In the shadow of eternal beauty. Life, death and love in the slums of Mumbai

In the shadow of eternal beauty

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Title: In the Shadow of Eternal Beauty
Author: Catherine Boo
Year: 2013
Genre: Foreign adventures, Travel books, Contemporary foreign literature

About the book “In the Shadow of Eternal Beauty” by Katherine Boo

TheNewYorker - Catherine Boo.

All the events of “In the Shadow of Eternal Beauty” by Katherine Boo take place in one of the areas of Mumbai called Annawadi. The main characters of this book live in it. It is in this place that a huge scandal occurs, which literally attracts the attention of all residents of the block. At one point, a one-legged woman named Fatima (also a nymphomaniac) sets herself on fire in front of everyone in honor of her protest to her neighbors and their renovation.

The family that caused Fatima’s behavior is an ordinary Muslim family with many children, which, in fact, decided to use the money they had saved to make at least some repairs. A large number of residents of the neighborhood came running to the performance that Fatima put on, including the elder Aisha, the garbage man Sinul, the young man Kalu, the drug addict Mahmud and other neighbors.

“In the Shadow of Eternal Beauty” became Katherine Boo’s debut book, and according to legend, in order to create this book, the author had to live in the described area for three years. And while reading we can fully feel it. Everything is so detailed that the reader himself seems to be transported to the slums of Mumbai. In this book, the author examines a lot of issues that relate not only to relationships and lifestyle, but also touches on political and economic issues.

Annawadi, teeming with infection, is located right next to the snow-white airport, somewhere under the shadow of the “Eternal Beauty!” banner that advertises Italian floor tiles. This book can be considered a kind of long reportage that Katherine wrote for three years. It seems to describe the animal life of the people who live in this area.

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On our website about books lifeinbooks.net you can download for free or read online the book “In the Shadow of Eternal Beauty” by Katherine Boo in epub, fb2, txt, rtf, pdf formats for iPad, iPhone, Android and Kindle. The book will give you a lot of pleasant moments and real pleasure from reading. You can buy the full version from our partner. Also, here you will find the latest news from the literary world, learn the biography of your favorite authors. For beginning writers, there is a separate section with useful tips and tricks, interesting articles, thanks to which you yourself can try your hand at literary crafts.

The series “Around the Planet in 80 Books” is an exciting journey through countries that keep their secrets from tourists. How do Indians live outside of luxury hotels? What happens behind the barbed wire of North Korean concentration camps? What difficulties await girls in Pakistan who want to get an education instead of getting married at 14... People you will never meet. Fates that cannot be forgotten. Books that change your worldview...
The series opens with the best book of 2012, according to more than 20 authoritative publications, “In the Shadow of Eternal Beauty” by Katherine Boo. Scavenger Abdul, who supports a family of 11 people, beautiful Manju, who is too good for local suitors, lame Fatima, who decides to take revenge on her hated neighbors in the most terrible way - these and other heroes live in slums, in the poorest quarter of India, located in the shadow of the ultra-modern Mumbai Airport . They do not have a real home, permanent work and confidence in the future. But they seize every opportunity to escape extreme poverty, and their attempts lead to incredible consequences...

The scavenger Abdul, who supports a family of 11 people, the beautiful Manju, who is too good for local suitors, the lame Fatima, who decides to take revenge on her hated neighbors in the most terrible way - these and other heroes live in the slums, the poorest quarter of India, located in the shadow of the ultra-modern Mumbai airport. They do not have a real home, permanent work and confidence in the future. But they seize every opportunity to escape extreme poverty and their attempts lead to incredible consequences...

• Name: In the shadow of eternal beauty. Life, death and love in the slums of Mumbai
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• ISBN: 978-5-699-67305-6

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With a sweetheart, heaven and in a hut. May be. A couple of days on the banks of the Volga. And if living in a hut is a way of life. And instead of a roof - a canopy, instead of a floor - earth, instead of a table - a piece of plywood, instead of domestic cats - rats?

Will you be able to earn money for food today? Will the police come today for the next “payments”? And will tomorrow even come for you? These and many other questions are asked by residents of Indian slums in Mumbai every morning when they wake up.

It's interesting and incredibly scary at the same time. Therefore, unlike the author, I decided to look into such a life only for a few days and only through the prism of a book. And I must say, the book is amazing. It has living “human” characters, rich language and a plot that doesn’t let go for a second. A completely different world from the usual one opens before the reader’s eyes, and it bursts in abruptly, without warning. Without embellishment, the author, who spent several years in the slums, talks about all the “delights” of the life of their inhabitants.

From the novel we learn that there is nothing poetic about extreme poverty. But there is only the daily struggle for life. And faith. That tomorrow may be better than yesterday. The book changed me, made me look at many things differently. So, I re-appreciated the beauty of my modest apartment. And buying cookies for 150 rubles in a store, I, probably for the first time in my life, thanked God that I could afford it.

17 July 2008, Mumbai
It was approaching midnight. The remains of the burnt one-legged woman's clothes smoldered in the yard. The Mumbai police were on the prowl in search of Abdul and his father. In a miserable hut among the slums nestled near the international airport, an emergency meeting of Abdul's parents was held. They were surprisingly terse in their words when they delivered their verdict. The sick father will remain here, in this hastily cobbled together shack with a metal roof, in which a family of eleven people lived. He will wait until they come for him, and will meekly follow the police when they arrest him. But the son, the breadwinner and breadwinner, must flee.
What the guy himself thought about this plan was not taken into account. But as always. And besides, he was completely numb with fear. Abdul recently turned sixteen. Or maybe nineteen? My parents had a bad memory for dates. Allah, in His incomprehensible wisdom, created him short and nimble. “This is what a real coward should look like,” Abdul told himself. He didn't know how to hide from the police. He only knew about sorting garbage. For as long as I could remember, I devoted all my waking hours to one activity: buying waste, things thrown away by rich and prosperous people, and reselling them to those who were engaged in recycling.
Now he understood that he had to hide, but he could not imagine how this would be done. Abdul started to run, but soon returned home. Nothing better came to mind than getting into a pile of garbage in your own small warehouse.
He pushed the creaky door of the family home and looked outside...