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Summary: Music
Review: From the first page, this book had an undercurrent of music: rhythm, phrasing and structure that created a song in my brain every time I read.Like lyrics to a favorite song, the phrases Ms. Roy repeats in the novel became short-hand, conjuring up emotional impact with just a few words. You've been let in on the story; you know the genesis of the phrase, so when it appears later, it brings it's full weight to bear: bottled fear, a cold moth, the time was ten to two. Ms. Roy has said that she has no plans for a follow-up to this book; that after writing it she was drained, finished. It may be so: this book has enough unforgettable images to last a lifetime. I know many people have been put off by Ms. Roy's writing style, becoming frustrated at her technique. But if you're listening to the notes, you're not hearing the music.
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Summary: FANTASTIC BOOK,very touching,very well written
Review: There are very few books that have touched me so deeply as this one. The story of the twins & their mother is truly poignant & leaves a lump in ur throat.How well Roy has presented to us a world as seen thro the eyes of two innocent children.It took me back to my own childhood in many ways. The story of Ammu's( the mother)doomed love fr Velutha is so sensitively written-passionate,but with no trace of vulgarity. Humour is another area where Roy excels.Baby Kochamma,Kochu maria (& her obsession with WWF!),Uncle Chacko,Comrade Pillai are all HILARIOUS. And the icing on the cake is her language.Simply mind blowing.The descriptions,similes,metaphors are worth reading a million times.A simple thing like a fan is made to come to life ("the rotating fan by the bed measured out it's mechanical breeze in exemplary , democratic turns...."). The way the author goes back & forth in time is extemely effective & heightens the drama of a situation. On the! ! whole,it was a book that left a deep,deep impression on me.
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Summary: Contrivance leads to diminished emotional response
Review: It seems to me that the author is trying to create a fairy tale or myth that combines Western and Eastern archetypes: the loss of an idealized world like the Garden of Eden, the crucifixion of innocents, Conrad's Heart of Darkness, a fairy world like that in some of Shakespeare's plays, the twin motif from Eastern literature, incest, etc. Thus the writing style which employs devices typical of oral literature such as repeated catch phrases which act as mnemonic devices. Whereas I admire such creativity and found the book very entertaining and original, I felt the author needed to trust the audience to read between the lines without having to telegraph the symbols and her point so obviously. The problem is that such artificiality and contrivance diminish the emotional response of the reader. The book's events are meant to be horrifying, but they don't seem real or convincing. Also, most myths seem to be distilled down to their essence; such a concentration seems nec! ! essary to provide the universal significance. Elements of realism distract. Roy seems to want to have it both ways--to be mythic and realistic simultaneously. A simpler approach might have been more effective. She was at her best in the comic scenes, for example the welcome home "play" for Sophie Mol. She's at her worst with the adult Rahel and Estha's self-indulgent moping. However, the book contains a lot pleasures and is definitely worth reading.
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Summary: Delicious writing
Review: I really enjoyed the writing and the way that the narrative is carried out. I got a little bit tired with the plot and the characters in the last part, but even so I'm glad that I read this book.
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Summary: wonderful description of childhood perceptions
Review: I have read with interest the reviews online, love it or hate it the book obviously arouses feelings. It seemed to me that Roy's style is Indian English by way of A.A. Milne. For me this style worked best in capturing the way a child thinks and tries to organize his or her world. The abuse scene was where the book became less confusing for me, it so accurately captured the confusion and innate disgust at having such an experience. The powerlessness of women, children, workers, untouchables, and even owners of factories, in this very real world of caste, economics, political greed and personal vendetas created a very poignent story, very beautifully told. A terrific first novel.
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Summary: Simply Brilliant!
Review: The God of Small Things is everything I could ever want from a work of fiction. Arundhati Roy's brilliant use of the English language combined with an amazing knack for storytelling make this a Unique book. I still have around 50 pages to finish the book - but I dread doing so in the fear of losing touch with all the beautifully portrayed characters. - especially the twins - Estha and Rahel. When a book can acheive such a bond - I think it can be truly called a masterpeice.
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Summary: Deserves all the accolades and awards - and that's no hype.
Review: Thank God, I read The God... long before all hell broke loose, buying my copy in Mumbai a day before Ms Roy was to give a reading. I read it at one go, later regretting I had not taken my time over it, savouring the subtle nuances and turns of phrase she is so good at. I felt I was in the presence of a great mind who may not be a story teller in the traditional sense. The spell she wove was enticing and lingering, with sensual and visual triggers all over the narrative. I'm sure I'll soon return to The God..., God willing. (And, thank you, God, for proving once again on the Amazon.com site that pleasing the whole world with one's book is next to impossible, even if one wants to. It's best to be true to oneself and one's art. Amen.)
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Summary: Imaginative language, ingenuous plotting - a superb debut!
Review: I completely agree to the critical acclaim Roy's first novel received. It breathtakingly combines impressive eloquence with unusually warm-hearted off-beat humour to form a work of fiction that to me appeared deeply moving. I finally found a book that conveys both elements of the abstract term "magic realism" to me. While you are shown an exotic world and the magic it evokes in the curious minds of the young protagonists, on a different level the author reveals the real, often unpleasant face of human nature, stripped of any desultory pretences. All this Roy achieves in a very playful way, making "The God of Small Things" a very entertaining and above all funny read. The richest praise however, Roy deserves for her superior ability to handle the English language which she uses with rare imaginative power to create an atmosphere that after a short while seeps into you "like tea from a teabag". All this makes "The God of Small Things", despite its lack of the scope offered by masterpieces of the genre such as "100 Years of Solitude" and "Midnight's Children", an all the more personal and tightly focused work which I consider to be the best debut novel I've ever read. I can only strongly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in contemportary fiction who hasn't yet lost his childhood's sense of wonder. Read it, let yourself be surprised and shattered by the unforeseen, agonizing final twist of the beautifully constructed story and anticipate, as from my own experience I'm sure you will, the next work of this uniquely promising new star of English literature.
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Summary: it's brilliant!
Review: i think people who are used to simplistic novels will not like this[like the angry one from singapore]i think the experimentalness of it is testament to an emerging talent of a larger scope.after reading it very slowly and deliberately, i find the storytelling amazing and i am in awe of such talent and skill. i have been to asia many times even though i live in los angeles permanently but the book gives me a haunting presence of a world rich with history, ghosts and tremors of new possibilities with an emerging english language that is truly international.
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Summary: Over-rated, well-written, tiresome.
Review: It feels impertinent saying less than glowing things about a writer who can craft sentences and images better than I could ever hope to. However, I felt the book could have done with a good editorial thrashing; after the novelty of the extreme beauty of the writing wore off, (about page 50) I looked with dread at the long rest of the book, thinking that I would probably finish it out of guilt, and that it would be a chore. I did. It was. Howver, I have to admit that I have left it around my desk, and sometimes I pick it up just to scan over certain passages for the fun of the language.
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