Disopora of Inheritance of Loss - 3231 Words

As might be expected from the rich input of her cultural background, Kiran Desai, daughter of the author Anita Desai is a born story-teller. Her first novel, Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard (1998), is a fresh look at life in the sleepy provincial town of Shahkot in India. At 35 years old, Desai is the youngest woman ever to win the prize and was already highly acclaimed in literary circles for her first novel ‘Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard’ which won a Betty Trask award [2] when it was published in 1998. She spent eight years writing her second novel â€Å"The Inheritance of Loss† [3] . Much has been made of the parallels between the book and Desais family history but its not an autobiography. Desai herself has said that in places its†¦show more content†¦Whereas Biju finds it difficult to have a conversation even with the Indian girls to whom he delivers a take away meal, Saeed had many girls: Oh myee God!! he said. Oh myee Gaaaawd! She keep calling me and calling me,† he clutched at head, â€Å"aaaiii...I dont know what to do!!†... †Its those dreadlocks, cut them off and the girls will go.† â€Å"But I dont want them to go!†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ [8] Much of the comedy also arises from the Indian mis or over-use of the English language. ‘â€Å"Result equivocal† the young Judge wrote home to India on completing his university examinations in Britain. â€Å"What†, asked everyone â€Å"does that mean?† It sounded as if there was a problem, because â€Å"un† words were negative words, those basically competent in the English agreed. But then (his father) consulted the assistant magistrate and they exploded with joy †¦.† Bose, the Judge’s friend from his university days is a wonderfully optimistic but pompous individual, made all the more ridiculous by his over-use of British idioms – Cheeri-o, right-o, tickety boo, simply smashing, chin-chin, no siree, how’s that, bottom’s up, I say! [9] An original and modern aspect of Desai’s style is the almost poet-like use she makes of different print forms on the page: she uses italics for foreign words as if to emphasize their exoticness and untranslatability and capitals for emphasis