The Cost of Living

Rating:
Summary: Short, interesting... enlightening
Review: Arundati Roy turns from fiction, momentarily, we hope, to non-fiction.

That is not to say that 'The Cost of Living' lacks power of imagination. The book consists of two short essays that centre on two very problematic situations in the current India- and they are issues worth writing about.

The essay that most enthralled me (much to do with it being in the news a lot) was the essay which dealt with India's nuclear testing, and the tension it has created not only in the region, but in the world. She investigates the Wests' hypocrisy- do they have a right to lambast the Indians, when they themselves have done the same thing- the exact same thing? It is very interesting.

Like the great novelist she is, Roy writes with compassion, an intense focus, and is very articulate. It is worth reading this book even if you have no interest in Indian politics, because it is a matter of life and death, hypocrisy, possible armageddon and the hole that humankind insists on digging itself into.

Strongly reccommended.

Rating:
Summary: Brave & Universal - not just for Indians!
Review: Arundhati Roy has a wonderful way of writing. This woman could write about absolutely anything at all and I think I will still enjoy it. She has a naturally earnest free flowing poetic yet precise language. She has the ability to choose her words so well as to get the exact picture or impression she wants us to see. Truly she paints with her words.

Roy used her amazing writing skills and sensitivity so very well in her fantastic work, The God of Small Things. Here she uses the same skills and more aiming primarily at her own people asking them to re-examine 2 strongly held views. As non-Indian I thoroughly enjoyed both essays of this book.

The first essay deals with the construction of river dams in India since the independence in 1947. Roy set about in a very systematic way to establish the true cost of the dams in terms of human suffering. She focused on one project in particular but her research was wide ranging and indeed she had to dig into several completed projects to establish true benefits and costs. Roy's central message is that the price paid by an oppressed native minority is way too high and the alleged benefits to India are low. Where this essay is truly universal, at least applicable to so many third world countries in the post colonial era, is in its research for a definition for her own country, identity and common good and modes of opposition to this common good! Roy was also highly unimpressed with the western approach to 3rd world development projects but her approach was a times too general and sweeping.

The Second article, probably far more universal, is the nuclear weapons article. Roy's analysis of the policies of the Congress party and the BJP nationalists leading to the 1998 explosions shows great insight and clarity of mind. She categorically opposes the bomb as weapon of peace and she totally rejects the overwhelming support of her people for the bomb and the Indian nuclear tests. Having traveled to India shortly after the Indian and Pakistani explosions I was horrified with the attitude of "our bomb was better than theirs" and this is the first work that I personally have seen that takes on this subject with such force. Roy's opposition leaves no prisoners behind. It is hard to overstate the courage of Roy on this issue given the level of tension between Hindu India and Islam within India itself and across the borders.

I strongly recommend this wonderfully written book to anyone interested in issues related to regional conflicts and postcolonial development.

Rating:
Summary: Roy's values and sensitivities shines
Review: In her newest offering Arudhati Roy , the writter of the widely known and multi-awarded The God Of Small Things presents a deep , careful study on the impact " progress " has made on the life of thousands of people in her country . She describes an India with many cultural and racial entities where the goverment keeps building huge dams in the valley of Naramada with no certain strategy and essential reasons . What she seems to be asking is this : " even if these dams are useful , does it eventually worth sacrificing so many people's lifes and houses for them ? " . In the end the book wins the reader not so much because of Roy's writing style but thanks to the power of her own personallity . She's a young , beutiful and wealthy woman who never forgets though the poor part of her country's population . Instead , she keeps standing by them with her writtings and her actions .

Rating:
Summary: very compelling writing
Review: The Cost of Living is the second book by Arundhati Roy, but is her first non fiction book. Her first book was the phenomenally good novel The God of Small Things . The Cost of Living is a collection of two essays.

The first is "The Greater Common Good" and deals with the building of the Big Dams in India (Roy is native to India and still lives there). Roy writes about some of the politics involved in the building of the dams and makes clear enormity of the human cost and the lives lost and displaced. Roy is vehemently against this ongoing project, and while this essay only presents one side of the argument, it is still a well crafted and well written and emotionally compelling argument.

The second essay is "The End of Imagination". This essay was written in 1998 shortly after India had revealed that it was doing nuclear testing. Apparently, the party line was that nuclear weaponry = patriotism = Hinduism = India. By this logic, any Indian who was not in favor of the testing was also against India itself. Flawed logic, and Roy takes the government to task focusing on nuclear testing when so much of the nation is starving, uneducated, and needs true assistance. Roy's arguments against nuclear testing are wide ranging. She discusses the fact that most of the nation is uneducated and does not know what it means to have nuclear weapons and what the negatives are. She writes against the government, lining its pockets at the expense of the nation. She writes against the United States for introducing the nuclear game to the world. The biggest loser in this game, Roy believes, is India. India believes itself to be a world player, but Roy explains the national delusion and why this is simply not the case.

This is a short, but interesting book. Roy is an excellent writer and while her thoughts skirt the extreme, she writes with a passion that cannot be ignored.

Rating:
Summary: Dams, poverty, and nuclear insanity
Review: This is a short but effective book. It's divided into two parts. In part one, Arundhati Roy writes about dam-building in India. This heavily-footnoted chapter gets a longer treatment in her next book, Power Politics. Here she introduces the topic, adding a lot of context to the statistics. Her outrage is palpable. This leads into the second part, and angry essay about India and Pakistan becoming part of the nuclear fraternity (both countries publicly tested nuclear weapons in May of 1998). Both countries have so many problems --- and so much tension between them over Kashmir --- that this development can only be considered a disaster for the hundreds of millions of people in the region.

Arundhati Roy is someone we should all listen to. She's an activist, novelist, and a great writer. This book is a good introduction to her work.

Rating:
Summary: Powerful
Review: This is the first book by Roy that I read, and my favorite. In comparison to The God of Small Things, that's saying a lot. The first essay is the most powerful and clear explanation I have ever read anywhere about the failings of organisations such as the WTO; however, it is not only an attack on international financial institutions. It also discusses the abuses that occur on a national and local level in conjunction with the work of international groups. I suggest this book to anyone who is having trouble understanding the objections to globalization and the WTO.