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Summary: small things loom large in the eyes of children
Review: This book's brilliance was to be found in its characterisation of the children. The language was a child's language - the labelling of events, the repetition of words to form a mantra, the formation of new words through misunderstanding... and it was the language of memories - the continual return to well-worn phrases which become signposts back to the stories they contain; the moulding of thought by memory so that small things take on a significance they would never hold for the casual observor. What we have is a child's eye view which finds all events, big or small, looming large. To read this book is to remember what it is to be a child, to be powerless, but at the same time, to be the cause of big events and small.
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Summary: Disappointing....
Review: I had high expectations for this book: the reviews were great and it won the Booker Prize. I was disappointed. The book had only a few good moments. I admit that Roy did a good job with some descriptive passages. It wasn't enough to make this a good book. Throughout the story, all the characters remained unlikeable. While I understand that they were caught in a cultural web not of their making, none of the characters was able to break free. The literary devices employed by Roy served as a distraction rather than an enhancement of this story. Also, Roy's disjointed writing style was extremely annoying.
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Summary: Small, unknown things embody the essence of the large.
Review: Roy's novel is earthy, fleshy. She reminds us that evil, particularly when it is focused on children, is international. We are forced, as westerners to recognize our world with all its flaws in the unfamiliar locus of India, and ourselves in the foreign men, women and children of Roy's book. Like the father who instructs his son in the Chandogya Upanishad, Roy's book takes the smallest of the small and instructs the reader that from this, one can perceive the finest essence of a thing.
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Summary: Roy puts so much passion in life and living.....
Review: Roy has made the concept of love and life so beautiful and precious....something we have all taken for granted. Something I learned was that when big things simply can not happen, we tend to stress our lives on smaller things. This only tells us that we should focus our lives on the big dreams we once had in order to prevent our lives to revolve around the less important factors. Roy has also intelligently alluded to other great authors such as Joseph Conrad and traces of Toni Morrison was seen through out the story. I applaud to Arundhati Roy and would recommend this to anyone who has a love for life and living.
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Summary: A good read
Review: Ms. Roy's book truly reflects the Indian state Kerala's culture and habits. Being a Keralite, it reminds me of my childhood and believe me, some her descriptions exactly matches with real Kerala life. Though her language may be rated as Indian English, it gives a live touch to this Kerala story. However she could have avoided some Malayalam (Kerala language) words or could have given translation wherever possible.
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Summary: A book that will evoke rich reflections on life.
Review: 'The God of Small Things' came into my life incidentally, since my primary purpose was participation in a reading group. It was the second of a trilogy of selections, the first of which was Tolstoi's 'Kreutzer Sonata'. I found the pairing synergistic. I had to reread the early part of the book several times before I could continue to the end. In the end, I was glad I had read it. It had offered me the opportunity to think about the nature of things: the nature of nature, of innocence, of life, of love, of the spirit. Since I was in the discussion group, I learned more about the book than I would have ordinarily. It was said that the book was written straight through and not edited. I think that came out in the somehow Jackson Pollack nature of the finished product. The book it seems is the product of the interesting life, acutely observed, and highly respected, pure spirit of the author. A cup of tea I may sip again.
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Summary: Scintalling style, simple story - thoroughly enjoyable
Review: The beauty of the book lies in its narration, thrilling in the details, poetic in style and through the eyes of kids. The author certainly has got class and it shows through in every word. The influence of Salman Rushdie is discernible though. The story is very simple and unremarkable, no grandeur in the plot, nor does it have any pretensions to be influential as Rushdie can be. The book is to be treated as a reading experience and one has to take time over every description and then you can almost feel the earthy smell of Ayemenem with the river coursing through and the children playing along its banks under the coconut trees. The characters live with you as you go on and you almost regret having to part, you want to know what happened to rahel, did estha start speaking? But then you could try to read it as a story and skip the details, all i can say is you would be missing an awful lot. About the booker, it is a book of class , unless there was something really extraordinary about the other entries i guess it deserves the prize.
Rating: 
Summary: Loved it but it's not for everyone
Review: An amazing, wonderful book. Not an easy read, but worth it. I'm surprised so many people panned it; it's not for everyone, but neither is any other book.
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Summary: Proud to be a fellow keralite,
Review: I read the book in the 2nd month of its release, and I really wondered if this would sell in international market as the book mainly related to a small state in India and its cultures. But on second thoughts I thought if the book sells it would be for the simple language and the presentation. HATS OFF TO YOU ROY FOR MAKING INDIA AND KERALA PROUD OF YOU. Being a keralite, reading GOST and understanding it was very easy. Being a book worm I rate this book as the best book I have ever read. What I appreciate about her is the inclusion of kerala food and the malayalam language in the book. What surprises me is that though she lives in Delhi, having left kerala long ago, she still cherishes the kerala lifestyle and made it a point for the world to know. Her portrayal of "Gods own Country" - Kerala, is absolutely stunning. To readers who have not been to Gods own country , then a piece of info , it is truly the most beautiful place in the world. Nature at its best. I congagulate Arundhati on her great work and the booker prize
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Summary: weird language structure but refreshing
Review: I picked up this book for the obvious reasons-booker prize, reviews etc.. I was quite impressed. The way she writes is weird but very different and refreshing. Hovewer the story stagnates around the middle. The end kind of fizzles out and the last part surprised me.She didn't really experiment so clearly with sexuality until then. A definite read for my fellow mallus.
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