Amigos Con Libros discussion

"Behind the Beautiful Forevers is a non-fiction story about life in a slum in Mumbai. It was written by a journalist in 2012 and it follows the lives of multiple individuals within the slum and reads like a narrative. When I read this book, I did not know much about India or it's people, and while this book only gives a small snapshot of life in an extremely large and diverse country, it propelled my interest in learning more about the country's economy, history, and culture. While I was reading this book, I followed the location the author was talking about on Google maps. This book depicts the inequality and poverty that is pervasive throughout the city of Mumbai and how it shapes of the lives of the individuals portrayed. I highly recommend reading it" -Kelly

I enjoyed this book even more than I expected to. When Kelly suggested this, I knew it was outside of my normal genre and didn't know what I would think of it. When I finished reading A Man Called Ove, I downloaded this book on Audibles and listened to it during my commute throughout the month. I loved it. I thought it was an interesting look at a different community that I haven't learned much about. I found myself rooting for each member of the society in turn, celebrating their joy and supporting them through their trials. I wanted Abdul and Sunil to have all the success their hard work should have afforded them. I was most angered and surprised by Kalu's death because of the injustice of a young boy dying in the middle of the night without warranting it.

This was my favorite quote: "Water and ice were made of the same thing. He thought most people were made of the same thing, too. He himself was probably a little different from the corrupt people around him. Ice was distinct from - and in his view, better than - what it was made of. He wanted to be better than what he was made of. In Mumbai's dirty water, he wanted to be ice. He wanted to have ideals.”