Arundhati Roy, Uncategorized

THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS BY ARUNDHATI ROY

thebombaybibliophile

I was very excited to read this book because –

  1. It is written by a female Indian author
  2. The reviews
  3. It has won the booker prize

 

 

STUFF ON THE BACK COVER SAYS

Arundhati Roy’s modern classic is equal parts powerful family saga, forbidden love story, and piercing political drama. The seven-year-old twins Estha and Rahel see their world shaken irrevocably by the arrival of their beautiful young cousin, Sophie. It is an event that will lead to an illicit liaison and tragedies accidental and intentional, exposing “big things [that] lurk unsaid” in a country drifting dangerously toward unrest. Lush, lyrical, and unnerving, The God of Small Things is an award-winning landmark that started for its author an esteemed career of fiction and political commentary that continues unabated.
PLOT IN SHORT

In the state of Kerala, fraternal twins Esthappen and Rahel fashion a childhood for themselves. Their  mother, Ammu, fled an abusive marriage to live with their blind grandmother and uncle Chacko .When Chacko’s English ex-wife brings their daughter  Sophie for a Christmas visit, a tragedy strikes which haunts them for the rest of their lives.

 

THE GOOD

  • The writing is beautiful, you will see, smell and listen to everything that has been described
  • The characters are well fleshed out
  • A heart stirring story

 

THE BAD

  • The author constantly moves from the past to the present tense without warning and that gets annoying
  • The themes discussed in the book are very strong and not everyone’s cup of tea

MY THOUGHTS

Even though this book is extremely well written it is also very very very sad and depressing. I had to drag myself to finish this book. I usually totally avoid these kind of books which cause my heart to bleed and my eyes to water. Not for the soft hearted.

 

MY RATINGS

3.5/5

3 thoughts on “THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS BY ARUNDHATI ROY”

  1. I finished reading this book last week and this review is exactly what I felt like except for one thing- If the book is good, I don’t really mind it being sad or depressing. Have you read ‘The Kite Runner’ by Khalid Hosseini?

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    1. Yes I did read the kite runner as well as ‘A thousand splendid suns’ .My heart bleed for Afghanistan after reading that book. Even ‘The book thief ‘by Markus Zusak is based on a similar theme of pain and war..give it a try

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      Reply

      1. It’s indeed disheartening to see the plight of present day Afghanistan.
        And thank you for the recommendation! ‘The Book Thief’ has been on my reading list for long but haven’t yet come round to reading it. Will definitely try to read it at the next opportunity 🙂

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