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The God of Small Things
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 823
EAN: 9780060977498
ISBN: 0060977493
Label: Harper Perennial
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 336
Publication Date: May 01, 1998
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Release Date: May 06, 1998
Studio: Harper Perennial
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Editorial Review:
In her first novel, award-winning Indian screenwriter Arundhati Roy conjures a whoosh of wordplay that rises from the pages like a brilliant jazz improvisation. The God of Small Things is nominally the story of young twins Rahel and Estha and the rest of their family, but the book feels like a million stories spinning out indefinitely; it is the product of a genius child-mind that takes everything in and transforms it in an alchemy of poetry. The God of Small Things is at once exotic and familiar to the Western reader, written in an English that's completely new and invigorated by the Asian Indian influences of culture and language.
The story of the tragic decline of an Indian family whose members suffer the terrible consequences of forbidden love, The God of Small Things is set in the state of Kerala, on the southernmost tip of India. Armed only with the invincible innocence of children, the twins Rahel and Esthappen fashion a childhood for themselves in the shade of the wreck that is their family -- their lonely, lovely mother, Ammu (who loves by night the man her children love by day), their blind grandmother, Mammachi (who plays Handel on her violin), their beloved uncle Chacko (Rhodes scholar, pickle baron, radical Marxist, bottom-pincher), their enemy, Baby Kochamma (ex-nun and incumbent grandaunt), and the ghost of an imperial entomologist's moth (with unusually dense dorsal tufts).
When their English cousin and her mother arrive on a Christmas visit, the twins learn that Things Can Change in a Day. That lives can twist into new, ugly shapes, even cease forever. The brilliantly plotted story uncoils with an agonizing sense of foreboding and inevitability. Yet nothing prepares you for what lies at the heart of it.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Great used book
Was able to find a used copy claimed to be in like new condition. It was just as advertised. Enjoyed the book immensely
Rating: - The Glimmer of An Immense Sea
Reading this novel is akin to being reborn- as a snake eases out of its present coil and strips down to a more essential skin, so too will this violated madonna of lyricism attune you to the fundamentals of what it is to be human. This book strips away the veneer of polite society and illumes the central questions of humanity: why do we hate, love who we love and live as we do? At the end of this pulsating, haunting and all-seeing unveiling, I asked myself the overarching question that is central ... Read More
Rating: - Breathtaking First Novel
I read this book as a literature student in college and it is still one of my favorite books of all time. Her words read like poetry. It literally took my breath away in its beauty and message. Highly recommended for those who enjoy reading about the effects of globalization on so-called Third World countries, as well as those who appreciate a good romantic novel in the magical realist tradition.
Rating:  - Lost in Translation
I had high hopes for this book when I picked it up. Halfway through this book and I find that I have to force myself to turn the next page. If you love reading interesting and in depth books that you can understand, this is not the book for you. The author's words are a spiral of mumbo jumbo that drags on and on. I often found myself re-reading the same sentence 3 or 4 times in order to grasp the meaning but it never comes. If I had to compare this book to something, I would compare it to a long a strange ... Read More
Rating: - My First Amazon Problem Ever
Unfortunately, I have yet to receive this item. I remain anxious, as I look forward to receiving and reading it. I am familiar with the writings of this author and expect that I will continue to respect her logic and writing abilities.
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