The God of Small Things

Rating:
Summary: It's brilliant!
Review: It has been said that the best storytellers are those that invent their own language. I agree totally with this, and feel that Roy's language was so beautiful, so artful in style that i kept turning the pages, intrigued, and wondering what other metaphors she could invent next.

The novel conjured up so vivid a sense of time and place, i doubt anyone can come close to Roy in this regard.

So unique and brilliant in so many aspects is "The God of Small Things", it is hard to compliment all of them. The narrative allows the reader to get such an insight into the characters, it's amazing.

All in all, the best novel that i have read this year so far.

Rating:
Summary: a beautiful and irritating book
Review: This is a lovely little book. It is wonderfully written, with a very original narrative structure. It blossoms and flowers throughout, repeating the same story in numerous different ways. It is hard not to respect this book, and its author, tremendously. However, there are times, certain flows of prose, that kind of make you cringe. Ms. roy is apparently quite aware of her ability as a writer and seems intent on showing it off. Certain passages flow out, metamorphizing into endless descriptions, inventive, stylistic ranges of beauty. Then, just as a capper, she puts the best line of an endless riff on whatever it may be, and removes it from its parent paragraph so it can shine all on its own as a short, one-sentance paragraph. This is fine in and of itself, but it is obviously a conscious manuver, the same effect of highlighting what you think is your best work and showing it off. It cuts the statement away from what created it and interrupts the flow of language. It seems boastfully, painfully arrogant. It's a shame. Without these occasional flights from the story, I would have absolutely loved this book.

Rating:
Summary: predictable and pretentious
Review: I have read this book with an open, non-stubborn mind;it is not a masterpiece by any means. In fact it sometimes reads like the first (rough) draft of a high school creative writing class entry.

The author tries to be inventive in her language. Unfortunately the experiment does not come off. The words confuse rather than enlighten. At times the prose reads like a fifth rate Indian version of Faulkner or Joyce (no ethic slur intended here). It just doesn't work.

Rating:
Summary: A DIFFERENT AND TOTALLY MAGNIFICENT BOOK
Review: I PERSONALLY HAVE READ ALOT...AND I MEAN ALOTTT OF BOOKS AND THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS IS ONE OF THEM WHICH WILL STAY IN MY MIND FOREVER BECAUSE OF ITS LANGUAGE.....BEAUTIFUL AND MAGICAL.ARUNDHATI ROY WRITES WITH A STYLE OF HER OWN,COMPLETELY UNLIKE OTHER AUTHORS WHOSE NOVELS I HAVE READ.I THINK HER BOOK IS A TRUE PRIZE WINNER BECAUSE OF ITS ORIGINALITY AND LANGUAGE.I AM COMPLETELY SHOCKED OF THE HORRIBLE REVIEWS MANY HAVE GIVEN..THIS BOOK IS TO BE READ WITH AN OPEN MIND NOT WITH A STUBBORN,IGNORANT,NARROWMINDED ONE!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: A book of immense power, beauty and importance.
Review: I was overwhelmed by the power and beauty of this book. Simply overwhelmed. I found the images created by Roy's use of words haunting. This is a story of the disaster than befalls all of us when people are divided into the us and not-us, "touchable" and "untouchable", the lovable and unloveable.

Rating:
Summary: too aware of being a "great book"
Review: I think this book has great intentions - the tragic tale of lost souls (etc.etc.). But somewhere along the line the author got trapped in language. There is an overuse of phrases and a lack of clarity in them;I'm not aways sure what she's writing about. Obscure and mysterious are fine (after all whose life is so clear) but not when they obscure the story.

Rating:
Summary: The style is rich, but often seems to become repetive.
Review: This is in someways a very impressive novel; however, I found the author's style to become somewhat repetitive in the middle of the book. There was a mystical realism quality about this that reminded me of a John Sayles film

Rating:
Summary: An amazing book with a beautiful language
Review: This is one of the best books I have ever read (and I have read quite a lot!). Whoever thinks this book is boring must be totallt unaware of the way Roy treats the english language. Just the words, the expressions like "in a diable, viable age", and the structure of the prose made me smile and wishing I could read on for ever. The way Roy makes the reader guessing what has really happened at an early stage of the book (and most of it one can guess quite early) there still remain so many details that she manages to keep ones attention all the way through. The way she describes some of Esthas and Rahels feelings is amazing! Whether the story in itself is "biographic" (which Roy says it's not) is to me totally uninteresting. Even though the story has many elements specific to India it also has many "universal" elements. If you want to read unconvential but fascinating prose, to be captured in an amazing world by amazing words read this book.

Rating:
Summary: DEFINITELY UNFORGETTABLE!!!!! GO OUT THERE AND GET IT!!!!!!
Review: I HAVE READ THIS BOOK TWICE, AND STILL CANNOT UNDERSTAND HOW ANYONE COULD OVERLOOK SUCH A PRAISEWORTHY BOOK. IF I COULD I WOULD GIVE A BIG FAT 100 INSTEAD OF A 10. IT'S AN ENTIRE WORLD SQUEEZED IN THE FEW HUNDRED PAGES. IT CERTAINLY DID CHANGE THE WAY I SEE THE WORLD. IT TAUGHT ME THE FRAGILITY OF LIFE, AND OF LOVE. AND THE BEST THING IS THAT IT WILL REMIND YOU THAT YOUR CHILDHOOD PERCEPTIONS AND INNOCENCE STAY WITH YOU FOREVER. I AM 18 YEARS OLD, AND I TRULY APPRECIATE MISS ROY'S TALENT AND UNSURPASSED WIT, AND I DON'T SEE WHY YOU ADULTS OUT THERE ARE ACTUALLY CONDEMNING SUCH A WORK FROM THE HEART. IT WOULD BE A SHAME FOR MISS ROY TO READ THOSE CONDEMNATIONS FROM SOME SUPERFICIAL AND NARROW MINDS. THIS BOOK IS FOR THE READER WHO IS INTERESTED IN HUMANITY AND NOT SOME FANCY PLOTS OR TWISTING TALES. PLEASE READ IT WITH AND OPEN HEART AND MIND. ONLY THEN WOULD YOU REALISE THAT PERHAPS YOU ARE ALREADY FAMILIAR WITH THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS.

Rating:
Summary: Rhythm
Review: I am shocked to read all the nasty comments that you can find on this page. I suspect that some of these critics have a tin ear for prose and don't hear what they're reading. Ms. Roy can stretch or cut a phrase like a sax player can bend a note (damn simile) and she 's got rhythm. No amount of whining about whether she deserves her prize or not can change these facts. The story unveils itself at its own pace, engaging all the senses along the way. Not having read Salmon Rushdie, I can't speak to his influence on Roy's writing, but I felt the shadow of García Márquez, especially in terms of the lightness of imagination and the weight of family history. Perhaps we're all a bit tired of these kinds of family tragedies in today's fiction, but with talent at this level I can stand a few more.