Behind the Beautiful Forevers Audiolibro Por Katherine Boo arte de portada

Behind the Beautiful Forevers

Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity

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Behind the Beautiful Forevers

De: Katherine Boo
Narrado por: Sunil Malhotra
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National Book Award Winner

New York Times best seller.

Named one of Time’s 10 best nonfiction books of the decade.

One of the 10 best books of the year by The New York Times, The Washington Post, O: The Oprah Magazine, USA Today, New York, The Miami Herald, San Francisco Chronicle, Newsday.

In this breathtaking book by Pulitzer Prize winner Katherine Boo, a bewildering age of global change and inequality is made human through the dramatic story of families striving toward a better life in Annawadi, a makeshift settlement in the shadow of luxury hotels near the Mumbai airport.

As India starts to prosper, the residents of Annawadi are electric with hope. Abdul, an enterprising teenager, sees “a fortune beyond counting” in the recyclable garbage that richer people throw away. Meanwhile Asha, a woman of formidable ambition, has identified a shadier route to the middle class. With a little luck, her beautiful daughter, Annawadi’s “most-everything girl”, might become its first female college graduate. And even the poorest children, like the young thief Kalu, feel themselves inching closer to their dreams. But then Abdul is falsely accused in a shocking tragedy; terror and global recession rock the city; and suppressed tensions over religion, caste, sex, power, and economic envy turn brutal.

With intelligence, humor, and deep insight into what connects people to one another in an era of tumultuous change, Behind the Beautiful Forevers, based on years of uncompromising reporting, carries the listener headlong into one of the 21st century’s hidden worlds - and into the hearts of families impossible to forget.

Named one of the best books of the year by The New Yorker, People, Entertainment Weekly, The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, The Economist, Financial Times, Foreign Policy, The Seattle Times, The Nation, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The Denver Post, Minneapolis Star Tribune, The Week, Kansas City Star, Slate, and Publishers Weekly.

©2012 Katherine Boo (P)2012 Random House Asia Ciencias Sociales India Pobreza y Desamparo Sociología Sur de Asia Nueva York Inspirador Apasionante emocionalmente Ingenioso Sincero Para reflexionar África Capitalismo

Reseñas de la Crítica

Winner of the PEN Nonfiction Award

Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize

Winner of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award

Winner of the New York Public Library’s Helen Bernstein Book Award

“Inspiring...extraordinary...[Katherine Boo] shows us how people in the most desperate circumstances can find the resilience to hang on to their humanity. Just as important, she makes us care.” (People)

“A tour de force of social justice reportage and a literary masterpiece.” (Judges, PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award)
Vivid Storytelling • Compelling Characters • Authentic Accents • Immersive Nonfiction • Powerful Insights
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Katherine Boo's book is a good antidote for Gregory David Roberts' Shantaran. Whereas Shantaram appears to view its Mumbai slum through some type of fantasy haze that is ultimately used to glorify its author, Boo's Mumbai slum is stark, unadorned, and filled with people who are barely surviving (or in many cases, not surviving). At times, I felt like a car driver who has been mesmerized by an accident on the side of the road - at other times I simply felt sad and wondered what drew me to this story. For me, this book represents another important facet of India - the conflict between Hindus and Muslims, poverty, corruption, and misery - that needs to be appreciated along with all of the other literary efforts to portray India. Although this is a grim story, it also highlights the grit, ingenuity, and perseverance of people who live on the edge.

An Antidote for Shantaram

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I'm probably going against the swelling tide of accolades for this book but I was somewhat disappointed. Although the writing was excellent, the book began to drag in the second half. The characters were well drawn and, considering it is a non-fiction book, were very compelling. The problem for me is the subject matter. How much pain about the reality of the human poverty condition can anyone take? The fact that the main characters had drawn the deuce of diamonds in the genetic lottery was so clearly drawn and portrayed by the author that it began to grate on my patience. It would be like reading a book about sado-masochism; how many stories do I have to read before I get the point that some people are mean and horrible. Although I appreciate what Katherine Boo has done, has she really revealed anything that I didn't know before? Life is unfair. Corruption is everywhere. There is no hope for a better life for 80% of the world. The book really just confirmed what I already knew: people can adapt to any condition, even filthy, disgusting places like Indian slums. Did it really require three years of intensive research, 3,000 documents and thousands of interviews to discover that life is really dreadful for the poor? I appreciate that she didn't make up the stories and actually followed several of the characters from beginning to end but these stories could have just as easily occurred in the slums of Mexico City or Zimbabwe. I guess the contrast of this slum right up against the richness of the hotels was meant to emphasize the poverty. To be truthful, I thought "The White Tiger" was head and shoulders above this book for revealing the heart and soul of the Indian personality. In that book, the author, although in a humorous, cynical method, demonstrates why the average or impoverished Indian is stuck in his or her position in life. One of the best concepts that I don't believe Mrs. Boo intended was the repudiation of the "Trickle down" theory of economics. As India gets richer, it is only the top 1% who benefit. The rest of the Country still only gets water twice a day. (For those interested, read "The Big Thirst" to see how backward one of the "richest" countries of the world is. The best part of the book was a renewed appreciation for how wonderful my life is and how lucky I am to live in the United States with all its problems.

Very depressing and disappointing

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What did you love best about Behind the Beautiful Forevers?

It takes you to another country. You feel as if you know the characters.

What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?

The slum dwellers really become persons of interest to you. They are three-dimensional human beings you care about. And when they suffer, you actually feel for them. The author is quite exceptional in transporting her readers to Mumbai in the 1990s.

What about Sunil Malhotra’s performance did you like?

No difficulty with names, places, etc.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Micro-economies and the price of global capitalism in the developing world.

Any additional comments?

No, I recommend the audiobook to all my friends. I have not actually read the book but heard about it from a friend. Then, I listened to it, and I was really captivated. It's marvelous!

Incredible story telling

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Loved the delicate interweaving of many lives over many years. Accounts of cruelty, corruption, violence, despair were soul-crushing. Certainly puts all my first world problems in perspective. The fact that these were true accounts were even more crushing. Beautiful worthwhile undertaking

Heartbreaking

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used this Audio to help me finish up my sociology class helped thankyou very much!

yes!

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What made the experience of listening to Behind the Beautiful Forevers the most enjoyable?

Involving myself in each of the family's worlds and exploring it from their point of view.

What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?

The incredible struggles and surprises each character is involved in.

Which character – as performed by Sunil Malhotra – was your favorite?

Asha was a unique character that was foreign in her actions to me, so her choices surprised me every time.

If you could give Behind the Beautiful Forevers a new subtitle, what would it be?

Hope in desperation

Any additional comments?

It would be an incredible fictional story, and the fact that it's non-fiction blows my mind.

I also loved how Katherine Boo discussed the book afterwards.

Quite an eye opening experience

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A compelling story. Greater author commentary at the end. Most enjoyable. I would recommend to any anyone concerned about global poverty.

Don’t pass up this book

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This was such a gripping account, I had to keep checking references to ensure that it was not fiction, or even based on a real story. The book is told in the third-person but such deep observations and presence that you even feel like you are right there, and the author must have been onsite more frequently than not, over the years. It was such a fascinating way of life to be told. Surprisingly, I did not have pity or disgust for the poverty and the way the families live in this common slum but, just the opposite. Most of the studied characters I could see rising upward, at least relatively speaking. They were enterprising, tireless, tried to pursue their education and advancement. It was really a fascinating study which made me wonder if this was really a necessary step in the evolution of developing countries and their people.

Beautiful Story

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I started this book in hard copy, but when life kept getting in the way of my ability to find time to curl up with a good book, I turned to Audible to fill my commute hours with this masterpiece. (The narration was fantastic.) I actually started this book without knowing it is a work of nonfiction, and only realized it when I listened to the author's afterword. The most fantastic parts of this book, for me, are the respect the author shows for the characters and her restraint in how she describes the contrast of their lives from our lives and the lives of the people coming and going from the airport. She describes the lives and ambitions of each individual from a neutral place, without a hint of the patronization which could so easily and subconsciously pervade any depiction of lives in extreme poverty by one who is not. One of the most powerful moments in the book is when she takes a brief break from describing the tragedy that has turned two families against eachother to "listen in" on a Disney park executive's comments about how he just can't bring himself to visit a Universal theme park to check out the competition because he just can't stomach the idea of giving a penny to his competition. The author returns to the story of the families to describe how, despite the tragedy that has turned them into adversaries, they come together to help eachother fulfill a religious obligation. The contrast she creates with that brief snippet is so profound and moving, it haunted me for the rest of the book. Powerful read.

Powerful

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Would you try another book from Katherine Boo and/or Sunil Malhotra?

Probably not at this time.

Did Sunil Malhotra do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

Excellent job!

Do you think Behind the Beautiful Forevers needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

No.

Any additional comments?

If you want to learn about a realistic view of life in the slums of Mumbai, then this selection is for you --- a true and well-researched account of the lives of those living there. Listen to this Audible selection knowing that this is not a funny feel-good type of tome, but you will definitely appreciate the life you have after finishing it! Imagine what you would do to survive a life filled with oppression, hunger, corruption and desperation!

See What Life is Like in the Slums of Mumbai

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