Animal's People: A Novel [Paperback]

Indra Sinha (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 17, 2009

"I used to be human once. So I'm told. I don't remember it myself, but people who knew me when I was small say I walked on two feet, just like a human being..."

Ever since he can remember, Animal has gone on all fours, his back twisted beyond repair by the catastrophic events of "that night" when a burning fog of poison smoke from the local factory blazed out over the town of Khaufpur, and the Apocalypse visited his slums. Now just turned seventeen and well schooled in street work, he lives by his wits, spending his days jamisponding (spying) on town officials and looking after the elderly nun who raised him, Ma Franci. His nights are spent fantasizing about Nisha, the girlfriend of the local resistance leader, and wondering what it must be like to get laid.

When Elli Barber, a young American doctor, arrives in Khaufpur to open a free clinic for the still suffering townsfolk -- only to find herself struggling to convince them that she isn't there to do the dirty work of the Kampani -- Animal gets caught up in a web of intrigues, scams, and plots with the unabashed aim of turning events to his own advantage.

Profane, piercingly honest, and scathingly funny, Animal's People illuminates a dark world shot through with flashes of joy and lunacy. A stunning tale of an unforgettable character, it is an unflinching look at what it means to be human: the wounds that never heal and a spirit that will not be quenched.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Set in a loosely fictionalized version of Bhopal, India, in the wake of the 1984 explosion at a Union Carbide pesticide plant, Indra Sinha's wonderful novel was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, and it's no mystery why. As this unique, and uniquely untrustworthy, narrator divulges his life story, the resulting knee-high vista opens up a heart-breaking and unforgettable world. --Jason Kirk --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Orphaned Bhopal slum resident Animal, who used to be human before an industrial chemical accident left his bones twisted like a hairpin, narrates in a rich argot this tense and absorbing Brit import, shortlisted for the Booker in 2007. Animal, who walks on all fours, focuses on the events surrounding the impending trial of the Kampani responsible for the accident. He falls in with a group led by famous musician Somraj; Somraj's daughter, Nisha; and Nisha's boyfriend, Saint Zafar, who devotes his life to fighting the Kampani and caring for the poor. Tensions mount as suspicious Amrikan doctor Elli Barber opens a clinic in the slums, lawyers from the Kampani arrive in Khaufpur to negotiate a settlement, and Animal, desperately in love with Nisha, copes with his desires and frustrations. While some of the supporting characters remain one-dimensional, Animal's voice—a mélange of grit, pointed social criticism, profanity and lust—brings to life what could have become a tendentious parable, and his struggles personalize the novel's grand themes of secrecy, betrayal and unexpected acts of love and kindness. Sinha balances big issues with an intimate depiction of life at its bleakest. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; Reprint edition (March 17, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 141657879X
• ISBN-13: 978-1416578796
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 4.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #73,456 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You cannot remain untouched by Animal, February 8, 2008

By 

Gordon Eldridge (Southport, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Animal's People (Paperback)

The central character, who is also the narrator of this story, is the force which gives the novel its incredible emotional power. Animal, so named because his twisted back forces him must walk on all fours, was the victim of a toxic gas leak from a foreign-owned company in the Indian town of Khaufpur. Animal is crass, obsessed with sex and self-interested enough to slip drugs into a love rival's drinks. Despite this he is an earthy, funny, self-aware and thoroughly likeable character and a brutally honest narrator.

It is perhaps not possible for someone who has not lived through such horrors to truly understand what it must be like for those who have, but getting to know Animal allows us to come as close as we are likely to get. Animal's dealings with the foreign `doctress' Elli also give us a window of understanding that opens onto the chasm that divides most readers from Animal's world, not just because we have not experienced the kind of atrocity he has, but because we are affluent and privileged.

This is a book about cynical exploitation by big business of the situation in less affluent countries. It is about the corruption that hampers the fight for justice and compensation for the victims and it is about the lack of any true understanding by outsiders of the real plight of those who live in `the kingdom of the poor'. It is also a book which brings all this alive in a very visceral way. Noone could be left untouched after reading this novel.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, May 14, 2008

By 

E. Truman - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Animal's People: A Novel (Hardcover)

It's rare to come across a book with a truly original voice, but that occurs in Animal's People. The protagonist, Animal, is a brilliant, damaged young man who had survived most of his life by his raw intelligence. Because of this -- because of the harsh environment he has grown up in, the abuse he has suffered, etc. -- it is jarring to hear him speak and think like a "normal" person. And yet he does. Animal, despite his apparent madness at times, is one of the most fully developed HUMAN characters I have seen in a novel.

Beyond the wonder of experiencing Animal, the reader is taken on an adventure through the hells of an insubstantial legal system. Justice is a major theme in the book, but the story leaves the reader wondering just how one is supposed to obtain justice if it cannot be obtained through the courts or the government. Should one resort to violence? Peaceful protests? And at what point should one give up on the search for justice?

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A deceptively light serious read !, December 29, 2008

By 

Reader from Singapore - See all my reviews

This review is from: Animal's People: A Novel (Hardcover)

Indra Sinha's Booker shortlisted novel "Animal's People" takes as its subject the aftermath of a chemical contamination disaster in India that has poisoned, maimed and destroyed whole communities including its self-named central character Animal who due to a deformed back is now reduced to walking like an animal on all fours. Serious issues of government corruption and cover up from inducements offered by unscrupulous multinationals, western perspective of third world realities as seen through the eyes of liberal journalists, etc are dealt with in a vernacular ridden narrative - shades of David Mitchell's "Cloud Atlas" - that reads like a post-apocalyptic comedic nightmare.

The pidgin-like language is initially hard to get into - what a bother to consult the large glossary of hindi words at the back of the book - but you soon get used to it when read fast. Animal's sex deprived sex obsessed psyche is funny and touching to a point but it is the essence of his surviving humanity beneath his deformed shell that draws its sharpest contrast against the rest of normal humanity and their unconscionable acts. Sinha's characters are never less than fascinating - there's the Mother Theresa type figure of the French nun driven mad by the catastrophe, the courageous educated local hero willing to sacrifice his life for justice, the female love interest in a three ( no, make that two and a half) cornered love affair, the romantic musician, and not least of all the righteous doctor from the first world taking up the cause of its victims.

The story gallops along nicely until stalled by an overlong clinic boycott episode before quickly regaining pace and building up to a thrilling climax which has each side lined up against the other for a fight to the death. Having said that, the drug induced dream like sequence just before the end is rather confusing and nearly ruined it for me.

Sinha tells a serious story but his tone is comic and satirical throughout. Animal's cultural misunderstanding of the significance of a kiss between the western doctor and her visiting husband is a hoot. "Animal's People" is so life affirming and has so many great moments you cannot fail to be charmed by it. A highly recommended read.