Customer Reviews

One Hundred Shades Of White

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I happend by chance to see this book. Its a great book - light but still quite deep. And what is amazing is that - despite that fact that it is set mostly in London, it takes a very intersting look at life from Kerala. And Preethi has a very good flair for writing with a very natural flow.

Another interesting aspect is how she actually blends in lives of an Indian family with that of British and Spanish familes - bringing out the similarities across cultures and not get bogged down by the differences.

One comment - might be kind of funny - the book presents Spanish words in italics - but the Malayalam words used are presented in normal font. Does that mean that the editors think that all these words are part of English :-)?

I usually like books by Indian authors, but this one was truly a waste of time.
It was sort of a hodge-podge of other books (some 'Like Water for Chocolate', some 'God of Small Things', etc.) with an unoriginal plot, some nice ends to tie up that showed up from nowhere. It's fine to read a not-so-great book if at least the language has some poetry or beauty in it; this one does not. It read like I was listening in on someone's dull cell phone conversation. Apparently this author has some previous books that were successful, but I'm not likely to read anything else by her.

I am an avid fan of Indian literature and I am always on the quest for something new. Preethi Nair's "100 Shades of White" had an intriguing title and a charming cover suggesting the novel about the clash of Indian and European cultures and the problems of immigrants, so I picked it up eagerly.

Almost immediately I felt extreme disappointment. The first chapter, narrated by Maya, one of the central characters of the story, full of strange syntax, uninteresting and poorly written, put me off almost completely and I seriously considered closing the book and not coming back to it. I resisted this urge and I am quite happy, because, although it is not a great literary specimen and something else than I expected (maybe it is a mistake to expect anything?), it does get better. When the narrator switches from Maya to her mother, Nalini, the flow becomes more bearable, and then even Maya's narrative is better (or maybe I got used to the author's peculiarities). I got interested enough to finish the novel with some pleasure, and I think I will try another book by Preethi Nair, at least to see if she has written something more wholesome.

"100 Shades of White" tells the story of Nalini, a young mother from Kerala, who moves to London with two small children, Maya and Satchin, urged by her husband, Raul, who is a successful businessman in England. As a result of quite improbable turn of events, Nalini is left alone without any means to survive, but with heroic effort and lots of good luck she becomes a successful businesswoman and a happy wife. Maya is more of a seeker, she is a bit lost, does not know what she wants from life - she is quite silly, in fact.

Nalini is a likeable character, but Maya is very irritating. The whole novel is a mix of a love story, a coming-of-age, Indian tradition, an immigrant novel, and a novel I call "kitchen" type - with food and its preparations at its center, but the result is messy and chaotic, although it has a certain charm. It is definitely a light, popular novel and can be read if someone has lots of spare time and happens to find this book, but it is not the finest example of popular literature.

This story completely touched me. It made me laugh and cry. It also made me very hungry!

At first I found it hard to follow with the point of view jumping without warning from generation to generation, but then I started to really enjoy that and towards the end I thought it was perfect.

A great read. Get into it on a rainy day on the lounge with a piece of naan and a butter chicken curry!

I was attracted to this book, partly because of the media hype surrounding the extraordinary means to which the author had to go to get her first novel published; and partly because I welcomed the refreshing concept of a story centred around an Indian family in the UK who were from the south of India in general, and Kerala in particular. The glossy book cover enticed me, decorated with vibrant pictures of iced biscuits and cakes.

Overall, the book was enjoyable and descriptive. One could almost hear the sizzling of mustard seeds and green chillies, and inhale the pungent aromas of lime pickle.

Ms Nair's style of writing is of a good standard, albeit inconsistent. It was interesting to read about the same events being visualized alternately by Nalini and her daughter, Maya.

There are elements of magical realism in the book, although not always convincing, and nowhere near on the scale of such great magical realists as Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

I had hoped to find something different from the standard themes followed by many writers of stories concerning Asians in Britain, assuming that references would be made towards the southern mentality, and its well-educated people. (It is, for instance, a known fact that Kerala is India's only state with a literacy rate of 100%) However, Ms Nair chose rustic villagers for her characters, coming from conditions rarely to be found in 21st century Kerala.

The characters are well-developed: Nalini displays moxie, as she struggles in a foreign land with an alien culture and language to adapt to a new lifestyle, after her husband has abandoned her and their children. One can understand why she made the controversial decision to cover up his disappearance with a lie, in order to protect her children's honour and sense of self-worth.

One can't help thinking that a glossary would have been helpful. I personally was able to understand the Malayalam terms, and would know the difference between dishes such as aviyal and thoran. However, the lack of a vocabulary list alienates the foreign audience towards whom the book is directed. Many readers would be clueless about some of the expressions used, and would be left to guess at the meaning; thus, they would be unable to appreciate fully certain passages.

Nevertheless, it is an easy book to read, and should be recommended to others; I am looking forward to reading some of Ms Nair's other novels.

Being a South Asian, I don't really expect books about Indian/Pakistani to surprise me. This book however, and its characters managed to give me a warm fuzzy feeling. As a family therapist, I loved the family dynamics, the narratives, the secrets, the drama, and especially the journey of coming to a full circle for multiple generations. It's a light read and I read it on the plane. A nice vacation read!