The Year of the Runaways

I loved this novel and found it very moving. Sahota depicts the brutality of the caste system well and movingly, and also shows how it follows the immigrants with them to a new land. I found his depiction of other aspects of the immigrant experience spot on as well, especially immigrants who don't have the luxury or luck of entering the country on an approved education or work visa.The events of Tochi's past are among the most interesting in the book. The scenes of his family's (SPOILER ALERT!) slaughter are chillingly wrought, and based on real events that happened in Gujarti in 2002.I also especially enjoyed and was moved by the developing relationship between he and Narinder in the last third of the book; Sahota develops it slowly, brick-by-brick as it were. Narinda's penultimate decision near the end of the novel and its emotional costs to her over both the short and long terms are very, very poignantly drawn.Avtar and Randeep were not as well developed in some ways and their stories not compelling. I also wanted a little bit more of Tochi's inner struggles revealed -- we get why he is mistrustful and closed, but a little more about how difficult that must have felt inside would have made for a richer character.Overall though I found this book a compelling, interesting, and moving read, and it stayed with me for days after it ended. As some other reviewers noted, there is indeed a lot of Indian slang and Indian-British slang, and it is indeed sometimes hard to follow. I gave up looking up what the slang meant about a quarter of the way in and didn't feel I lost much by not knowing. Highly recommended.

This novel was challenging to read but not because of Sahota's writing skills. It takes the reader out of their comfort zone reading about the struggles of Indian immigrants to the UK, living on the border of legality if not illegal. It certainly asks you to rethink your views about "economic migrants".The novel explores the circumstances which motivate each of the "runaways" to try their luck in Britain, believing as they do that jobs and money will be easily available, enabling them to help their families. Their lives in India are centred on family but constrained by social expectations and gossip. Expectations that the younger generation(male) will have brilliant careers and support their parents and younger siblings; fear of not maintaining a successful facade seems to dominate the lives of the mothers. Women have few opportunities beyond the hope for a satisfactory marriage. All the families' hopes are pinned on the young men who are driven to terrible lengths to realize these hopes.The lives of the young men in England are increasingly driven by desperation- the relentless need to make enough money to support family and pay off debts. They are preyed on by their fellow countrymen who also live on the shady side of the law. They have no recourse to England's social services as most of them are terrified of being found and sent home.The novel exposes some of the truly unpleasant aspects of Indian society as well as the hollowness of the dreams of wealth and status in England. Although the young mens' stories end well, the ending seems tacked on and seems hardly plausible, given their dire and hopeless circumstances. However, the novel is hugely engaging to read and each character's story( there is one woman) reveals another aspect of the endlessly fascinating culture of India.

There's a lot to like about this book but it ultimately disappoints. The non-English words were not a problem at all and the author's prose was generally fluid and interesting. The stories of how the principal male characters wound up leaving India were terrific and did a nice job of capturing striking moments from contemporary India. But once they got to Britain, the story stalled somewhat and it was hard to keep the characters separate in one's mind. OK, sure, the point of this might be the author showing how once they join the stream of economic migrants to a Europe that doesn't want them, they all meld together and are no longer individuals but simply part of an indistinguishable crowd. Trouble is, nothing they do and nothing happens to them in England is remotely as interesting as their Indian pasts and these sections are tedious. I almost gave up and I never give up on books. It's as if the author is simply uninterested in what happens to them in Britain. For example, a secondary character is gravely injured in a fight and though the main characters deal with it, it's pretty much forgotten. The bright spot (and the main reason to read this book) is the story of Najinder, the female lead. She is not a migrant but herself British and her dilemmas and subsequent growth and sensitively rendered. She's basically invisibile for 60% of the book, but don't give up reading: her story is worth the wait. Once you get to her section, the story excels for a while. Sorry to say, the ending is also very limp --- as if Sahota simply didn't know how to end it. I found the fates of the male characters uncompelling --- and in no way consistent with where they were when their narrative dropped off. Najinder's fate is a bit of a tease in that you might be hoping for one thing and get another, but honestly neither of the possible endings for her were particularly surprising. I'm glad I read this, but don't really see how/why it wound up on the Man/Booker shortlist.

5 stars for how well written this book is. This book brings out some struggles that illegal immigrants to Europe in light.

I'm wary of expat accounts of the desi experience, but this was a refreshing change. I was reading this on a flight where I encountered a young man shipping himself off to a construction site in the Middle East, which tied in perfectly with the narrative. Recommended reading for anyone tired of the current anti-immigrant rhetoric.

Q buen libro, a pesar de dejarte el corazón en un puño. Tremendas las penurias y la explotación a las q se ven sometidos los emigrantes, especialmente por los de su misma raza. Te abre los ojos y nos muestra la exclavitud del 3er mundo en nuestra sociedad "civilizada".

I really really loved the book, it is written in such a sensitive, emotionally touching manner, without being soft. It follows the fates of 4 immigrants from India in the UK, one of them being actually in UK since she was 4 y.o. It is a book full of humanity and very actual given the political discussion around immigration right now.

This book has amazed me in several ways. For one, I am not a huge fan of Indian origin or Indian writers and secondly I sometimes doubt the man booker shortlisted books. But this one is a spectacular read. A very rare of its kind that holds the reader right from the first page. His storytelling and narration is beyond comparison. My next pick would definitely be ours is the street.