A Burning
Books | Fiction / Literary
3.9
(635)
Megha Majumdar
" For readers of Tommy Orange, Yaa Gyasi, and Jhumpa Lahiri, an electrifying debut novel about three unforgettable characters who seek to rise--to the middle class, to politcal power, to fame in the movies--and find their lives entangled in the wake of a catastrophe in contemporary India. Jivan is a Muslim girl from the slums, determined to move up in life, who is accused of executing a terrorist attack on a train because of a careless comment on Facebook. PT Sir is an opportunistic gym teacher who hitches his aspirations to a right-wing political party, and finds that his own ascent becomes linked to Jivan's fall. Lovely--an irresistible outcast whose exuberant voice and dreams of glory fill the novel with warmth and hope and humour--has the alibi that can set Jivan free, but it will cost her everything she holds dear. Taut, symphonic, propulsive, and riveting from its opening lines, A Burning has the force of an epic while being so masterfully compressed it can be read in a single sitting. Majumdar writes with dazzling assurance at a breakneck pace on complex themes that read here as the components of a thriller: class, fate, corruption, justice, and what it feels like to face profound obstacles and yet nurture big dreams in a country spinning toward extremism. An extraordinary debut. A novel about fate, power, opportunity, and class; about innocence and guilt, betrayal and love, and the corrosive media cycle that manufactures falsehoods masquerading as truths--A Burning is a debut novel of exceptional power and urgency, haunting and beautiful, brutal, vibrant, impossible to forget."--
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More Details:
Author
Megha Majumdar
Pages
304
Publisher
McClelland & Stewart
Published Date
2020-06-02
ISBN
0771059833 9780771059834
Community ReviewsSee all
"Tragic and eye opening. It’s an in depth look at social and political issues in India. It highlights the dangers of corruption, social media, and the “mob mentality.” This is also a success story in some ways, both by morally gray and well intentioned means. This book also highlights LGBTQ issues, religious discrimination, and more. Very well worth a read, I am looking forward to another book by Megha Majumdar. "
"This was a tough read (and I can't really say I "enjoyed" it in the traditional sense) but it was timely and well-written. Each character’s perspective feels unique and alive, and their actions are believable even when they're terrible. I felt like the demonstration of a person being seduced into doing increasingly awful things on behalf of a right-wing political party was realistic."
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awesome_user_984860
"It was a tough ending. But the book was good. "
K R
Karen Reeves
"Not a thrilller, but good"
A B
Ann B
"Quite interesting"
C A
Comfort Ayoade
"3.5 stars. Beautifully written, just wanted things to end differently. The story was painful but realistic in that one person’s success is often due to another’s suffering."
G N
Gretchen Nord