The World We Found

By: Thrity Umrigar

Narrated by: Soneela Nankani

Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

Best-selling author and PEN and Beyond Margins Award finalist Thrity Umrigar’s acclaimed novels “resonate with rich prose and vibrant depictions of India” (Booklist). In The World We Found, Armaiti, Laleh, Kavita, and Nishta - once friends at the University of Bombay - reconnect 30 years later when Armaiti is diagnosed with cancer. Coming together, all four women are forced to reexamine their lives.

©2012 Thrity Umrigar (P)2012 Recorded Books

Critic reviews

“[A] powerful meditation on friendship, on loss, and all the regrets of middle age …” ( Boston Globe)

Lovely story, terrible reader

My experience of this book improved 100% after I abandoned the audiobook and picked up a hard copy. The reader's performance made the characters seem trite and the dialogue adolescent. Read the book - but bypass this performance!

so worth reading

extraordinary book... from all angles...truly illuminating, heartbreaking... i couldnt stop reading it And will save it for rereads... wow!

gisele

Hindi pronunciation?

I am unable to get over the narrator’s pronunciation of Hindi words - “beta” “Beti” and other Hindi phrases and her take on Indian accent. Why can the narrator not pronounce the Hindi words so annoying !

Good story but performance not so much!

The story was exciting and well written. Soneela's narration not so much. Her lack of knowledge of the Hindi language is blatantly obvious. It would have been nice if they had someone who could actually pronounce the Hindi words!

Thought Provoking

This is a lovely story of four college friends, now in their forties. It starts off beautifully by describing the changes in their lives and how they have stayed the same. One of them is terminally ill and initiates a reunion. This creates a conflict involving the friend who was forced to convert from Hindu to Muslim by her husband during the rising religious tensions in India. This book addresses issues of religious conflict, personal change and lost idealism. It is a decent read, especially if you are from India.

Umriger Doesn't Disappoint

I really enjoy Thrity Umriger's books, and once again she has written a thought provoking novel, Four women friends, now nearing 50 years old, this is a story of their close friendships during college in Bombay in 1970's, the separate paths their lives have taken, their efforts to reunite and as they do so they learn about themselves and each other. In the process, the decisions they make may yet again change their lives. Thrity Umriger captures the complexities and complications of human relationships that cross culture, religion, geography. She treats her characters fairly, women and men, Hindu and Muslim. This story gave me a broader picture of life in India in the past 50 years. A good read and always thought-provoking.

Loved the audio version; narrator's use of accents gives it richness and a pleasant listening experience.

A very good book club book!

Almost. not quite

If you could sum up The World We Found in three words, what would they be?

It took me a while to get into the nook; I found the writing more " telling" me than showing me about the characters, but then I became engaged. I liked the characters, the plot was okay but a bit trite. The writing was spotty, very predictable and cliché ridden at times. The ending was too predictable and too tired. I was very hopeful in the middle of the book that I'd like it the rest of the way through but the ending let me down.

Did Soneela Nankani do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

The characters were the best part of the novel.

Well written

This book was well written and narrated beautifully. But the story line left me wanting for me. I kept waiting for the climax…it came with a soft landing at the end.

Magnificent!

Umrigar paints such a full picture of each of the characters within and outside their relationships with one another. The story took my breath away and the ending was so masterfully written that I had multiple scenarios imagined in my head as possible outcomes. The author was able to educate on Indian culture and politics while keeping the characters’ stories front and center.

loved the writer and the story The narration was e

loved the story and the writer with the narration was extremely disappointing. the narrator obviously did not know the Hindi language mutilated the words so sad what a great story so well written but the narration was poorly done