Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

Ok, I'll pull my copy off the shelf and start today!

Hey Judy, would you mind adding which sections are in this week's discussion to the thread title? (Yes, my memory really is that bad lol.)

Looking forward to this!

I started few months ago but stopped (nothing to do with novel ) ...
I reached 2.10 looking forward getting my memory refreshed and move on :)

Thanks, Judy. :)

Ooh, where is my back-breaking copy? Need to get it out.

I have begun this formidable book. Page 17!!!

(1) Please, never too much discussion. I still am looking for the book and do not want to write to much so I won't spoil things.

(2) Cad is cute.

(3) What do you mean children? You can shut me up with a ice cream from Chocolat favoris (a local chocolatier) any time.

(5) This is a really good question. I think understanding tradition helps understanding a culture. It is a doorway to the history, values and way of life of a society. While I am all for sticking to tradition, every society evolves. And some tradition becomes meaningless with the changes. But while we may stop following them, we should not forget.

Judy wrote: "ND, with these huge books its so nice to have others along to keep the momentum going. I bet you will be able to finish it this time ..."

Thanks :)
I am trying to catch up with the discussion , I had to re read couple of pages of the wedding to remember !

So far it seems to me that Maan is a senior character -relatively - like Lata , not sure how this will move forward . we have different threads and we hear about all the characters from chapter to chapter , this provided a very wide panorama , and after 100 pages and time moved on; we had only the introduction to characters, the general social atmosphere with no huge events .

So far, I am finding the book thought provoking and very interesting. I can tell I am going to have lots of questions though about certain things like the writing paper that Lata's mother uses in writing to her family - is this an Indian thing or a time period thing? I have only recently started to read things that take place in this culture so I am not too familiar, maybe someone in this group is? I love to learn about different places and time periods so I know I will enjoy this story!

Judy wrote: "Lori wrote: "I have begun this formidable book. Page 17!!!"
Yay! Good for you, Lori. But, I do have to disagree about formidable..it reads easy. :-)

Esther, I'm laughing about your comment about ..."

Only referring to the size. It does read easily. However, I keep stopping to key in words on the internet to get a visual of some of the things I'm reading about.

Oh, that's good news!!!!

(2)The Cad bit is so unconventional that it also took me by surprise.

(3)Of course, icecream is a universal favorite among people of all ages.

(4) The wedding tradition, as I believe, is vastly different. In fact, I don't think there would be any similarities involved.

(5) Yes, I agree some traditions may seem absurd after a time but if you probe deeper into the reasons, the absurdity clears itself as the reason behind the tradition becomes known. It's been seen that with time, the tradition continues but the reason behind it is forgotten and that's why it starts to seem absurd in the first place.

I am enjoying the book, the setting and the character development so far. I think Mrs Rupa Mehra is hilarious - and yes, I have encountered a character such as hers. Malati is someone I'd like to hang out with. Lata is interesting and I'm anxious to see how her life unfolds and the path she takes. To respond to Judi's questions - Cad was for me a "huh?", it's interesting how certain foods, if one can label ice cream "food," cross cultures, wedding tradition wise, I believe during a Sikh wedding ceremony the couple goes around the Sri Guru Granth Sahib (the holy book) four times and I thought that in a Greek Orthodox wedding ceremony there was a going around something but not sure - maybe someone knows. And of course plenty of yummy food at a wedding is a major similarity - my favorite part! Re: traditions - it's nice to have them but for the right reasons.

I know this part of the discussion is old but I've just joined you all by starting today. I'm at 1.8 now. I'm enjoying it so far. Looking forward to reading along even though I'm way behind.

Judy wrote: "Thanks, for your comments, Pragya. Can you tell us if the wedding tradition as described in the book still continues in India? (I would love to attend a wedding like that one!)"

Yes, Judy, the wedding tradition is more or less the same. :) I will invite you to mine if I ever get married. ;)

I finished this weeks section and I'm liking the book more than I thought I would (I admit I saw the size of it and almost gave up before I started!)

Onwards to next week :-)