This novel was shortlisted for the 2007 Booker Prize. The protagonist, Animal, is a smart but slum dwelling Indian boy who is a victim of a Bhopal-type disaster. His life changes when an American doctor opens a free clinic as he plots to turn events to his advantage.
I read this book in India and loved it. Irreverent in the extreme, funny in parts, searing in others. Never dull.
From Amazon:
In this Booker-shortlisted novel, Indra Sinha's profane, furious, and scathingly funny narrator delivers an unflinching look at what it means to be human.
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 âthat nightâ 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 townsfolkâonly to find herself struggling to convince them that she isn't there to do the dirty work of the KampaniâAnimal 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.
I read this book in India and loved it. Irreverent in the extreme, funny in parts, searing in others. Never dull.
From Amazon:
In this Booker-shortlisted novel, Indra Sinha's profane, furious, and scathingly funny narrator delivers an unflinching look at what it means to be human.
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 âthat nightâ 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 townsfolkâonly to find herself struggling to convince them that she isn't there to do the dirty work of the KampaniâAnimal 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.
