In Behind the Beautiful Forevers, I enjoy how Katherine Boo sets up her characters. She almost introduces them as a straightforward memory or stream of consciousness. Boo describes or introduces [by name] a person who arrives, their features, and how they’re involved in the situation, or involved with a previously introduced character, and then tells us who they really are. For me, initially, this adds a sense of realism to her writing. In the Author’s Note [that we previously read], I believe she references how many things did not make sense until she began the writing process of this book — and how much of the journey she was unclear as to what exactly was transpiring, who specific people were — but by the end of writing the book, she had a much better idea. Specifically, Mr. Kamble’s and Manju’s introductions. It’s almost as if we’re meeting them with Boo. Additionally, I like how she constructs description. It is essentially a stream of observations, but molded by word choice in a way that makes it fairly captivating for the reader. Mentioning the fact that they live across from the international section of an airport, airport SUVs, etc. adds a familiar element for someone like myself, immediately catching my attention. The idea there is, it’s something familiar. Also, it’s interesting how deeply she is inside these peoples’ thoughts. She must have done extensive interviews to write about them in such a way. When Abdul thinks about his neighbors, and Boo examines the dynamic there—it’s interesting to hear a person’s thoughts, especially someone in such a different part of the world.
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