Estimated reading time: 10 minutes
Book: The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny
Author: Kiran Desai
Number of pages: 670
Genre: Coming of age, Fiction, Literary Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Historical Fiction
Attended Audience Age: Mature young adult
Medium Type (physical, digital, audio): physical
Book rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Summary:
Separated by distance and familial issues, Sonia and Sunny experience the world and develop new beliefs through a time of loneliness. They discover their need for love and individuality through abusive and misunderstood relationships. Longing for home, Sonia travels back to India with her parents whom are in an unhappy marriage. Sonia soon realizes her abusive partner set a curse on her that she must battle through while she learns independence as a single woman in India. Enter Sunny, whom is attracted to Sonia and builds a relationship with her despite his mothers jealously.
Qualities:
Prose: The book is written in a sophisticated prose that combines literary, contemporary fiction, and artful design to articulate meaning and understanding for particular audience.
Character Development: The novel is written in third person, following Sonia, Sunny, and their family as they travel between India, America, Italy and Mexico. The story progresses through the characters lifestyle, belief systems, and growth as they encompass a world of loneliness and individuality.
World Building: The world building is primarily seen through the characters life and personal breakthroughs and losses. Traveling from India, America, Italy, and Mexico, we learn a little bit of culture around the globe and how it impacts the characters understanding of themselves and the world around them.
Recommendation:
I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning more about the Indian culture and is eager to read a sophisticated novel with a lot of metaphors and innuendos. This novel doesn’t always make things clear as the text is up to interpretation. (i.e. Why do the characters act a certain way, why is the scene or a thought expressed in that manner?) If you want to be invested in an original book with a unique, and thought provoking art, with a wide birth of Indian culture, this is the book for you. However, because of how the book was written I experienced some relief rather than closure.
Notable Quotes:
- “Dadaji and Ba may simply suggest a desirable match between the grandchildren, two American-educated individuals, two equals, two people who naturally belonged together because of where they came from and where they were going” (p. 15).
- “Then why don’t I invite you to dinner this weekend? We shouldn’t have to eat alone when all the rest of humanity is out enjoying themselves” (p. 25).
- “Yet to write meant stepping out of life, isolating yourself. If you tried to balance the two, wouldn’t you be living a life for the sole purpose of creating a fictional life, not one that would take its natural course, but one that you would be bending and shaping toward a secret purpose? You wouldn’t make a choice for happiness, for an escapade you might relate” (p. 111).
Related Music:
- All By Myself by Eric Carmen
- Space Song by Beach House
- Runaway by AURORA
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