I just spent a good chunk of time writing a review as to why I LIKED this book (as in "it was okay") but why I didn't LOVE it.....and some glitch within Goodreads ERASED IT.I hate you Goodreads. *insert expletives here*Here's the recreated version:Monica Pradhan - decent writer. But no Jhumpa Lahiri so _do not_ expect something on that level.Story - told in the first person by three American-born-Indian daughters and their immigrant mothers. Problem - trying to tell the narratives of SIX women, while also exposing the reader to Indian culture, customs, food, dress, language, history (esp Partition), mythology, religion, etc. Technical information overload, at times akin to reading a text book. Result - Too much information crammed into not enough pages, taking up space where the narratives should have been. The individual stories started off strong but in the end some of the women's tales were somewhat lacking. For example, you find out one of the mothers is having an affair with her first love - and that's it. Like, hello? That's pretty significant and yet as a reader, you get nothing more in terms of emotions/thoughts/storyline.What annoyed me - The realism of it all (that was sarcasm, btw). ALL the daughters are professionally "uber successful" (one's a doctor, one's a rocket scientist-turned-successful-artist, one's a corporate something-or-other). Two of the girls have "great marriages", one of the two also has "great kids". Side note: the mothers life-stories seemed a bit more believable (even the mother who married the white guy).Of course there has to be SOME issue which is provided by Kiran (one of the daughters), who has gotten divorced and decides she MUST meet a man, get married and have a family ASAP because she is 32 years old - therefore she's willing to settle for an 'arranged marriage' with an Indian man (as in looking for compatibility of life goals, not true love).WHAT I HATED THE MOST - During the search for an 'arranged husband' it *just so turns out* that there's a TALL, BLONDE, BLUE-EYED, TEXAN who's living IN INDIA (hence no custom barrier), who speaks perfect Marathi (hence no language barrier), who has lost his wife who was KOREAN (hence no family barrier on his end regarding 'marrying someone of a different race/culture') and....(drum roll please).....they fall madly in love.And while the book is 426 pages long, this all happens in the LAST 87 (!!!) PAGES. Not only that, you don't get to READ about the falling-in-love process but you're 'told' via phone call when Kiran tells her mother. And of course this culminates into the "perfect wedding" at the end of the book along with all the other characters wrapping up their stories (and their individual issues) "happily ever after".Do you see the problem I had with all this? I like books and storylines to be consistent. When you read Like Water for Chocolate you know from the first page it's going to be a whimsical fairytale-like story. When you read Bridges of Madison County the gentle theme, pace and tone carries throughout - even as the two characters fall in love over a matter of days.The Hindi-Bindi Club is set up under the umbrella of REALISM (putting aside the fact that none of the daughters had regular office cubicle jobs or marriage problems or "oops babies" etc). It's realistic - from the first generation immigrant experience to the second generation experience of straddling two cultures to the stories of the grandparents in the old country. It's chock-full of 'real stuff' - historical, cultural, etc. But then...in the end...there's this FANTASY BULLSHXT that gets thrown in to create a "happily-ever-after ending" tying up all the loose ends. *frown* That part SUCKED and I blame the editor. I don't know what the author was thinking (although at the back of the book there is a 'Letter To the Reader' in which she admits she wanted to keep working on the novel). Nonetheless it was the EDITOR'S JOB to nix such a fake ending.The reason this book got three stars - because like I said before, Monica Pradhan is a decent writer. And she had some really great things to say about life and living (mostly voicing it from the mother's perspective). I felt like I learned something about Indian culture/history that I never knew about before (though it was excessive). If you read this (overlooking the gag-me-with-a-spoon, eye-rolling, bullshxt ending), I think you would enjoy it too. Plus there were all these YUMMY sounding Indian recipes at the end of each chapter and it made me want to cook them! :)
I really enjoyed this book. Much more than I expected, it was such a sweet surprise. I was truly expecting an Indian chic-lit novel and instead I stumble upon a simply deep didactic fiction about a group of Indian immigrants and their first generation Indian American children. I would have given it 4 stars but I remain firm and satisfied with 3.5 because as I mentioned earlier it was simply deep.What I loved most was the fact that I could relate to it so much, being a child of immigrant parents myself. It didn't matter that my immigrant parents are Nigerian while this book features Indians. I could still relate so much to everything and it made me appreciate what my parents did for us even more.I love that it opened my eyes to the differences (in upbringing) that (immigrant) parents experienced in their lifetimes apart from the ones their children have as the American raised generation. It also enlightened me to the many mistakes, misunderstandings and sacrifices (with multiple doses of wisdom gained) that a parent from a different culture raising their children in another culture (not their own) encounter. And the struggles faced in doing everything they can to instill their culture and beliefs into their children's lives while trying not to be overbearing about it.Just such a simple yet beautiful read. My favorite mother/daughter relationship would have to be that of Meenal and Kiran's, I enjoyed the growth that eventually came out of their cultural/personality differences. I think I gained the most about life (philosophically) and the power and the strength of love from their stories the most. History and culture wise I learned the most from Saroj and Uma. There were a few oddities, but not bad or broad enough to ruin the entire story. For example, the rift between two of the mothers that's never explain in terms of what caused it or how it was resolved. I found it interesting that at the end of each chapter she included the recipes to the Indian foods mentioned.Learning that it is written in the tradition of The Joy Luck Club and Like Water for Chocolate makes me interested to read these other novels as well. If you enjoy didactic fiction or you just have a fascination with learning about other cultures I would recommend reading The Hindi Bindi Club.
Do You like book The Hindi-Bindi Club (2007)?
Kiran is a thirty-two year old Indian-American divorcee who returns to her home and family seeking that which she rejected all of her life: a semi-arranged marriage. After her failed marriage to an Italian-American due to infidelity on her husband’s part, Kiran is seeking comfort in her culture, her mom, her mother’s friends—nicknamed the Hindi-Bindi Club, and the old ways to mend what feels broken inside of her. As families merge, old ways and new ways combined, and cultures join, Kiran finds t
—Joni
My review rating: 4 of 5 starsKind of an Indian "Friday Night Knitting Club". "Shuncho?" means Are you listening to me? Perfect for OnnoBumper sticker: "I pray to God to protect me from His followers"Possible cure for Anna's athsma:A healer moved her ularasensitive hands over Rani's energy pathways and removed the negative energy, the cause of blockages, and infused positive energy that heals, rinsing her chakras and aura squeaky clean.The throat chakra, which is associated with creativity and expression, was clogged. Wow! I'm sure that Anna's is clogged. Now to find someone who can fix her. . .Book is full of indian recipes and there are more on her website as well. www.hindi-bindi.comView all my reviews.
—Janell
I thought it was about time that I read some adult fiction, so when I saw this on sale at my library (for a quarter! can you believe it!) I thought I'd give it a try. I am fascinated by the Hindu/Indian culture, and this book didn't disappoint. It even had recipes after each chapter! I love that for any culture, family, etc. food plays such an important role in sustaining life, strengthening bonds, making memories, etc. etc. So I loved that the author noted that by putting in recipes for the food mentioned in each chapter. What a great idea!This book was a little hard to get into just because it had 6 different narrators. So I would just get to know one person's life history and then had to readjust to another's and another's and then all of their mom's, and get to know 3 different family heritages!! And then try to pronounce in my head the Indian names!!! Wow, that was hard for me. But even with that I really enjoyed this book. I learned a lot about Indian history, culture, families, as well as lessons like how to look past family members shortcomings and just love them for who they are, etc. etc. A good read!
—Hilary
