By Arundhati Roy
⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Goodreads: 3.95)
GENRE: Drama
PART OF A SERIES? No
WORTH READING? Yes
SUMMARY:
‘The God of Small Things’ tells the story of twins, Rahel and Esthappen, in 1969 India. The children patch together a childhood in the wreck that is their family.
When their English cousin, Sophie Mol, and her mother arrive for Christmas, Rahel and Esthappen realise that Things Can Change in a Day. They discover that lives can twist into ugly shapes.
Roy writes with such mastery that even though there is this constant feeling of anguish and a sense of inevitability throughout, I couldn’t help but be sucked in to the characters and invested in what happens to them.
Roy’s command of language - to the point where her prose is almost poetry - astounded me. I loved the descriptions, the use of imagery and the way she invokes intense emotion in the reader.
I admit I had a little trouble keeping track of all the characters - there seemed to be a lot and some had similar names. Possibly some of my struggle was because I read this entire book in audiobook format. Perhaps had I had access to the written version, I may have found The God of Small Things easier to follow.
But my biggest issue was with this book's structure. It seemed quite disjointed and this is what frustrated me ultimately. Without this problem, The God of Small Things would be a 5-star book for me. It pains me not to give it a 100% rating, simply because of the incredible quality of the writing, but I just didn’t like the structure.
I have no hesitation in recommending this book, but be prepared for something quite different. (I’m sure it won't be everyone's cup of tea).
Here are some examples of Roy's beautiful writing:
"The Torch Man opened the heavy Princess Circle door into the fan-whirring, peanut-crunching darkness".
"And the air was full of Thoughts and Things to Say. But at times like these, only the Small Things are ever said. Big Things lurk unsaid inside."
"Black-haired backs of heads became faces with mouths and moustaches. Hissing mouths with teeth like sharks."
"Perhaps it's true that things can change in a day. That a few dozen hours can affect the outcome of whole lifetimes… when they do, those few dozen hours, like the salvaged remains of a burned house—the charred clock, the singed photograph, the scorched furniture—must be resurrected from the ruins and examined. Little events, ordinary things, smashed and reconstituted… Suddenly they become the bleached bones of a story."
This story is one that is both heartbreaking and uplifting and shows that sometimes the Small Things can get you through all the Really Big Things in life.
Click here if you’d like to buy the paperback from Amazon
Comments