Sinceramente, non so quanto mi sia piaciuto questo libro, ma alla fine mi sono decisa per tre stelline perché comunque coinvolge a tal punto da voler seguire le protagoniste fino alla fine. Ha anche altri lati positivi di cui parlerò in seguito perché preferisco elencare prima ciò che non mi è piaciuto. Alcune parti sono esagerate, nel senso che dubito che alcune persone si comportino in quel modo o che alcune situazioni possano realmente accadere. Ciò fa perdere di credibilità sia alla storia che alle due protagoniste principali, Anju e Sadhu. Sicuramente l'autrice aveva bisogno di situazioni estreme per poter dare una svolta alla storia, ma non sono parti molto convincenti. Faccio l'esempio che più mi ha dato fastidio: Anju e Sadhu sono cresciute come sorelle e si sono sempre confidate tutto. Com'è possibile che crescendo smettono di parlare proprio delle cose più importanti? Ciò porta soltanto a delle incomprensioni che potevano essere evitate, ma evidentemente l'autrice ne aveva bisogno per portare avanti la storia. Ecco cosa intendevo dire con "parti esagerate": non è possibile che due ragazze che si sono sempre detto tutto all'improvviso, e per motivi banali, smettono di confidarsi. I motivi dietro alla decisione di non continuare a confidarsi sono poco credibili.D'altro canto, però, è un libro interessante per conoscere la situazione delle donne in India: cosa significa dover accettare un matrimonio combinato, essere vedova, non riuscire ad avere un figlio durante il matrimonio o, peggio ancora, rimanere incinta senza avere un marito. Tutte le protagoniste sono donne, partendo da Anju e Sudha che il lettore segue sin dall'infanzia. Siamo partecipi dei sentimenti di tutte queste donne, ognuna con i propri segreti, con le proprie sofferenze, paure, delusioni ma anche speranze. Sono donne forti che per paura delle maldicenze rimangono schiave delle leggi della società finché non capiscono che la felicità non può essere raggiunta se si ha paura del giudizio altrui. Mi è piaciuto molto anche il mix tra razionalità e credenze religiose: una non esclude l'altra e possono tranquillamente convivere.Tutto sommato non è un libro da buttare: alcune parti sono interessanti, ha una bella prosa, è coinvolgente e alcune volte anche commovente; peccato che spesso perde di credibilità e il comportamento di Anju e Sadhu sfocia quasi nel banale e nell'infantile. English:At first I didn't know how to rate this book. Some parts were just ok but the whole story is interesting because it helps to understand how life can be for a woman in India: what a combined marriage can be, what it means to be a widow, what happens if a wife doesn't get pregnant or has a child without being married. These parts were interesting though the two main characters (two cousins we follow from their childhood) behave sometimes, in my opinion, in a childish way: they were very close since their birth but then they don't talk about the most important things and this leads to some misunderstandings. Surely the author needed these parts to delineate better the story but the two characters lose in this way of credibility.I found very interesting the mix between rationality and religious beliefs: one mustn't exclude the other, both can coexist. Also the strength of all the women of the story is interesting to follow; sometimes behind a behavior there can be thousand good reasons and we should never judge. Other times women are afraid of the judgement of society so they aren't able to make choices who could lead to happiness or serenity.All in all it was an interesting read but some parts were too exaggerated and the two main characters aren't very believable in some situations.
"Hanya kisahlah... yang bisa menghindarkan keturunan kita dari membuat kesalahan besar seperti pengemis-pengemis buta yang menabrak duri-duri pagar kaktus."(Chinua Achebe, from Anthills of The Savannah)Usai menyelesaikan sebuah buku dari India lagi. Dan ternyata ceritanya sangat indah, tidak mengharu biru seperti film2 india kebanyakan. Aku merasakan ketangguhan hati seorang wanita di sini.Novel karangan Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni ini dituturkan dari 2 sudut pandang tokoh utamanya, yaitu Anjali (Anju) dan Basudha (Sudha).Keduanya sebenarnya tidak memiliki hubungan darah, namun tumbuh bersama sebagai saudara sepupu sejak lahir, dengan waktu lahir yang tak jauh berselang. Karakter keduanya sangat berbeda, namun mereka menjadi saudara sehati yang saling mengisi. Anju yang tidak terlalu cantik, berkarakter aktif, kritis, cerdas, ekspresif, dan mempunyai cita-cita tinggi sebagai seorang wanita. Sudha yang lebih cantek, berkarakter kalem, lembut, perasa, penyayang, tekun, dan bercita-cita menjadi ibu dan istri yang baik.Seiring dengan perjalanan hidup mereka, saat mereka masing2 akhirnya menikah melalui perjodohan, derita dan tantangan hidup mereka alami silih berganti. Walaupun hubungan mereka sempat renggang karena kecantikan Sudha yang memikat suami Anju, serta jarak Calcutta-California yang memisahkan, pada akhirnya mereka menemukan kedamaian dalam hati satu sama lain, bukan dalam suami2 mereka, yang ternyata tidak dapat mengerti perasaan wanita seperti Anju dan Sudha saling mengerti satu sama lain.Saat masalah berat menerpa di tengah mereka yang menantikan kelahiran anak pertama, mereka mulai bahu-membahu mendukung dan menguatkan, hubungan mereka kembali seperti saat mereka tumbuh bersama dalam sebuah rumah.Akhir kisahnya mengharukan, sepucuk surat misterius menjawab semua tanya...dan memberikan kedamaian bagi Sudha.Memberikan keyakinan pada Sudha, bahwa ia menyayangi Anju bukan karena rasa bersalah, namun karena kasih yang murni sebagai saudara sehati ...Novel ini disisipi dengan berbagai keunikan budaya India, dan berbagai isu yang mengemuka saat itu, bahwa keturunan masih dianggap sebagai alasan utama seseorang menikah. Dengan penuturan yang enak untuk diikuti, 320 halamannya tidak terasa menjemukan. Novel yang kaya akan kisah persaudaraan, persahabatan, kesabaran, pengorbanan, pengampunan, kekuatan dan ketangguhan para wanita dalam menjalani hidup yang berjalan m enyimpang begitu jauh dari impian semula ....namun akhirnya menemukan keindahan kehidupan dengan caranya sendiri ...http://www.facebook.com/notes.php?id=...
What do You think about Sister Of My Heart (2000)?
I've simmered down a little since finishing this book, so the strong love-hate language I had pounding around in my brain for days afterwards has mellowed, but let me just say that if I ever have the honor of meeting Chitra Divakaruni in person, I would love to give her a good shaking. I recently read One Amazing Thing and came away disappointed in the squandered potential of it. A trusted GoodReads friend recommended I give this one a try. So, I did. And for pages and pages I was blessing Lisa for turning me on to one of the best books I've read in some time. It was beautiful and evocative and the story was enthralling, and I loved the characters, and all in all, I was 100% on board with this book. The author's greatest weakness I had found in One Amazing Thing was her tendency to make her characters say things in a way most people don't even write, let alone speak. That same weakness was present in this book, but was less pronounced (although we did get one laugh-out-loud quote where a character says to her friend, in a telephone call, no less, "She just stared at me with her glittering, piercing, hawk-like eyes..." Those aren't the real words (I can't remember the quote exactly), but you get the idea: no one talks like that!) So anyway, other than a few quotes like that one where I had to seriously wonder if the author had never done a reading to realize the ridiculousness of her dialogue, I still totally loved the book.But then (yes, you knew there had to be a "but..." coming), the story just kind of nose dived. No, "nose-dive" implies a more impressive and directional force. The story petered. It morassed. It was a small child intent on an errand until it got distracted by the fine day, and a passing butterfly, and then stopped to nap in a meadow for a few hours. And then it was over. Just as with One Amazing Thing the author simply could not bring herself to finish her own story. C'mon! That's your job! Why start the thing if you can't finish it? At least with One Amazing Thing the cliffhanger ending allowed the reader to come to their own conclusion of the characters' fates. But with this one, there was an easy ending at hand. And then she took it a chapter further and just left everything feeling incomplete and weird. And ohhh I hate when characters deny themselves happiness without any compelling reason to do so. Every obstacle to this girl's happiness (being with her true love) was removed, and yet, after a ridiculous number of near-misses, she finally just thwarts herself. Why?! Okay, I may have been overly optimistic in my previous claim about my feelings having mellowed. At any rate, my esteem for the author and everything good about the first 85% of this book plummeted in the last few chapters. I was so disappointed. But (another one) the ending isn't SO terrible as to make the investment of time required to read this an unwise one. The first is really, really good, and you may not be as disappointed in the ending as I was. So, if you're curious, I'd say give this one a chance. And then let me know what you thought.
—Danielle
I have very few books that I have rated 5 stars. A 5 is reserved for the best of the best for me. Books that I look forward to carving out time to read, books that I think about when I'm not reading them. My review won't do this fine little book justice. The writing was amazing, the story was engaging, the characters were real, there was emotion - joy, sadness, heartbreak, wonder, hatred, AND there is a sequel. Maybe this is why I rate it so highly? I can't wait to curl up with these characters again in the next book that promises to pick up where this one left off. This book reminded me of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See, so if you liked that book you will love this one.
—Deb
Reading this novel is like letting your heart be the passenger of the wildest roller coaster. And, for me, roller coaster is frustrating.So, yes, I was frustrated reading this beautiful novel.It is full of secrets, revealed one by one within the chapters. When the secret was out, I felt like leaving the book on the table. It was too hard to keep up with.But, I couldn't.So, I kept on reading until the last page. It was just too beautiful to leave behind.The characters, Anju and Sudha, are the roots of complexity of the story. Derived from what Sudha's father did, their relationship becomes complicated and beautiful at the same time.I don't like Anju. And, I don't like Sudha either. I wish Anju would stop thinking only about herself or at least of what she thinks is right. And, I wish Sudha wants to think only about herself.Just like other Divakaruni's stories, the ending doesn't seem to be like an end. Especially, since those two characters are reunited in "The Vine of Desire", another novel by Divakaruni. I've got it on my bookshelves. But, I'm not ready to read it yet. Maybe in another one month, after all the pain from "Sister of My Heart" disappears.I suggest that this book should not be read while you are on PMS.:DIt took me more than 3 weeks to write this review down after I finished reading it. Just too painful. But, again, it's so beautifully written I couldn't just keep it for myself.
—Nadiah
