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Summary: Goddess of metaphor
Review: I'd say Arhundati Roy is the more readable version of Salman Rushdie. Roy's lyrical prose creates clear pictures of the events, places, and things that she describes. It's like reading a very beautiful poetry from cover to cover. It made me trust Booker Prize, and sends me crazy looking for more Booker Prize winning books.
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Summary: A review of the God Of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
Review: The God Of Small Things is the tragic story of an Indian family "who tampered with the laws of who should be loved and how and how much" it is moving and when Roy describes Pappachis moth on Rahel Estha and Ammu's heart it almost moves you to tears.The description of Ayemenem is frank and often unflattering to the small town in hich most of the book is set but t is absorbig readin anyhow.I wanted to destroy Baby Kochamma after she returned Estha . It is a wildly powerful and often hugely amusing book I strongly reccomend it .
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Summary: The Riches of Roy
Review: Absolutely the best book I have ever read--by far!! As an addict for literatue, I have digested a number of different works over my lifetime. Although many have engaged, evoked and/or even enthralled me, none has ever left a mark as meaningful as this one. Not only does Arundhati Roy weave a wonderous tale of family, fear and misfortune--the words written on each and every page are fiction at its finest. ACOLLADES for ARUNHATI!!!As an avid fan of this particular piece of prose, The God of Small Things has been at the top of my recommended reading list for the past few years. I am currently in possession of my 6th copy due to those (borrowers of the book) who have since felt the same... The God of Small Things is no minimal matter, it's is worth so much more than the mere words mentioned above...a must read!!
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Summary: IMMENSELY READABLE
Review: What secures this book the title extraordinary is not its narrative power which is considerable, nor its sparse, telling dialogue; it is the terrifying cloud of violence which envelopes the characters and setting alike.
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Summary: So What?
Review: Yes, its silly pseudo-poetic surface makes it uninteresting and unreadable (I lasted about five pages before tossing it) but the book shouldn't be avoided solely because of the author's vehement criticism of American foreign policy that she expressed elsewhere. Why not just have a good old-fashioned book burning in this once Land of the Free.
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Summary: was required but..
Review: I was required to read this book for a writing seminar that I am taking. I wish to apologize to the person who doesn't like this book because none of the characters are likeable. A likeable character is not a qualification for an amazing read. I've reread the book twice now and pick up on things that were pointed out in class but that I had not noticed. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes stories about true lives, about another culture which shouldn't be called exotic, and to anyone who wants to read something that will make them question their own beliefs about love laws in their own culture.
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Summary: Beautifull, Tragic, Ironic, Colorful
Review: It seems everyone has trouble understanding the relationships between the characters. Here is a summary. Rahel and Estha are twins.
Their parents are Ammu and Baba. Sophie Mol is an only child.
Her parents are Chacko and Margaret. Ammu and Chacko are siblings.
Their parents are Pappachi(Jone Ipe) and Mammachi Pappachi's younger sister is Baby Kochamma.
Their father was Rev. John Ipe (Punnyan Kunju) Who should read this book? -If you enjoy reading a fresh style of writing that is
breathtaking and acutely observant of the intricacies of life. -If you want to read a story of two innocent children who become
the indirect victims of prejudices centuries old. -If you enjoy reading books that explore social views of a
society and how that translates into the lives of everyone
involved. Roy writes with a style so powerful and so imaginative you become drawn into the world of the twins, Rahel and Estha. Through their guiless, sometimes mischevious eyes, you observe and experience the story as it travels to its destined ending.
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Summary: A little bit disappointing for a Booker Price winning book
Review: I picked up this book in Singapore when it was first released, while it was a lot of praise for Arundhati Roy's "God of Small Things" in the press. In the end this book won the Booker Price. The author has chosen an interesting approach to this novel. There are many stories in the story, and to confuse us even more the author chose a flashback narrating style. We enter the story in the 1990'ies as the young woman named Rahel returns to her village (in a small town in Kerala, in India) to be reunited with her twin brother Esthahappen (shortened Estha), whom she hasn't seen in many years. (That being said, the story in "God of Small Things" is set for the most part during the 1960'ies.) Two of the lead characters are the fraternal twins Estha and Rahel. They are bonded (unusually) close, so close that they think of themselves as "Me", and when separated as "We" or "Us", this to their family's great frustration. Told from the childrens' point of view, the story centers on the story of the twins' childhood, the tragic death of their English cousin, why Estha stopped speaking, to mention something, but not too much. There are many interesting characters in this book, and several of them has a great potential, such as Grandma Mammachi, Grandaunt Baby Kochamma, the handyman Velutha (another important character), Ammu etc. Unfortunately, with a few exceptions, few of them are very well developed. It is not often I almost put a book away (I have a thing for "must finish" what's been started), but this one I almost gave up. Arundhati Roy's prose and writing style is unusual, and I found it charming (in small doses) and I enjoyed this novel for its' prose more than for the story. I was never sure where the author was headed with the story. This left me confused. On top of that, I am sure that I missed some of the metaphors, as well. Come to think of it, the same thing happened when I read Rushdie's "Satanic Verses". Maybe it is just me not getting the Indo-English writing style?
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Summary: Gorgeous melancholy
Review: A beautifully-written novel, although filled with melancholy, death, and cruelty. Family dynamics are impacted by politics, forbidden love, Westerners, and nature. The lushness of the Southern Indian landscape is brought to life through the details--a bird, an insect, a plant. The author writes with an eloquent playfulness (at times ridiculous) and frequent repetition, which kind of turns the novel into poetry. Also courageously written, touching upon issues rarely mentioned outwardly in Indian culture, and especially by Indian women. I traveled to India 4 years ago as a student, didn't stay there long, (hard to fit in, being an almost 6 foot tall black woman-many stares) but I will always be fascinated by Indian culture and literature.
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Summary: A very moving and well-written book
Review: This is the best novel I have read in a very long time. Poetic, moving, inspiring. One of the reviewers here described this book as difficult to finish because it was so depressing. My impression was quite the opposite. True, lots of sad events take place in this book; but it was catharitic like a Greek tragedy. Great things are never valued as much as in the wake of their loss. I was touched by the scenes of the love between the twins and their mother, by the descriptions of the so-eager-to-be-loved and pompous uncle, and by the horrible cruelty that some characters in this book were capable of. The scene of the lovers (near the end of the book) is perhaps the most sensuous and erotic scene I ever read.
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