 
|
|
 |
|
Blue Boy
by Rakesh Satyal
| List Price: |
$15.00 |
| Price: |
$10.80 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. |
| You Save: |
$4.20 (28%) |
|
|
Paperback
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corporation
ISBN13: 9780758231369
Condition: NEW
Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices
Meet Kiran Sharma: lover of music, dance, and all things sensual; son of immigrants, social outcast, spiritual seeker. A boy who doesn't quite understand his lot-until he realizes he's a god...As an only son, Kiran has obligations-to excel in his studies, to honor the deities, to find a nice Indian girl, and, above all, to make his mother and father proud-standard stuff for a boy of his background. If only Kiran had anything in common with the other Indian kids besides the color of his skin. They reject him at every turn, and his cretinous public schoolmates are no better. Cincinnati in the early 1990s isn-t exactly a hotbed of cultural diversity, and Kiran-s not-so-well-kept secrets don-t endear him to any group. Playing with dolls, choosing ballet over basketball, taking the annual talent show way too seriously. . .the very things that make Kiran who he is also make him the star of his own personal freak show. . . Surrounded by examples of upstanding Indian Americans-in his own home, in his temple, at the weekly parties given by his parents- friends-Kiran nevertheless finds it impossible to get the knack of -normalcy.- And then one fateful day, a revelation: perhaps his desires aren-t too earthly, but too divine. Perhaps the solution to the mystery of his existence has been before him since birth. For Kiran Sharma, a long, strange trip is about to begin-a journey so sublime, so ridiculous, so painfully beautiful, that it can only lead to the truth. . .
| Customer Reviews: |
|
| |
| Really enjoyable. |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
 |
|
An engaging, nicely written book that I enjoyed. It's both sweet and sad, and often hilarious. It grabbed me from the first page. I found myself enjoying the lead character's intelligence, individuality and freedom of expression, while at the same time thinking, "Oh no, Kiran, don't do THAT!" Ha. Some might find the boy's adventures to learn about sex to be off-putting (though I didn't). I enjoyed the peek into the Indian culture. Probably not meant to be an "important" contribution to serious and intense world literature, but a really enjoyable read.
|
| Best New Novel of the Year! |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
 |
|
This book was wonderful. As I read I totally felt like I knew Kiran, and I was with him through this year or so of his life. The description and delightful writing really cause you to open your heart and look outside the box of life. I must say my eyes were opened and the world is now a different place. Kudos to the author, this book will stay on my shelf and will be passed on to my children!
|
| Interesting Coming-of-Age Tale |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
|
|
When I first read the description of BLUE BOY by Rakesh Satyal, I thought it sounded like an interesting take on a coming-of-age story. Kiran is the only child of traditional Indian parents who have immigrated to the United States and started a new life in Cincinnati. As a young Indian boy in America, he knows he looks different from the other kids; but it's his other interests which really set him apart. He just happens to like ballet class, talent shows, Strawberry Shortcake, make-up, and a pink backpack; and he doesn't exactly hide his feelings from his classmates. As you can probably tell, BLUE BOY most definitely was a very unique story about a very unique boy.
One thing that I have to point out about this book is that it is extremely entertaining. Even though a lot of what happens to Kiran really isn't very funny, the author has incorporated so much humor into this story. Kiran is an extremely funny character. There are numerous scenes where I found myself laughing at Kiran's antics, and I couldn't help but smile at Kiran's insights into life.
This novel was written in first person in Kiran's voice, and I think that's what made this book so special. Getting inside of Kiran's mind and truly understanding his feelings really caused me to think. Kiran was such a lost and confused young boy, and my heart really went out to him. Poor Kiran just didn't "fit in" on so many levels. Even though his parents moved to Ohio, they were still very involved with their Indian friends and that culture. Kiran was stuck between wanting to belong with his family and their friends while also trying to fit in with the American kids at his school. In addition, there was absolutely no doubt that Kiran did not relate to the other young boys that he met. While he tried to have the same interests, it was apparent at a pretty early age that Kiran was his own unique person. He not only had his own insecurities about pleasing his parents, but he also had to deal with constant teasing at school.
Because he didn't feel quite "normal", Kiran gets the idea that he is the embodiment of the god Krishna. He even uses his mother's make-up to color his face blue so he would look more like Krishna. I actually really liked how the author incorporated this imagery into the story, and I thought it was very well done. I thought it was very telling how Kiran wanted to embrace something bigger than himself while also trying to come to terms with his differences.
As I read BLUE BOY, I had to wonder how much of this story was autobiographical. The author points out that his parents were not like Kiran's parents in BLUE BOY, but I do know there was one very funny scene where Kiran dresses up as Abraham Lincoln for a school project that was based on the author's real-life experience. So much of Kiran's confusion and pain just seemed to be so real and heartfelt that I'm guessing that the author was speaking from a lot of his own personal experiences as a young boy.
BLUE BOY would make for an interesting book club pick if your group likes books about other cultures and life styles. I do think there is a great deal to discuss about this book especially pertaining to parent/child relationships. I think groups like mine that are made up of mothers might really appreciate discussing the challenges that Kiran and his parents faced. I also think talking about the differences in the Indian and American cultures would be very interesting. There is a reading guide available which contains ten thought-provoking questions.
|
| Small World, Global Truths |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
|
|
(Disclosure: My family knows Rakesh Satyal's family; but I'm 10 years older than him and have seen him once in the last two decades)
BLUE BOY covered all-too-familiar ground for me. Like protagonist Kiran Sharma, I was an Indian boy raised in the Midwest. Like Kiran, I observed firsthand, often painfully, the dynamics and context of Indo-American culture: the clinging to Indian-ness, religious customs, education, and exclusively Indian friends; the double whammy of racist white kids and mean fellow Indian ones; the hyper-challenge of fitting in, whether in friendships, family, or country of residence. Unlike Kiran, I was stereotypically boy enough to like baseball, rock music (okay, Whitney Houston too), and mean kids (for self-preservation, if nothing else). And I never wore makeup or did ballet. As far as I recall.
That's why BLUE BOY worked so well for me. On one hand it captured beautifully the angst I felt--but denied at the time--about being simultaneously Indian, American, all of the above, and none of the above. On the other, it gave me fresh perspective, through the eyes of remarkably observant, self-aware, and witty Kiran. In this way BLUE BOY opened a double-window for me: into my own experience and that of a boy distinct from me in key ways. As personal as Kiran's journey into the netherworld of junior-high talent shows, doomed sleepovers, city-park-sex voyeurism, and boorish Indian adults and kids is, it's precisely that personal depth which makes it so universal. Some may argue that the book's episodic nature (i.e., it's only loosely driven by a central plot--Kiran's attempts to determine whether he's truly an avatar of Krishna) makes it less compelling; I would counter that BLUE BOY coheres wonderfully around something we all share: our adolescent sojourn, internal and external, to find ourselves and exactly where we fit in. In Kiran's case, the journey, and its highly refreshing destination, is one you'll want to accompany him on.
|
| Hare Krishna in a whole new light |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
|
|
First, in the interest of honesty, I must say straight out that Rakesh Satyal is my editor. If I hadn't liked Blue Boy I simply would not review it; but since I did like it, I don't see any harm in saying so, and why.
Blue Boy is what is often called a "coming of age" story, about a boy's recognition and acceptance of his homosexuality. But this book, like the best of these, is so much more than that. Everyone who knows Satyal or works with him uses the same word to describe him: "brilliant." And this characterization is what distinguishes Blue Boy from so many similar stories. Satyal's voice is witty, sharp, somewhat cruel--the marks of a, dare I say it?--very masculine style.
Satyal has achieved what he set out to do, as explained in his Q&A at the end of the book: write a "humorous" and "playful" account of growing up Indian (Punjabi)-American in Middle America (Cincinnati). The scenes in which Kiran, the protagonist, discovers the escalating pleasures of pornographic magazines, are hilarious, speaking to everyone, of any gender or sexual orientation, who has gone through this essential rite of passage. And the payoff, a puncturing of a lyrical, misty embrace of sensuality, with an honest, coarse and pithy sentence, is, well, brilliant.
The hardest thing for a humorist to bring off is depicting serious emotion without spoiling the mood or sinking into sentimentality. Satyal manages this in an episode that truly made this reader laugh through her tears: the story of Kiran's dolls, Strawberry Shortcake and her sidekick, Blueberry Muffin. Anyone who's ever played with dolls knows there is a hierarchy. It's the acolyte, Blueberry, who meets a terrible fate, the incident made achingly poignant as Kiran acknowledges the sacrifice of the less valued one.
While the author's focus on his Indian heritage and his "differences" from the American children give the book a unique flavor, it's important to stress, as other reviewers have said, that the story's appeal is universal. A middle-aged, white-bread, New York woman, I was drawn in and captivated from the beginning, made just uncomfortable enough by the acerbic humor, the critical but affectionate look at Punjabi culture and the meticulously observed descriptions of people's physical appearance to know I was reading the work of a master.
|
|
