Mina Mokhles Mokhles itibaren Lalor VIC 3075, Australie
I listened to this book, rather than reading it. Truthfully, I found most of it a bit slow, though another friend who was reading it found she couldn't put it down. Most of the characters were cliches and I also thought the background was stereotypically the bad side of India. But then,I don't like Dickens much either. The story is told by a poor Indian boy, Balram, who comes from the "Darkness" area of India and, by his own opportunism, and a bit of luck, rises to become an entrepreneur with his own fleet of cars and chandeliers in every room, even in the bathroom. Some of the novel is very funny and, at the same time, quite horrifying. Balram becomes a driver for a wealthy family and the treatment he accepts from them can stop your breath. There's lots of dirt, as in sewage and cockroaches and unwashed bodies, so don't read it if you are "easy scunnered". But it stayed in my mind for days after I finished it. I think I'm glad I read it.