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Summary: A book not just on Kerala or India but on Childhood and Life
Review: After a long time - a book based in India that is not one-dimensional or cliched. The language and the story brings Kerala alive and also brings to the fore a host of other emotions. Just some of the words and phrases used are so fascinating. when she's talking about Ammu's death at the age of 31 - "Not young, not old, but a viable dieable age". The sense of tragedy with Sophie Mol and Velutha is so palpable but at other times keeps drifting in the background. You hope that all will be well but somewhere Arundhati Roy keeps giving you the feeling that - 'Hey - this is life, fantasize if you want, but reality is reality and you can't escape it.'Fabulous Read. Buy the hard cover version. You would want to keep this book for your grandchildren.
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Summary: Good for a first effort
Review: Uses all the stereotypes about India to make a story that will gratify Westerners!
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Summary: Substance stumbling over style
Review: Let's be clear about one thing. I liked the book, so much in fact, that I am re-reading it. That however may not a great book make. What really attracted me was how Roy is able to get under the skin of a child - physically two, they do share a monozygotic soul - and explain what the world looks like. In fact the whole book seems to view the world from a child's eyes - not so much as the events in themselves, but rather the way a human reacts to events. In many places I was really amazed by this, because the book told me how I would've reacted as a child (but had lost the senstivity as an adult). That said, I think the language needs some polishing. Maybe she should've revised it. Deadwoods like the twins feelings for their mother's beauty are aplenty. And who says all Indians write like Rushdie? This book really proves otherwise because it's the emotions and not the events that bind the tale together.
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Summary: Well turned prose, but cliche.
Review: The book is well written in its use of language and well turned prose, except that it suffers from: 1. overuse of linguistic style (alliterative, etc..) 2. heavy overuse of vulgar wording (vulgar words can be helpful to set the environment, but if used on every page, lose their power and originality) 3. sweepingly flawed characters (every one) 4. lack of insight into the characters' present thoughts (no identification with the protaginists) Otherwise it is serious and worth the read. Hopefully she will refine in further works.
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Summary: Success Strory -- Presentation of a strange environment.
Review: I hail from the same place depicted in this novel -- Kerala, a southern state in India. I think the one and only reason for the success of this book is that it presents an environment and culture unknown to most of the readers in English. Otherwise the novel is no different from a usual thriller. For a beautiful and lively depiction of this environment, this novel is nowhere near the works in Malayalam (the language of Kerala) and other Indian languages. The success behind the story is the language.
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Summary: Atomospheric and lyrical family drama.
Review: Seldom do debut novels draw such strong reactions from readers across the board. But if making it on to the N.Y. Times bestseller's list is indicative of Ms. Roy's talent, I'm looking forward to her sophmore effort. The God Of Small Things was simply stunning. Told in an elliptical storyline, it was poignant and hilarious at times. With a sense of impending doom hovering over its characters all the while. Her use of langauge was so very visual, I was transported to Kerala. Family rivalries and day to day dramas were played out through the eyes of Rahel & Estha. It's no wonder the narrative was unconventional, it was told through the eyes of a child. I reccommend reading this book. Although you may not love it the way I did, you won't be able to put it down! By the way, the choice of actor Sarita Choudry to read the audio version was great casting. See her opposite Denzel Washington in "Mississippi Masala".
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Summary: starts slowly, then slows down
Review: This novel, in its use of words, is a real joy. The author plays with words, making up fun combinations, like a real virtuoso. But the book can't seem to make up its mind about being a story or a series of character studies. The result of this combination is that one loses the fictional dream. One has no real plot to carry one forward among the verbal pyrotechnics. When I started reading I felt I could recommend the book, but by the end it was a real chore just to finish. Not recommended.
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Summary: Marvelous!
Review: Created a unique language suitable to the joyous story tending with a sense of dreadful inevitability to such a sad ending
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Summary: I loved this book
Review: Interesting that some did not like the book. Others of us loved it. I liked the Capitalized Terms that others spurned. I liked the feeling of the story, the sense of place, quiet. This is perhaps not the best book every written, but is a GREAT read.
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Summary: Wonderfully disrespectful of literary tradition
Review: Writing of the messy, unstructured, and haphazard mode of a mind in flood, Roy beautifully reveals simple and deep emotions through the soul of a child. There is no pretence of `development' of thought or argument, this isn't _Bach_ it's _Taverner_. Read it.
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