Brit Kotwal, so called because he suffers from a brittle bone condition, lives near Bombay in India. He feels that sometimes it is fun being different, drinking powdered pearls in his milk or having almond oil rubbed into his legs. He thinks he knows the answer to how he can grow.
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Scion of a Calcutta Parsee family, Daryus Kotwal was born with "osteogenesis imperfecta," a disease that has condemned him to a diminutive stature and life in a wheelchair. Moreover, his bones are so brittle that he is nicknamed Brit. This first novel by Bombay-based Kanga is the breezy but touching account of Brit's adolescence and early adulthood. He must deal not only with the physical effects of his disease, but also with his image as a fragile, dependent boy. Constantly fluttering around Brit are his mother, Sera, his father, Sam, and his sister, Dolly, all Anglophiles whose insouciance and wit often seem to parody Noel Coward. Brit's overprotective family only reluctantly lets him cultivate his first friend, Cyrus, a young man who moves in next door. After a brief episode of sexual confusion over Cyrus, Brit finally falls for the latter's girlfriend, Amy. Meanwhile, he sails through college by correspondence and takes his first tentative steps as a writer. But just when he and Amy achieve intimacy, a double tragedy occurs, and Brit's self-reliance is severely tested. Although the narrative often skips lightly along the surface, it succeeds in conveying the protagonist's precarious physical and emotional equilibrium. Through Kanga's promising prose we observe Brit realize his greatest wish: to be seen as a man.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant,
By Brienne Diebolt-Brown (Budapest, Hungary) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Trying to Grow (Hardcover)
This is gem of a book. It's about a Parsi (Persian) family living in India after partition in 1947. The main character, and narrator, is a boy with osteo imperfecta (brittle bone disease). It's semi-autobiographical, witty, wry, and anti-establishment - an insider's scoop into what it's like to be severely handicapped. And yet, I chuckled throughout as he joked about a life that was not normal or easy and in in its own way was very blessed. The characters sparkle!
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Uplifting Story Based on the Author's Own Life Story,
By Pooja Khanna Anand & Amit Anand (Edison, NJ, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Trying to Grow: A Novel on India (Hardcover)
Trying to grow is the story of a young man named Daryus Kotwal, who grew up in more ways than one, and did not allow his disabilitating disease to overcome him. Set in an endearing idiosyncratic Parsi family the story recreates his struggle with life. The vitality of the story comes from startlingly vivid characterizations. There is also this extraordinary fluency in the description of relationships and heartbreaks.Autobiographical in nature, Trying to Grow brings a whole new and refreshing perspective to the world of human disability, eliminating any kind of "mush". There is a lot of honesty and energy in the way the story has been told. There is a vein of humor through out giving it a surprisingly upbeat tone. It is an exhilirating book which celebrates life more than anything else.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
humourous witty....,
By A Customer
This review is from: Trying to Grow (Hardcover)
firdaus kanga is a very dear friend who lives in my neighbourhood. his book is a reflection of his jovial self.he is the wittiest guy i've ever met, and also, by the way, the most intelligent! this book is a must read.
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