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The God of Small Things
by: Arundhati Roy

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Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780006550686
ISBN: 0006550681
Label: Harper Perennial
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
Number Of Pages: 350
Publication Date: May 05, 2004
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Studio: Harper Perennial
Sales Rank: 1597

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Editorial Review:

Amazon.co.uk Review:
In her first novel, award-winning Indian screenwriter Arundhati Roy conjures a whoosh of wordplay that rises from the pages like a brilliant jazz improvisation. The God of Small Things is nominally the story of young twins Rahel and Estha and the rest of their family, but the book feels like a million stories spinning out indefinitely; it is the product of a genius child-mind that takes everything in and transforms it in an alchemy of poetry. The God of Small Things is at once exotic and familiar to the Western reader, written in an English that's completely new and invigorated by the Asian Indian influences of culture and language.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Masterpiece!
The God of Small Things is an excellent book, one of a kind. Vocabulary that Roy has used, though unconventional and sometimes grammatically incorrect, is what makes the story powerful and unique.

In its simplest description it is a story of one family, mostly of Estha and Rahel. In its complex description it is a story that raises many questions that for generations have been unanswerable.

Caste system in India, discrimination against untouchables is only of them. Through sad tale of Velutha and Ammu, we see the price one pays for trying to overcome the barriers that society has placed. Velutha's untouchable body touched Ammu's upper-cast body in the most intimate form. He was a man, she a woman and they made passionate ... Read More:

Rating:

- A mix of everything
The God of Small Things tells the story of an Indian family that defies the Laws of Love ("that say who should be loved and how much").

It's a wonderful portrayal of Indian society over the past forty years and surprisingly insightful about family relationships. It's got a bit of everything as well: humor, innocence, sorrow, death, love, sex. It hides very little and it happens to give a very clear idea of the world through a child's eyes - something that reminded me of Mark Haddon, I must admit.

I enjoyed it a lot and I recommend whole-heartedly.

Rating:

- Tray Bong
My first attempt at reading this book took me to page 70, then I gave up. The descriptive language and pointless metaphors annoyed me. I also found the book hard to get into because it kept jumping around between past and present.
Unfortunately, I had to try and read the book again because I was studying it in English. I started, again, from the beginning and persisted with Roy's unique style. Once I had re-reached page 70 I realised that I was enjoying the book much more this time around. The mixed up chronology gives each event more significance and realism, and the jumbled order soon becomes easy enough to follow and understand. Every chapter has its own importance and relevance as in any good book, you just don't know it yet. I think that ... Read More:

Rating:

- Review of 'The God of Small Things'
At first, I found this book quite inaccessible, due to the many characters thrown at you within the first few pages, and the way the plot gallops off without you. In fact, I did wonder whether my copy had a few pages missing at the start, and it took me several attempts at reading chapter 1 before I finally started to get into the book. But when I did, it was well worth it.

Roy displays emotions in an equally sensitive and delicate way as nature. Working hard to follow the sections of plot revealed at different points, I think I learnt something of the confusion Rahel and Estha felt, and the efforts they had to make growing up in the midst of a broken family, and a troubled culture. I found the juxtaposition between the un-conventionally ... Read More:

Rating:

- Worth it!
The fact that `The God of Small Things' has won the Booker Prize would initially make anyone think that the book was probably worth a read.

However Roy's individual writing style can make getting into this book and understanding the concepts and plot challenging. Other reviewers have commented on the difficulty in getting to know the characters and associating with them in the plot that frequently switches between past and present. Initially, after the first few chapters, I would have agreed with them; however if you want to fully appreciate this book it is necessary to look further into the book than merely the words on the page. The childish language and descriptive narrative that many readers have expressed dislike with, I think is entirely ... Read More:

Books : The God of Small Things