Boo response

Something that really impresses me about the way Boo writes is how she tells the story without any indication of all the research that went behind it. She refrains completely from telling us how she found the information or the conversations she had with the characters, and instead, masterfully puts the facts together to create an interesting storyline. She doesn’t explain how she experienced the circumstances or how she knows how the characters react to them, which I could imagine would be extremely challenging. She indulges in the characters personality and thoughts in such a deep way, describing them precisely and intricately, showing in a discrete manner just how much effort she put into really understanding how they thought about the situation and what was going on in India. For example, when describing Manju, I admire the way she describes her thoughts and feelings as if she is inside her head. On page 62, she dives into Manju’s character, saying, “Manju wasn’t too interested in money. She hungered for virtue, a desire that was partly a fear. When studying, she sometimes fingered the sea on her neck from a night, years ago when she’d stolen money from her moth to buy chocolates.” It really shows me how carefully Boo paid attention to even the littlest of character traits from all involved in the book.

On the other hand, I think I would like to know a little bit more of what Boo was thinking when she was writing all of this. To be able to see inside her head would add a lot to the story, for me. I am curious of how she connected to these people and just what she did to get on such a personal level with them.