- Paperback: 288 pages
- Publisher: Penguin; Open market ed edition (1 May 2008)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0141036125
- ISBN-13: 978-0141036120
- Product Dimensions: 17.8 x 11 x 2.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,459,780 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Tessa Hadley
`Fluid, original, clever, glitteringly vivid, funny . . . I couldn't bear it when it stopped. A triumph'
--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
The Bookseller
'A winner ... This much heralded novel turns out to be worth the
fuss. It is observant, witty, and stylistically original'
--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
fuss. It is observant, witty, and stylistically original'
--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is a brave book with good intent but very unevenly written.
The premise - about a mathematics prodigy, and her relationship with her family - is interesting. Yes, I want to know what goes on in such families and what the dynamics are. What makes it more interesting is that the family in question is an Indian family trying to find its way in Britain so they are different in more ways than one and the `immigrant theme' gives added texture (although the family's trip to India half way through the book seems like a tangent).
The best part of the book is the final chapters, with the girl prodigy Rumi cracking up and running away, and the complete incomprehension of her family. It works well. But the rest is very patchy. We do not really get how controlling the father is. The character of the mother is only sketchily drawn. So much more could have been done with the characters of the parents who are key in this tale.
There is unevenness in Rumi's own psychological portrayal, and often I do not find her convincing. Sometimes she seems older, sometimes younger.
Although the book is easy to read and moves on at a good pace, the dialogue is often clunky, the prose can be stilted. And the narrative tense inexplicably moves from past to present tense which does not help. I was particularly irritated by the forced metaphors and stilted similes. Like: "his heart, which was softening like a marshmallow on a fire..." The time Rumi spends on computer games was described as "time that had a special currency of its own, like chocolate coins wrapped in gold foil". Dreadful.
The story of the girl maths prodigy that made to Oxford and then ran away was a big story in the newspapers some years back, and yes, the parents were portrayed as pushy and controlling so I kind of knew what was going to happen. I was interested in Nikita Lalwani's interpretation, but somehow she did not really enlighten me as I had been hoping.
It's really odd that this book made the Booker longlist. Nikita Lalwani may go on to write better books, but this one is definitely not `Booker' class.
The premise - about a mathematics prodigy, and her relationship with her family - is interesting. Yes, I want to know what goes on in such families and what the dynamics are. What makes it more interesting is that the family in question is an Indian family trying to find its way in Britain so they are different in more ways than one and the `immigrant theme' gives added texture (although the family's trip to India half way through the book seems like a tangent).
The best part of the book is the final chapters, with the girl prodigy Rumi cracking up and running away, and the complete incomprehension of her family. It works well. But the rest is very patchy. We do not really get how controlling the father is. The character of the mother is only sketchily drawn. So much more could have been done with the characters of the parents who are key in this tale.
There is unevenness in Rumi's own psychological portrayal, and often I do not find her convincing. Sometimes she seems older, sometimes younger.
Although the book is easy to read and moves on at a good pace, the dialogue is often clunky, the prose can be stilted. And the narrative tense inexplicably moves from past to present tense which does not help. I was particularly irritated by the forced metaphors and stilted similes. Like: "his heart, which was softening like a marshmallow on a fire..." The time Rumi spends on computer games was described as "time that had a special currency of its own, like chocolate coins wrapped in gold foil". Dreadful.
The story of the girl maths prodigy that made to Oxford and then ran away was a big story in the newspapers some years back, and yes, the parents were portrayed as pushy and controlling so I kind of knew what was going to happen. I was interested in Nikita Lalwani's interpretation, but somehow she did not really enlighten me as I had been hoping.
It's really odd that this book made the Booker longlist. Nikita Lalwani may go on to write better books, but this one is definitely not `Booker' class.
33 of 40 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I absolutely loved this book - a beautifully written and endearingly funny take on coming-of-age, finding your way in a foriegn land, and love. It grabs you right from the start...the central Vasi family is intricate and all emotions are double-edged - nothing is simple, everything is real.
Lalwani wondefully captures the essence of a girl growing up and falling in love...battling between nerdiness and celebrity, between being an outsider and being accepted. The book is full of humour, but without leaving out the harsh and difficult points that define childhoods.
This book is about a young, asian, gifted girl growing up in wales - but as an old, white, unremarkable man in england, i couldn't put it down. Brilliant.
Lalwani wondefully captures the essence of a girl growing up and falling in love...battling between nerdiness and celebrity, between being an outsider and being accepted. The book is full of humour, but without leaving out the harsh and difficult points that define childhoods.
This book is about a young, asian, gifted girl growing up in wales - but as an old, white, unremarkable man in england, i couldn't put it down. Brilliant.
22 of 27 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Gifted is a novel of great power and enormous anger.
As the title suggests, the novel centres around a young girl, Rumi, who is found to have a gift for maths. Her parents - particularly her frightening father - decide the gift must be nurtured at all costs.
There are three principal characters, Rumi and her parents, Mahesh and Shreene. As a father figure, Mahesh would not have been out of place in Victorian Britain. He is strong, pious, bullying and hypocritical. Having inveigled his wife, Shreene, to follow him to Wales from India to make a better life, he sets about rejecting western values whilst enjoying them to the full. He prohibits his wife, an educated woman, from flourishing and exerts a huge degree of control on her time. Whilst this makes Shreene initially angry, she eventually seems to adopt the same values as Mahesh in order to make it appear as though she is in control o her destiny.
Then, when Rumi's gift is discovered, Mahesh finds a new opportunity to exert his control. Rumi's life ceases to be her own - a tight regime of libraries, study, discipline and obedience are imposed. Rumi tries to find small outlets for her individuality, sneakily reading fiction and pilfering sweets, but the brutality of her father constantly wins through. All Rumi can do is dream of outgrowing the nest and making an early journey away to university. Obviously, with her "gifts", Rumi finds a degree of celebrity which is not always helpful, particularly given her destiny to be younger and less mature than her peers. Both in Cardiff and in Oxford, she is something of a lab rat - expected to be a second Ruth Lawrence - but is at heart a likeable and ordinary girl.
The characterization is superb. The three principal characters strike so many chords. People like Rumi, Mahesh and Shreene exist - and not just within the Indian community. The novel is a caution on the results of trying to live your life through your offspring. It is a caution about attaching undue value and focus to a small part of a person. It makes one question the benefit of unbidden "gifts" that turn out to be white elephants. It also makes one wonder about the role of bystanders who are prepared to witness such appalling abuse without questioning it, just because it happens within the middle classes.
The level of hate that Rumi feels towards her parents - and especially Mahesh - just drips from the page. Rumi seldom says - even dares to think - harsh thoughts of them but the simmering, deep hatred is inescapable. Throughout the novel, one wills her to break free and realize her potential. At the end, one is left with envious admiration for her courage in daring to do what so many of us have wanted to do. But as to whether she has succeeded in breaking free, the reader is left to guess.
It was interesting to see in the acknowledgements at the end that Nikita Lalwani seems to have good relations with her own parents. She claims the work was inspired by Vik Sharma, presumably a friend or partner. To have produced a work so vivid through only vicarious experience is a wonder.
This is a work of immense power that will stay with me for a long time.
As the title suggests, the novel centres around a young girl, Rumi, who is found to have a gift for maths. Her parents - particularly her frightening father - decide the gift must be nurtured at all costs.
There are three principal characters, Rumi and her parents, Mahesh and Shreene. As a father figure, Mahesh would not have been out of place in Victorian Britain. He is strong, pious, bullying and hypocritical. Having inveigled his wife, Shreene, to follow him to Wales from India to make a better life, he sets about rejecting western values whilst enjoying them to the full. He prohibits his wife, an educated woman, from flourishing and exerts a huge degree of control on her time. Whilst this makes Shreene initially angry, she eventually seems to adopt the same values as Mahesh in order to make it appear as though she is in control o her destiny.
Then, when Rumi's gift is discovered, Mahesh finds a new opportunity to exert his control. Rumi's life ceases to be her own - a tight regime of libraries, study, discipline and obedience are imposed. Rumi tries to find small outlets for her individuality, sneakily reading fiction and pilfering sweets, but the brutality of her father constantly wins through. All Rumi can do is dream of outgrowing the nest and making an early journey away to university. Obviously, with her "gifts", Rumi finds a degree of celebrity which is not always helpful, particularly given her destiny to be younger and less mature than her peers. Both in Cardiff and in Oxford, she is something of a lab rat - expected to be a second Ruth Lawrence - but is at heart a likeable and ordinary girl.
The characterization is superb. The three principal characters strike so many chords. People like Rumi, Mahesh and Shreene exist - and not just within the Indian community. The novel is a caution on the results of trying to live your life through your offspring. It is a caution about attaching undue value and focus to a small part of a person. It makes one question the benefit of unbidden "gifts" that turn out to be white elephants. It also makes one wonder about the role of bystanders who are prepared to witness such appalling abuse without questioning it, just because it happens within the middle classes.
The level of hate that Rumi feels towards her parents - and especially Mahesh - just drips from the page. Rumi seldom says - even dares to think - harsh thoughts of them but the simmering, deep hatred is inescapable. Throughout the novel, one wills her to break free and realize her potential. At the end, one is left with envious admiration for her courage in daring to do what so many of us have wanted to do. But as to whether she has succeeded in breaking free, the reader is left to guess.
It was interesting to see in the acknowledgements at the end that Nikita Lalwani seems to have good relations with her own parents. She claims the work was inspired by Vik Sharma, presumably a friend or partner. To have produced a work so vivid through only vicarious experience is a wonder.
This is a work of immense power that will stay with me for a long time.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
An Interesting Debut
Nikita Lalwani's debut novel is an enjoyable read about a young Indian girl Rumi, living in Cardiff and who is a maths prodigy and pushed by her very controlling father. Read more
Published on 14 Dec 2008 by Lincs Reader
Nicely written, story could be better
'Gifted' is the story of a young Indian family living in Cardiff, whose lives revolve around their ambitions for daughter Rumi, a teenage maths prodigy. Read more
Published on 17 Feb 2008 by BookWorm
Fascinating premise, but muddled and disjointed
I expected to like this book. I had read promising reviews and the premise sounded - and is - interesting. Read more
Published on 1 Dec 2007 by Julia Flyte
A "gifted" debut
I have to say if I had seen this book in the shops I probably wouldn't have picked it up. The cover is really quite awful, and effectively pigeon-holes it straight away as another... Read more
Published on 2 Oct 2007 by Other Stories
Recommended reading
I enjoyed this book very much and could not wait to see how Rumi coped as she grew up. I think this book should be compulsory reading for all parents who push their children to... Read more
Published on 5 July 2007 by M. Howard
An incredible debut
I've read a lot of books, been to lots of places, watched a helluva lot of TV. I'm world-weary. With Lyotards Postmodern condition tatty and battered in my back pocket, I thought... Read more
Published on 29 Jun 2007 by Sikunder
Gifted
After just a few pages I found myself caring deeply for the characters in this beautiful book... so much so that as the events unfolded I felt my eyes swell and my heart begin to... Read more
Published on 28 Jun 2007 by a reader
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