The God of Small Things | Arundhati Roy

The God of Small Things | Arundhati Roy | Brilliant debut for Roy

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The God of Small T...

	The God of Small Things Arundhati Roy Harper Perennial, 1998 - 336 pages average customer review:based on 869 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

gorgeous...

I'm reading this book for my 12th grade literature course and I have to say, Arundhati Roy is a goddess amongst writers. Her style--whimsically descriptive, lyrical and lush hides a sweet sharp blade. Her characters--human, real, flesh and blood like you and like me. Ammu, Chacko, Baby Kotchamma, Mammachi, Pappachi, Estha, Rahel: all are reflections of our own families. The structure of the plot bewitches and bewilders--like a Tarantino film, flashbacks within flashbacks, mesmerizing and paralyzing all sense of time till there is no sense of time and THAT'S when you find yourself at the end of the book, beaten, bloody and aching for more--knowing that there can never be more.

It takes a patient and willing mind and reader to get this book. You cannot just breeze through it, you cannot enter into it expecting a clean cut story--a prepackaged ready to assemble story. Those sorts are mockeries of the the human drama, the human condition. No, you must bow before the god of Small Things and even if you refuse, this book will have you at your knees begging for mercy in the end.

The God of Small Things leaves a deep pain your heart, makes you reflect on your own relationships with your loved ones, makes you question your life and the way you're living it

--it is heartbreakingly beautiful, like raven-haired sirens on the sea.

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Brilliant debut for Roy

It is hard to believe that the author of "The God of Small Things", Arundhati Roy, is a debutant novelist. Her experience as a screenwriter aside, Roy's literary genius knows no bounds her first novel. She is able to transform what is a rather ordinary plot, about a pair of twins whose lives are inexorably shaped by family and circumstance, into a haunting tale of struggle, passion, and the search for identity.

The effects of her linguistic skill can be felt in the indelible marks each of the characters leave on a reader. Roy infuses the plot and each of the characters with small, personal details which draw readers into the story. One will feel the humid, languid summer weather of Kerala "suffused with sloth and sullen expectation" and will convulse with anger and shock on behalf of Estha at the depravity of the OrangedrinkLemondrink Man.

This novel has been criticized for having a plot that is too convoluted, but that is, in my opinion, why it is so compelling. The book begins with a sense of apocalyptic doom, and as the story progresses, each layer of the mystery is peeled away with painstaking detail to reveal the causes of a family's downfall. The reader is pulled along through the highs and lows of the plot, often without being braced for what is about to come.

Although the book is set in India and is rich with details about Indian culture, it is by no means esoteric. Roy's writing is too exceptional, the story too heartbreaking and the characters too unforgettable for this book to be limited to any specific readership. After finishing the book, I was left with an importunate urge to go back and re-read it, this time on my own terms, savoring the lyrical prose, this time ready for the twists and turns.

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The sumptuous reflections of poetry

"...in the way that although you know that one day you will die, you live as though you won't. In the Great Stories you know who lives, who dies, who finds love, who doesn't. And yet you want to know again."
There are very few books that have elucidated my very perspective of life. It was a subtle, imperceptible change. But there is something inside me that was transformed into something better. After reading this book I became more content, I feel as if I know more about life, human relations, injustice, love, and the constructing power of words. There're more inerasable images accumulated in my conscience. The God of Small Things broke my head, my mind into small pieces; it shook me, moved me, and excited me. It took me by surprise. I have not cried as much after reading a book for a long time. The mystery and intrigue is not lost, but the difficult part comes with the implication of having to let go of the characters.
--- It also teaches the (ignorant) reader about India, the caste system, the English establishment and its infrastructure.

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Review of _The God of Small Things_

Excellent novel for semi-experienced and experienced readers (comp. Toni Morrison's _Sula_, Jean Rhys' _Wide Sargasso Sea_). Poignant, shocking, yet not gross. Beautiful language, mature style. I rate it as one of the 10 top books of my life.

GREAT BOOK

Great Book, I am not going to retell the story or any part of it you wil just have to buy it for yourself to find out, but what a read, I loved it. It was very well written and easy to read, which made it better to follow along.

reviews: 1, 2, 3, page 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

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