this book because of the coincidence of surname of Arundhati Roy. Yes, I was also drawn by the Girl-With-the-Dragon-Tattoo vibes I got from the description. Yes, I was also drawn by such superficialities as the cover, the title, and other less than trustworthy aesthetic baggage. It would have been grand had all this worked in the work's favor, but alas, I was chasing something that resembled past loves but didn't continue in any of their footsteps. On a less tangentially dependent note, I couldn't rid myself of the feeling of being stretched thinly over too many characters and too much distance and too much time over 250 pages, to the point that the line between character driven drama and theoretical meditation collapsed and left a half baked muddle of both. That, and the sensationalism was rather much, as while I recognize that the issues require exposure, I'm wary of the same topics being coupled with the same demographics being the only ones to receive first prize award exposure. I wouldn't mind reading more of Roy, has her taste in literature is admirable to say the least, but there's a vast distance between evaluating the writing and creating said writing. I can, though, say the same about myself, so I'll have to wait till the next A. Roy (of either type) crosses my path.
By the time I post this, I'll have been to the book sale I am so looking forward to this weekend. I may or may not have found more Roy, in addition, ideally, to the fruits of a Black History Month feature. It's not the most rewarding feeling in the world to have medium expectations, but considering how much odious nonsense crosses my path despite preemptive culling of my shelves, this middle of the road narrative is almost welcome in its lack of commitment. On the long term, though, complacency is neither comfortable nor healthy, so I hope that, whatever I find tomorrow, it will either be an unforeseen pleasure, a valuable experience, or both. It's the chance I take on any book.
March 17, 2020
2.5 stars
The first thing that comes to my mind is when I try to put my thoughts into words is... wasted potential. I had high hopes for this novel because I honestly love novels with multiple plot-lines slowly coming together. Modern day India is a perfect setting for such a story, too. And I really did enjoy it at first. But something went wrong and at some point I realized I was caring less and less about what was happening. I'd have to think about this a bit more to figure out what exactly it was (if I'm even able to do this), sadly right now I'm just disappointed.
However, I've decided to be generous with my rating (because I don't want to discourage anyone from reading it) and round it up. Perhaps I'll change it, perhaps not.
The first thing that comes to my mind is when I try to put my thoughts into words is... wasted potential. I had high hopes for this novel because I honestly love novels with multiple plot-lines slowly coming together. Modern day India is a perfect setting for such a story, too. And I really did enjoy it at first. But something went wrong and at some point I realized I was caring less and less about what was happening. I'd have to think about this a bit more to figure out what exactly it was (if I'm even able to do this), sadly right now I'm just disappointed.
However, I've decided to be generous with my rating (because I don't want to discourage anyone from reading it) and round it up. Perhaps I'll change it, perhaps not.
November 1, 2015
Jarmuli radiated outward to Asia, the world, the solar system, the universe – it was every child's incantation in school, and even now, when he wanted to be out of the reach of his aunt and uncle, he dreamed of living on Jupiter and sleeping under its many moons.
Sleeping on Jupiter begins with an emotional gutpunch: An idyllic day of picking fruit with her brother in their jungle yard is shattered for Nomi, forever frozen in her mind as before.
When the pigs were slaughtered for their meat they shrieked with a sound that made my teeth fall off and this was the sound I heard soon after my mother cut the grapefruit, and the men came in with axes.
An attack, an escape, and a desperate run towards the sea in her mother's arms is all the little girl remembers of the day that led to her (and a dozen other “boat girls”) eventually ending up in an ashram near the fictional temple town of Jarmuli, under the protection of a Guru revered by Westerners as a wizard and a deity. As Guruji explains to Nomi at their first meeting, “I am your father and your mother now. I am your country. I am your teacher. I am your God.” While Nomi is safe at last from the ersatz soldiers who would ransack a jungle village or burn and loot an orphanage, not all monsters announce their true selves with axe and torch.
Fast forward two decades and Nomi is a documentary filmmaker, returning to India for the first time since she was twelve. As her train pulls out of the Calcutta station, we meet her compartment mates; three old Indian women on a last hurrah vacation together before their children lock them away for their own protection, for good. When Nomi leaves the train during a stop and has a fraught encounter with some local men just as the train is pulling away, the old women can only watch helplessly and regard with ironic detachment the broken emergency pull cord beside their compartment's dirty window. What could they do, after all, to help a young woman who would put herself in such danger?
As all four of these women were heading for Jarmuli, it's unsurprising that their paths would eventually cross (often without them even realising it), and thematically, they are all on a similar quest to recover lost memories and follow emotional fragments to their sources. Along the way we meet: a priestly temple guide who is struggling with both the legacy of being orphaned and an unrequited love; an aged tea seller who sings love songs to remember his happier past; a violent drunkard who resents the loss of his wife; and an adolescent (probably orphaned and homeless?) boy who must do what he can to survive. Just as the nearby temple attracts hordes of pilgrims, so too does Jarmuli attract every sort of souvenir hawker, ripoff tour operator, and hopeful beggar, and this noisy, dirty blend of the sacred and the profane seems to symbolise the author's view of modern India.
Through flashback scenes, we eventually learn: the childhood events that force the grownup Nomi to sleep fitfully in a barricade of blankets and pillows; why she would armour herself against others with crazy hair and clothes and piercings; and why she had eventually been brought to Norway by a foster mother she could never bring herself to become close with. Yet while Nomi's story is often tragic, I didn't really connect emotionally with her and it' s hard to put my finger on what's missing.
The writing in Sleeping on Jupiter is by turns lyrical and spare and scenes often felt cut short; indeed, at 250 smallish pages, this isn't an in-depth book at all. With there being so many newspaper stories lately of the rape and murder of Indian women – and the men who go unpunished for these crimes – it is timely for author Anuradha Roy to write about the subservient role that women play in Indian society. But while, on the one hand, there are scenes about bare-chested men telling women to dress more modestly to enter the temple or the observance of a fast day for women (to find a husband or to ensure his health), there is also the sad history of the men: the orphaned Badal, beaten and used by his uncle; Raghu used by everyone; Jugnu beaten and thrown into the sea. What happened at the ashram seems to be a story of the exploitation of the powerless, not necessarily a gender-related act. This might be primarily Nomi's story, but she's not the only victim, and the fact that the three old ladies are happy and comfortable argues against the idea of lifelong mistreatment.
I did enjoy this book (except for some unnecessary connections between characters), but since I can't help but mentally compare it to some big and sprawling India-set epics, it feels a little lightweight in the end. Even so, Sleeping on Jupiter feels like it does fit on this year's Man Booker longlist and I was intrigued to have encountered a new and interesting voice. I would give this 3.5 stars if I could and am rounding down against the rest of the Bookers.
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