God of Small Things

Rating:
Summary: This could have been a great book.
Review: This could have been a great book. However, it's only a mediocre one. I found Roy's word play springing not so much creativity, but from laziness--especially as she uses the same phrases over and over again. In addition, Roy seemed to take great joy in muddling the timeline. She would go back a forth a day, a few days, a week, a month, and years. Even at the end of the book, I was still slightly confused as to what happened when. HOWEVER, the final chapter was beautifully written and seemed to be almost the work of a different author. This writer was mature, disciplined and willing to open her soul and expose the love and pain within. As a result, this one chapter was much closer to poetry than anything offered in the previous twenty. As I see it, poetry is more a state of mind than a state of words. If Roy can continue to write as she did in the last chapter of The God of Small Things, she will be a great writer.

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Summary: Some of the most amazing prose I have ever read.
Review: From the opening lines of the book I was enchanted with the unusual but amazing prose. There are few books that transport you so completely to a place and climate. You can feel the heat of the sun, and smell the mangoes ripening! It is a classic tale of love across class and racial lines and the heavy price paid by the two lovers. When I heard the author interviewed on National Public Radio, I was shocked to learn that she was facing obscenity charges in India. Her reading of the opening page of her book made me go out and buy it,something I have never done before. I have recommended this book to many friends. Even though it is a sad story, it is beautifully told.

Rating:
Summary: Only for People with Literary Concerns!
Review: good language and all...but if you are looking for a gripping novel this is not it...its focus is mostly on description..frankly I didnt find it so compelling and I don't think i would read it again!

Rating:
Summary: inspiring
Review: After reading this i want to write a novel of my own.It's really very much inspring.I want to tell the author to stop weasting her time in support of the NBA.Instead she can write a another novel I am closing here,thankyou.

Rating:
Summary: poetry and prose meet head on and erupt beautifully
Review: incredible read. true, the plot lacked a bit, but the writing was so mesmorizing i honestly didn't care. the greatest aspect of this novel is how Roy captures the literal thought process of children. what an adult passes by as just another part of a complex world, a child stares at and wonders. this book captures that. its also so innovative. Roy plays with the misinterpretations of communication using the letters themselves to do so. (ex. the nocturnal bird living in the family's factory is a Bar Nowl to the children) read it, if not for any other reason than you've never seen language used in the way she does before

Rating:
Summary: A small thing for me
Review: Somehow I had this idea I would love The God Of Small Things, but maybe I should have realised that a critically praised award-winner will probably be just like this: quite clever, a little pretentious, ultimately somewhat boring. Unfortunately, I had no chance to read the book in English, and I don't know how much the Finnish translation is missing in the poetry. Roy's talent with words shows, but as a storyteller, she seems to be a bit too confused. She deliberately gives away much of the plot quite early, and when she still tries to keep it exciting to the end, the reader has to wonder how many thoughts has she actually paid to the plotline. Not bad, not so excellent.

Rating:
Summary: Powerful story; beautiful language
Review: The story is powerful, touching issues of race and caste. Roy writes poetically. The style is not straight narrative. The reader can guess what ultimately happens. However, it is written as though Rahel, the main character, is dealing with extremely painful memories, that she must deal with gradually. Although I love the book, I do not think it is for everyone because it is very "literary". I would love to read it again to fully grasp all of the symbolism and metaphors, but unfortunately, my reading list is too long.

Rating:
Summary: Don't even bother with this one
Review: With all the awards this got, I forced my way to keep reading, hoping it would get better. I got through half of it, bored with the stories and the writing style. I didn't care about any of the characters and could find nothing remotely compelling about the storyline. Seems that a lot of reader comments were similar to this. I wish I would have read them before buying the book.

Rating:
Summary: excellent,ms.roy..
Review: i read this book when i was thirteen(i'm fourteen now)as a result of a dumb bet with my sister.she said i couldnt complete one decent book...but as i read it,i was so suprised..it was so nice!!being from kerala myself,i could really understand the bits about the people there..ammu was great,so were rahel,estha,velutha and the rest..but above all i loved her beautiful flow of language,her way with words..it was beautiful...thumbs up,arundhati roy!!keep it up!

Rating:
Summary: The worst book I've ever read
Review: This book was unreadable. It was the poorest excuse for a rambling, babbling piece of chaos ever written. The writing was terrible, you couldn't follow any story line. Ultimately, you didn't care about any characters or what happened. A total waste of time.