Animal's People

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A Fantastic Read - Rated
Don't buy this book expecting an easy read or if you are easily offended by bad language. That said, this was one of the best books I have read in recent years. I would highly recommend.

I enjoyed this - Rated
Reading the book description on the cover, I wasn't sure what to expect. I was secretly delighted with this book. It was sad and funny and tragic and hopeful all wrapped up in one. The book's narrator Aminal was a revelation and his honesty and emotion made for a compelling read. The language is quite strong - maybe a little excessive, but still it's a great read.

Touch your humanity - Rated
Don't expect an easy read - enjoy the fact that it takes you to a place you'd never hope to inhabit...be realistic about the fact you don't want to be in his body, but revel in the fact that Animal really takes you there and hopefully touches a humanity that's in us all - I wasn't expecting it, so be shirty and cynical, but want to know what his story is! Very good story telling! If you don't appreciate it - you're 'bit silly...' As a hard core feminist I've never enjoyed the 'c' word so much in print - forget the 'ohh bad language' reviews - it's nothing but liberating. I don't think that's what's really shocking. I wanted a happy ending AND I got it, but I'm not sure it's so true...still I was moved to look at the Bhopal website and write a question. Might do it again week after week! Just to irritate them!

Very Moving - Rated
Animal's People deservedly made it onto the Man Booker shortlist in 2007. It is not just a humane and entertaining novel about a very serious industrial disaster (the Bhopal gas disaster) but it is also angry, and touching at the same time.
There are some flaws pointed out by other reviewers as well, odd syntax, too much swearing, a certain inconsistency in tone - although it must be said that keeping up Animal's distinctive voice for over 350 pages is a major feat in itself, one might forgive the occasional lapses. There are passages of real beauty despite the main setting being a series of slums.
I love the wry humour and banter between friends, the increasing dementia of Ma Franci and Animal's continued love for her as the only mother he knows. But the American doctor Elli did not come alive for me. She is the weakest character in the book..
Also Animal's lustfulness earlier on in the book was so repetitive, it became tedious and annoying. It was as if the author was not sure where the plot was going.
Indra Sinha is at his best when he is portraying the world of damaged people (Animal, of course and also Ma Franci and Pundit Somraj).

You cannot remain untouched by Animal - Rated
The central character, who is also the narrator of this story, is the force which gives the novel its incredible emotional power. Animal, so named because his twisted back forces him must walk on all fours, was the victim of a toxic gas leak from a foreign-owned company in the Indian town of Khaufpur. Animal is crass, obsessed with sex and self-interested enough to slip drugs into a love rival's drinks. Despite this he is an earthy, funny, self-aware and thoroughly likeable character and a brutally honest narrator.

It is perhaps not possible for someone who has not lived through such horrors to truly understand what it must be like for those who have, but getting to know Animal allows us to come as close as we are likely to get. Animal's dealings with the foreign `doctress' Elli also give us a window of understanding that opens onto the chasm that divides most readers from Animal's world, not just because we have not experienced the kind of atrocity he has, but because we are affluent and privileged.

This is a book about cynical exploitation by big business of the situation in less affluent countries. It is about the corruption that hampers the fight for justice and compensation for the victims and it is about the lack of any true understanding by outsiders of the real plight of those who live in `the kingdom of the poor'. It is also a book which brings all this alive in a very visceral way. Noone could be left untouched after reading this novel.