Skip to main content

The God of small things

"The God of small things" by Arundhati Roy - winner of the Booker prize of 1997 is a sad tale narrated hilariously.

The story is woven around a pair of twins Estha and Rahel and their divorced mother who live with their maternal grandparents in the town of Ayemenem. It starts with them being 31 years of age and narrates different phases of their lives as kids, as grown ups, but basically deals with the tragedies they had to face during their childhood at the age of 7.

Since the twins are aged 7, their conversation, their thoughts are funny for an adult, but they are witty and mature for the children of their age. It depicts how the tragedies that happened during their childhood have impacted their adulthood and made them complete strangers to each other because of their separation at that time..

The relevance of the title- "The God of small things" is the person who is the centre of the tragedy and who the twins and their mother love to death.

It is a sad tale, doesn't have a happy ending so I dint Love the book. But it is worth a read.

My Rating- **** n half.

- Richa's Randomness

Labels:

Comments

arte said…
this is one of my favorite books ever. the sense of humor implied is different and some of the phrases like love in Tokyo head bands n orangejuicelemonjuice man etc r quite funny. since its narrated in a hilarious way, we expect the book to have a happy ending. i guess tatz where the author got us.
March 15, 2009 at 12:43 PM
Post a Comment

Also read

Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

Why does Mrs Dalloway still speak to you after a hundred years? A human reading of Virginia Woolf’s novel A reflective and thoughtful review of Mrs Dalloway that explores why Virginia Woolf’s modernist classic continues to resonate. From memory and mental health to love, regret, and time, this article examines characters, themes, context, and craft while questioning whether the novel still challenges and comforts today’s reader. Why does a novel about one ordinary day linger in your mind for years? This long form review of Mrs Dalloway explores through its quiet power. You will find analysis, critique, history, and personal reflection on why this book continues to unsettle and comfort readers alike. Can a single ordinary day hold an entire life? Have you ever reached the end of a day and wondered where it went, and more unsettlingly, where you went within it? That question sits at the heart of Mrs Dalloway , Virginia Woolf’s 1925 novel that dares to suggest that the smallest moment...
Post a Comment
Read more

Spill the Tea: Noor and the Silence After Doing Everything right

Noor has done everything she was supposed to do — moved out, built a life, stayed independent. Yet beneath the neat routines and functional success lies a quiet emptiness she cannot name. Part of the Spill the Tea series, this story explores high-functioning loneliness, emotional flatness, and the unsettling fear of living a life that looks complete from the outside. The verandah was brighter than Noor expected. Morning light lay flat across the tiles, showing every faint scuff mark, every water stain from old monsoons. The air smelled of detergent from a neighbour’s washed curtains flapping overhead. On the table, the paneer patties waited in a cardboard bakery box I’d emptied onto a plate. A squeeze bottle of ketchup stood beside it, slightly sticky around the cap. Two cups of tea, steam already thinning. In one corner, a bamboo palm stood in a large terracotta planter. Thin stems. Too many leaves. Trying very hard to look like it belonged indoors. Noor sat down and pulled the chair ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Why do we crave bookshops when life falls apart? A deep reading of Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop

This article reflects on Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-reum, a gentle novel about burnout, healing, and second chances. Through Yeong-ju and her quiet community, the book reminds you that meaning often returns slowly, through books, people, and ordinary days that begin to feel like home again. Why do so many of us secretly dream of walking away from everything? At some point, usually on a crowded weekday morning or during yet another meeting that could have been an email, you wonder if this is all there is. You did what you were told. You studied, worked hard, built a career, stayed responsible. And yet, instead of contentment, there is exhaustion. Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop begins exactly at this uncomfortable truth. Hwang Bo-reum’s novel does not shout its intentions. It does not promise transformation through grand revelations. Instead, it sits beside you quietly and asks a gentler question. What if the problem is not that you failed, but that you nev...
Post a Comment
Read more