Book Review : The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

Pages :  321

Read on : Paperback

Goodreads Rating : 3.88/5

Review: I had picked up this book years ago, read it halfway through and oddly abandoned it soon after. Foolish of me to do so as this is a well-praised contribution to Indian Literature. 

For once, I am struggling to describe what reading this book felt like. It wasn't happy. It wasn't entirely sad or depressing. I'd call it sharp, witty and then tragic.

Roy manages to pen down Kerala exactly as it is,oil-slicked, green and lush, rivers and meen (fish). Her style of storytelling is clever. She introduces you to the characters' mind and their thought, she narrates with their essence and soul and only later does she slowly, page by page, reveal their secrets.  For the most part, the book jumps perspective from Rahel to Estha, the twin protagonists in the book, with subsequent external narration. This may be a tad bid confusing initially, since the first few chapters don't state the exact order of events.  

The main premise of this book are the Love Laws. Who can be loved, how to be loved, how much to love and other dimensions of love which are either questioned, violated or simply explored. However, what is stark is the consequence of this innocent exploration, something that warps their lives forever and has successfully pigmented my brain. It would sting the reader even more after a good amount of time is spent knowing that the twins were really one soul placed in two bodies. (Not trying to be creepy, I swear!).

True to life, when the small things in life begin to shift, normalcy disrupts. Roy's characters aren't happy people. They aren't characters one would like because we are given so much access to their minds that you know their demons can no longer be hidden under the bed. 

On reading The God of Small Things, I couldn't ignore the constant comparison to Salman Rushdie's style of storytelling that kept popping up in my mind. Both authors have a tendency to pace and leak the truth/mystery/revelation by first introducing the current scenario, jumping to pivotal incidents and then starting with the prefix of the eventual catastrophe.

Nonetheless, this did not diminish my love for The God of Small Things. I do understand it may not be a read loved by all but that wouldn't stop me from recommending it. 

Final Rating : 5/5

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Top 5 Non-Young Adult Books

I was pleasantly surprised by the number of Non- YA books I had read so far. I usually gravitate to them more whenever I crave great prose and an abundance of emotional overwhelm.  As much as I love Young Adult fiction for the thrill it gives, It's the Non - YA books that predominantly stay imprinted on my mind for years to come.

Here are my top 5 favourites:

5. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy 

I just finished this book last night. I remember picking it up years ago and abandoning it halfway. What a poignant read! This is a book where you don't love the characters , you observe them. You awe at their mannerism and shock at their moves. Their actions are open yet not short of causing chaos beyond repair. Also something I call a 'conflict read ' because, as I mentioned , their actions and reactions are natural but it manages to yield the most tragic turn of events.  A day does change everything. 

4. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

All of my friends who have read this book have not fallen short of praises. I immediately jumped on the bandwagon too and don't regret it one bit. The characters , irrespective of what social or economic strata they belong to, were warm loving and well rooted. The underlining guilt grows like a creeper. The language is simple with a beautiful intermix of Farsi  mostly to translate the on-going emotions, which I loved. Hosseini is so in touch with his Afghan roots and his introduction of it left me spellbound.

3. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson 

Highly explicit, graphic and also, if I dare say, controversial. This book is no fun and games. It's very hardcore in its elements, well researched and thorough in detail. At first, I was skeptical, thinking that keeping in mind all the names and sub plots I would end up losing track of the chain of events. That did not happen! By far the best paced mystery novel I have ever read, with  perfect closure and justifications to all the sub plots. No loose ends and no further questions asked. A must-read for all murder mystery lovers.

2. The Help by Kathryn Stockett 

The book and I have a connection. So it feels like. There is not one character I did not like in the book (Yes, even Miss Hilly). I adored the country accent it was written in. Stockett's ability to have various narratives of the three different women run parallel then converging them and weaving them together with laughter , love and loss is commendable. The stories are their own, the pain and the way they deal with it is heterogeneous. You love them , you laugh with them and you hurt like it was your own .The movie was equally fantastic. Exactly how I had envisioned it. Can we make this a classic already!

1. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov 

*cue gasp* Majority of people could not stomach this book and I completely understand why. For the longest time, this has been and still is a controversial and unacceptable-in-society kind of read. There is a niche audience that has found the true motive and meaning behind Nabokov. He challenges you with words to empathize with a inadmissible love. Something you would never support in real life. His description and language is unmatched.  To read this book one would have to be really open-minded.

What are your favourite Non YA books? I'd love to know!

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