Cry, the Peacock

by Anita Desai

This book is the story of a young girl obsessed by a childhood prophecy of disaster. The author builds up an atmosphere of tension and oppression, in the middle of an Indian summer. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 8122200850
• ISBN13: 9788122200850
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: South Asia Books
• Length: 218 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.8" x 0.5" x 4.8"

Customer Reviews

Losing your mind!

This author is really good. She is a highly skilled narrator with a keen sensitivity to detail. It is, in fact, that detail which makes warrants the 4-star rating. It must be said, however, that this is not Ms. Desai's best work. The character development in this book is not up to par. Of the two characters in this book, Maya and Gautama, only that of Maya has been adequately developed. While it is true that the book is a study of Maya, - her self-absorption, her weakness, her narrow perspectives, her dependence on her husband and her father, her delusions about her love of life - Gautama's character needs to be better defined if only as a point of juxtaposition, to better describe Maya as it were. Desai does other things in the book very well though. It is a good trip through Maya's life and her mind, however shallow her character, because Desai alternately draws the reader into a complicity with Maya and also a distance from her.

Feminine fancy and reality

A good, poetic book which evokes feminine fancy and reality with a blend of silky smoothness and coarse roughness. Maya is smooth and silky whereas Gautam is rough and coarse. This book makes you feel, perceive and then act. Anita Desai has a tragic vision of woman's life, and she has combined an intricate and sensitive style of her own with the quintessence of reality. The book explores the turbulent and emotional life of Maya, the character, and 'Maya' the illusion itself. Maya the character bends and breaks whereas illusion stays.