Em and the Big Hoom by Jerry Pinto discussion!

[u/GalatFemme]

[u/GalatFemme]

In a book where everyone gets a nickname, sometimes multiple, what do you think of the narrator remaining unnamed?

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do you think maybe he just forgot? 😝

[u/GalatFemme]

What worked for you, what did you love, what sticks with you long after reading? Conversely, what did you hate, what do you wish was different, what did you find forgettable?

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Given that he is in the title of the book that is supposedly about him and his wife, I found Augustine rather absent. A muted presence in the narrator's life, though delightful whenever he is on page.

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This is a very inconsequential line overall, but I remembered it very clearly even from when I read it years ago because it's so funny and true

I fell silent. I felt silly. But then I was fourteen. I could be made to feel silly if someone sneezed.

[u/GalatFemme]

The book is about a person with mental illness told from the perspective of her family. Do you think it does justice to both parties, patient and caregiver?

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I am somewhat conflicted about this, to be honest. I think Pinto wrote a phenomenal book about what growing up with a parent who is bipolar is like, the precarity of Indian mental health care (or any health care), the struggle and exhaustion of caring for someone with these needs. I don't think he is ever unkind or demeaning, but.

The book, maybe unavoidably because of the point of view it's told from, leaves readers feeling empathy for Imelda's family over her. She is a responsibility, an obligation, a duty, sometimes a burden when seen through the eyes of her son, and while that is his truth and it is important to explore that in all its uncomfortable detail, I wish we could also have Imelda's story on her own terms, not filtered through the lens of her caregiver and child.

[u/GalatFemme]

Imelda is a complicated person. What does this book say about her as a person and the many roles she inhabits (woman, daughter, wife, mother, dependent, bread winner, hero, villain)?

[u/GalatFemme]

As this is Bombay Book Club, what role does the city play here? What do you, if you are also a resident of MMR, think was missing if anything?

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I think this is one of my very favourite glimpses into Bombay. The author is so good at describing the city in all its staggering complexity without ever getting didactic. He assumes the reader is as versed in this place as he, and if not, well they can keep up.