The Last Burden
Encyclopedia
The Last Burden is a novel by Upamanyu Chatterjee
that portrays life in an India
n middle-class family.
In this novel, he travels the lives of different people constituting a joint family, expertly portraying their emotions, needs and desires. This is a portrayal of the financial, social and emotional problems that make people favor an atomic family in contrast to a joint family as was the predominant practise in India.
The author uses somewhat strong language but definitely makes the readers aware of the actual frictions that exist within the joint family structure. It elegantly portrays the decisions and sacrifices made by different people in a family and the frictions and the frustrations thereby. It also portrays the struggle of the newer generation in order to move into an atomic family structure from a strictly hierarchical joint family structure where even the elders have an even more elderly person who dictate the terms.
The novel talks about Jamun, a work less young man and his old father, Shyamanand, his dying mother, Urmila. The novel opens at the death bed of Urmila and takes you through the story of this middle-class family.
The emotions and seriousness will bind the readers to the book and keep him engrossed till he is through.
Upamanyu Chatterjee
Upamanyu Chatterjee is an Indian Bengali author and administrator, notable for his work set in the milieu of the Indian Administrative Service, especially his novel English, August. He was born in Patna, Bihar and was educated at St. Xavier's School and St. Stephen's College, in Delhi...
that portrays life in an India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n middle-class family.
In this novel, he travels the lives of different people constituting a joint family, expertly portraying their emotions, needs and desires. This is a portrayal of the financial, social and emotional problems that make people favor an atomic family in contrast to a joint family as was the predominant practise in India.
The author uses somewhat strong language but definitely makes the readers aware of the actual frictions that exist within the joint family structure. It elegantly portrays the decisions and sacrifices made by different people in a family and the frictions and the frustrations thereby. It also portrays the struggle of the newer generation in order to move into an atomic family structure from a strictly hierarchical joint family structure where even the elders have an even more elderly person who dictate the terms.
The novel talks about Jamun, a work less young man and his old father, Shyamanand, his dying mother, Urmila. The novel opens at the death bed of Urmila and takes you through the story of this middle-class family.
The emotions and seriousness will bind the readers to the book and keep him engrossed till he is through.