5.0 out of 5 stars "I couldn't believe that everything had changed because of three minutes."

J.I.S. · December 28, 2014

“All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” So wrote Leo Tolstoy over a century ago. Akhil Sharma’s canvas is a distinctly unhappy family, and we’re alerted to it from the very first line: “My father has a glum nature. He’s been retired for a few years and he doesn’t speak much.”There’s a reason for his father’s glumness. As Indian immigrants, Ajay (the young narrator’s) parents had high hopes for their life in America, mainly centering around Ajay’s older brother Birju – a brilliant young scholar. Early on in the novel, Birju dives into a swimming pool, striking his head, leaving him forever brain damaged. It is now up to Ajay to navigate the treacherous waters ahead: deal with his own guilt and resentment and at the same time, strive to remain happy and make his parents proud.Akhil Sharma does not go for bells and whistles. The narrative is written in a spare and somewhat flattened tone, echoing the sense of loss and futility that pervades the closed-down Mishra family life. The price exacted by this personal tragedy – the isolation and alienation, the deceptions, the drinking and loss of identity – are balanced against a somewhat empty striving for the American dream.I was alerted to the fact that Family Life could be autobiographical by Ajay’s budding sense of himself as an observer and recorder of his life, reimagined into fiction. (Ajay is particularly enamored of Hemingway and indeed, Mr. Sharma’s style here is not unlike Hemingway’s in its distancing of emotion). Sure enough, after Googling the author, Family Lie is indeed based on his own experiences. In an article, Mr. Sharma states, “The story I was planning to tell had very little plot. A truly traumatic thing occurs to the family and then the family begins to unravel. This misery of this family’s daily life takes a slow toll.”To the book’s credit, it comes across as very authentic and believable without any of the manipulation one might expect from a topic of this sort. It is universal in examining a family’s response to loss and distinctive in its spotlight on the Indian community in general, and the Mishra family in particular. It is a genuine look at those who are forced to embark into unchartered territory and how, as an immigrant nation, we become removed not only from our roots but also from our own best selves.

4.0 out of 5 stars Tragedy and Comedy

C. · June 15, 2014

What begins as a fairly typical Indian immigrant story soon takes a devastating turn. The parents of the narrator, Ajay, decide to move the family to the United States in hopes of a better life. Hardworking and ambitious, they push their two sons to excel, especially in school, and are ecstatic when the elder boy, Birju, passes the entry exam for the Brooklyn School of Science. But during summer vacation, Birju suffers a traumatic brain injury in a diving accident. Life for the family will never be the same.The majority of the novel explores the effects of Birju's disability on his family and the local Indian community. Sharma takes us through the highs and lows, the hope and the despair. There are intense descriptions of Birju's physical care (and, in some cases, the lack of it). When the decision is made to bring Birju home, family life gets even more difficult. The invalid's bed becomes the center of the home, each member responsible for a shift of turning, feeding, cleaning, medicating. Members of the Hindu temple they attend are unsure of how to react: Should they offer help or sympathy, or should they just pretend that nothing has happened? Some even begin to treat the boy's mother as a saint, asking her to lay hands on their children in blessing. Young Ajay is particularly conflicted. He loves his brother; he hates his brother. He wishes his brother would die; he prays for his brother not to die. He hides the fact that he has a brother; he gives unasked-for grotesque details about his brother to his classmates as a means of getting attention.Although the novel is an emotionally difficult read, it's not told without humor and, if not hope, at least love.The end of the novel rushes through Ajay's adult years, giving snippets that demonstrate the powerful effects of the family's sad circumstances. I would have preferred Sharma to slow down a little here, perhaps been a bit more reflective. Still, this was a moving and gripping novel.

美辞麗句に染まらないアンチ・ヒーローの真実についての物語

A.P. · July 24, 2015

第一作『従順なる父』An Obedient Father, 2000でデリーの腐れ役人ラム・カラーンは、自らの判断と勇気で上司を裏切り、会議派とBJPのリーダーに賄賂を送り抹殺のピンチを切り抜ける。孫のアーシャがアメリカへ旅立ってゆくところで小説は終わるが、『家族生活』はその後のアーシャの物語だとも言える。この小説は引退した父と四十歳の自分が居間でくつろいでいるところから始まる。父親は「おまえは自分本位に過ぎる」と呟く。そして最後は投資銀行で働く主人公が彼女をメキシコのリゾートに誘いだし、プールサイドでくつろぎながら「シアワセっていうのは何ともしんどい」と嘆息するところで終わる。この始まりと終わりの間に何があるのか振り返ってみよう。インドとの別れがある。八歳のアジャイが家族とともにアメリカに移住するのだ。兄が事故で植物人間になってしまう。アジャイにも過失がある。ただその賠償金を父親はしっかりとせしめる。したたかな父が兄の看病を続けながらもアルコールに溺れてゆく。これもまた幸福の代償か。母親は兄の回復のために祈祷師やらを家に呼び込む。母は昔気質のヒンドゥー女(性)なのだ。だがその母が他の人々のために祈るようになる。この逆転はユーモラスでる。アジャイは勉強がよくできる。学年で一番である。がアジャイはクラスの嫌われ者だ。アジャイはそんなことを気にしない。それよりも次々に女の子を追ってゆく。「好き」と擦れ違い様に囁き、愛の詩を送るのだ。そんな利己的で女好きのアジャイがヘミングウェイの読書に目覚めてゆく。アジャイとヘミングウェイの文学を結びつけるものは何なのだろう。ただ、アジャイはヘミングウェイを読むことによって世界との距離が近くなったと言う。毒と悪とヒューモアをあわせもったアンチ・ヒローは、美辞麗句によって糊塗されたこの世の習いに染まらない。これは、美ではなく苦い味のする真実にむかいあう物語なのである。

The end could have been better.

M. · March 26, 2015

I liked that the conflict of the Mishras coming to the USA, especially of the main character, was not so focused on a cultural or generational Problem. It is an original, rough and entertaining story but I am not the big fan of simple happy endings. It was too much suffering throughout the novel for such an easy ending.

Being an emigrant in the United States is not a bed of roses.

D.B.P. · December 30, 2014

This book is both moving and amusing, and it seems to be autobiographical. It is especially interesting and in some places heart rending, about the difficulties in a family which has emigrated to a country which is totally different from their country of origin.

Gran libro

D.G. · October 10, 2015

Esta novela es de lo mejor que he leído últimamente. Narrada desde el punto de un niño, el lector siente ternura y simpatía por el protagonista. El inglés me ha parecido un poco raro. No es que sea incorrecto, pero sí ligeramente diferente a la narrativa de un nativo anglosajón. El libro se lee muy rápido y es ligero. Una lectura muy grata.

A good read

M.L. · December 24, 2014

Very good book with a thoughtful and rich theme of an Indian family dealing with fitting into America and dealing with great tragedy.