[.ca] Burnt Bread and Chutney: Growing Up Between Cultures - A ... (ISBN 0345445945)

Beautiful Book:
Burnt Bread and Chutney is at one level a biography of a girl/woman who is ethnically and culturally half Bene Israel (Indian Jewish). But it is much more than that. It is also an intimate portrayal of a woman-dominated household where a table full of spicy curry is a traditional Shabbat meal and where women tell stories while men make music. Indeed, it is through these stories as much as through a recounting of her life's many adventures that Carmit Delman explains to us, the readers, who and what she is. For in a book that is ostensibly her biography you will find tales of the generations who preceded her. Here you will find the legend of how the Bene Israel came to India; here too is the story of the Bombay mango that altered destinies; here are the stories of pogroms and miraculous escapes in Eastern Europe; here is the story of Carmit's parents who never considered their bi-racial marriage special or revolutionary; and here too is Carmit's own story. Here, amidst the tales of generations, we find the story of a girl growing up in two countries (America and Israel) and in many worlds. And somehow, all those stories blend into one tale of impossibly varied and unique hues. Reading this tale was, for me, like listening to a Doors album. For just as it seems impossible that the blues, classical music, traditional tunes, and stories can be blended into one music and one theme, so it seems impossible that so many stories on so many levels can create one unique and varied tapestry. Yet somehow both happen... and reading Carmit Delman's work, like listening to the Doors, helped safeguard me against the wholesale automation of human beings. Against Disney and against automated call centres. For in Burnt Bread and Chutney ageless wisdom not only survives but flourishes. And in an age where our very identities have collapsed into a by-now-all-too-familiar jumble, this wisdom and a safeguard we desperately need.

Fantastic, intriguing novel!:
This book was a wonderful read, and introduced me to the overlooked Indian Jews. Her descriptions of living in virtually a dual lifestyle were very vivid and educational to say the least. I look forward to more releases by Carmit Delman.

Horrible read..:
The book itself was very unappealing to me and the text is rather bland. Overall the book was just not as well written as it could have been, sometimes contradicting and overworked. I would not recommend this book. Readers Beware.