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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.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
From Publishers Weekly
With sensuous prose, a dreamlike style infused with breathtakingly beautiful images and keen insight into human nature, Roy's debut novel charts fresh territory in the genre of magical, prismatic literature. Set in Kerala, India, during the late 1960s when Communism rattled the age-old caste system, the story begins with the funeral of young Sophie Mol, the cousin of the novel's protagonists, Rahel and her fraternal twin brother, Estha. In a circuitous and suspenseful narrative, Roy reveals the family tensions that led to the twins' behavior on the fateful night that Sophie drowned. Beneath the drama of a family tragedy lies a background of local politics, social taboos and the tide of history?all of which come together in a slip of fate, after which a family is irreparably shattered. Roy captures the children's candid observations but clouded understanding of adults' complex emotional lives. Rahel notices that "at times like these, only the Small Things are ever said. The Big Things lurk unsaid inside." Plangent with a sad wisdom, the children's view is never oversimplified, and the adult characters reveal their frailties?and in one case, a repulsively evil power?in subtle and complex ways. While Roy's powers of description are formidable, she sometimes succumbs to overwriting, forcing every minute detail to symbolize something bigger, and the pace of the story slows. But these lapses are few, and her powers coalesce magnificently in the book's second half. Roy's clarity of vision is remarkable, her voice original, her story beautifully constructed and masterfully told. First serial to Granta; foreign rights sold in France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Italy, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Estonia, Holland, India, Greece, Canada and the U.K.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful writing, but not my favourite,
By
This review is from: The God Of Small Things (Paperback)
I really wanted to like this book more than I did. This was a book chosen for my monthly book club and I was quite happy that it was chosen because it had been sitting on my shelf for quite some time, without me having given it a second glance whenever I'd go to pick out something to read.The God of Small Things is about Indian twins, Rahil and Estha, who learn that their whole world can change in a day. It's a story about love ' namely, the 'laws of love.' Arundhati Roy is a magnificent writer. The whole story was written so beautifully, lyrically and poetic. Had I not been on a deadline to finish the book, I would have slowed down considerably in my reading to really take in the text. Roy plays with words, rhyming them, stretching them, flipping them backwards. She capitalizes certain ideas or phrases to give them meaning, and relies on foreshadowing ' a whole mess of foreshadowing ' to tell her story. I really liked how, at the beginning of the story, the reader knows ' to an extent ' what happened. We don't know the details, but we know something is up. The rest of the novel is the story unfolding through the eyes of a child. It's disjointed and slightly confusing at times, but Roy does a good job of using repetition to hone in on certain important details. I read the whole novel only feeling a little confused, which isn't what I expected when I first started reading. The characters are so well outlined, that it was so easy to love the twins and to hate their 'baby aunt' Baby Kochamma. There was politics mentioned throughout the novel, which I understood the basics of, but probably not the full extent of it. Roy's main theme, as mentioned above, is love and the 'laws of love,' which outline who citizens of certain castes are to love ' and how much. While it feels like I'm praising the novel extensively, I'm not going to say this is going in the archives as one of my favourites. I appreciated what Roy was doing with her story, but it wasn't the story that I loved ' it was the writing of it. I loved the poetic quality of it, how certain phrases or sentences or paragraphs rolled off the tongue in a rhythm all their own. This isn't something that's normally seen in novels, so it was nice to read something different. Of course, the whole novel isn't wonderful poetry, beautiful descriptions, and the upside of love. In fact, the book is quite dark and there are some very dark themes throughout ' most of which will make readers cringe. The thing that got me was that the novel was so dark, but I wasn't left feeling sorrowful after it was over. I wasn't left feeling elated and high in spirits, but it wasn't a story that dragged me down. If you're looking to read a wonderfully-written classic novel, read The God of Small Things. If anything, the words will take your breath away.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Love, life and loss of innocence,
By
This review is from: The God of Small Things (Paperback)
Darkly disturbing and beautifully writing, Arundhati Roy has written an extraordinary first novel. Her voice is fresh and ripe with metaphor as the reader is surrounded by the world of southern India. Told through the eyes of Rahel, now grown, who revisits the childhood secret she shares with her twin brother, it speaks of love, life and a loss of innocence.They live in Kerula, a Christian matriarchal state, with their divorced mother, blind grandmother, bitter aunt and sad uncle. It is a world where impending communism is supposed to be weakening the caste system which has been rooted in the culture for thousands of years. It is a world of decay and disaster. There's a skyblue Plymouth, a graygreen river and a world of wonder for the two-egg twins whose vision is filtered through their clear-eyed innocence. The story is one of passion and forbidden love told with fresh eyes while "night's elbows rested on the water and watched.....". It grabs the reader with an emotional quality that goes far beyond the particular characters and even the particular setting. This is a book to be savored, thought about deeply, and, perhaps even read for a second time.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
An impressive story,
By Sancho Mahle (Charlotte, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The God Of Small Things (Paperback)
This is the first book I have read by this author and I am glad that it is his debut book. The story is lovely and convinced me that Arundhati Roy is a great storyteller. Many of the characters are rich and original and the story is full of credible twists and turns, making it the interesting read that readers are always looking for.This fascinating novel that is set in India in the late 60s begins with the funeral of a cousin of the novel's narrator. Rahelas she is called shares with her twin brother Estha share family secrets that are masterfully presented to the reader in this gripping, suspenseful and revealing prose that is told from the point of a child. Rich in characters and an amazing plot, The God of Small Things takes you into the fascinating setting of India , its politics, rich culture , unique social and caste system, numerous taboos, and its turbulent rich which all have an influence on the characters of the story. A highly recommended read: Also recommended: DISCIPLES OF FORTUNE, NAMESAKE,THE KITE RUNNER, THE USURPER AND OTHER STORIES
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