The Village by the Sea (A Puffin Book)

Product Information

The Village by The Sea is the (true) story of siblings Hari and Lila, along with their younger sisters Kamal and Bella, as they struggle in a quickly changing India. On the contrary, it was pretty short, but for a story of this calibre, it could have been wrapped up in less than 150 pages.

Her descriptions of natural locations and of the busy city Bombay are the best aspects of the book, and do her credit. Some people, not Indians, might enjoy seeing the poor side of India in this story, but for me, it quickly got frustrating to read through the elaborated imagery in the book. The novel focuses on how fast Hari and Lila are forced to grow up before their time and how they adapt to their new living conditions. He tells the people that the government will send men to “pacify you with lies,” but that they will never have high-paying jobs, only low-paying servant work, like being janitors, coolies, and sweepers.Obviously I sympathised with them but I think Anita Desai could have done a better job with making her characters more authentic. Hari and Lila were born and raised in the village, but now their family is falling into despair: the father to alcohol while the mother is seriously ill. Some parts of the plot did not really seem important to the storyline, nevertheless it clearly depicted rural India.

The novel’s action takes place in a fishing village near the sea named Thul, located in a rural area in India. She berates herself for not doing her chores before she went to the beach, but also knows that going to the sea first thing in the morning is a special ritual for her; she feels that as soon as she rises she must “flee” her house. Although the UK as a whole is experiencing some concerns about the housing market, Plymouth has remained consistent and interest in Mount Wise is buoyant.Extreme poverty, poor health care system and below average education rate is not really encouraging, rather it was pretty depressing. Though a children's novel, Desai does not shy away from showing the deleterious consequences of economic growth.

All of these examples show how the humans of the novel see birds as enviable creatures because they are frustrated with their own lives. In the last pages of this novel lies with a similar (albeit attenuated) sense of helplessness: no one can stop the environmental pollution and destruction of an entire area, which will surely bring with it a general crisis of local residents.Continuing in this spirit, Anita Desai narrates, "I did not hide the pain, but I also wanted to communicate this capacity for enjoyment”.

Working from the base of an excellent masterplan, we have developed an architectural approach that combines the latest environmental standards with new buildings that match their neighbours, by reflecting the essential Georgian elements of proportion, simplicity and close attention to detail. The ordinary story line is made extraordinary by a captivating narrative but sans that, the story and the climax left the reader in me wanting more. The de Silvas depart, but another guest stays in the home—a venerable political leader studying birds that, coincidentally, Hari heard speak in Bombay. I believe the characters are not very well built and you don't feel an attachment to any of the characters.

He decides he will run away to Rewas, and then to Bombay, and will never come back again to his sad house with his sick mother, his drunken father, and his frightened sisters. I have read many books that were claimed literary masterpieces but I feel this book is better than some of them. Biju has hired workmen from Alibagh, the district capital, even though the Thul men have been building boats all their lives.