In Custody - Grand Format

Being my first time reading Anita Desai and knowing nothing about her, I didn't know what to expect.I think this is one of the best way to dive into an author's work.

This story is about resignation, despair, expectations not met, false hope and how to live with it, the frustation created by all of this.
Poetry has a central place in this story, it connect everyone in some way or another. She writes about the power of poetry, how it is important to have such art in one life.
The depiction of the characters is well done yet I felt that some depth was missing. None of the characters are really likeable but it is not about how bad they are but how life turn them into what they are.
Not being familiar with the Indian culture I found that the way she wrote about their daily life, the prevailing poverty, the lost battle of Urdu a dying language and superior against the Hindi vulgar language, the struggle to provide for a worthwile education and how important it is really, true and honest. Yet despite all of this life must go on.

It was also interesting because of the portrayal of "The" poet, the genius, how he is supposed to be, to live, the sort of god-like statut he has and the reality how at the end he is only a man.
Nostalgia lingers throughout the story, how everyting was better back then.

I did not like how the women were portrayed;as a wife supposed to take care of the household and nothing more or when she is portrayed as an "artist" she is hysteric, a liar, unskilled, superficial.

Last but not least, the writint style: dense, intense it suffocated me, it gripped me. It was poetic and lyrical but at a time you did not expect it to be so it was interested to experiment it.

Still I don't know if I like this piece of work or not, it did make me think, stirred emotions, feelings no matter how disagreeable they were. I learned a bit about Indian culture, some of it customs. Still... I do not know and I don't think I want to read other works of hers for the time being.