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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
DNF @ 34%
Just couldn't get into this one. I put it down for a while, never thought about it, and when I came back to it, I was shocked to see I was at 34% already and could barely remember any of the plot from reading it just a week or so earlier.
Just couldn't get into this one. I put it down for a while, never thought about it, and when I came back to it, I was shocked to see I was at 34% already and could barely remember any of the plot from reading it just a week or so earlier.
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Couldn’t get my head into it. Love a disjointed timeline normally but perhaps because I audio booked it, it made it a little harder. Audio version did show case a lovely child-like narrative prose. The end
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Beautiful novel; some chapters were a bit tricky to follow along, but the story is masterfully woven and I quite enjoyed how the novel is structured.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
sad
slow-paced
This is one of the best written books I've read on a sentence by sentence level. The opening pages prepare you for a reading experience that feels sticky and tactile and gushing in some of the most gorgeous sensorial prose. The story moves slowly, meandering in little eddies of seemingly irrelevant detail; it is not that each detail has some farseeing purpose or payoff or expert construction but more that the book itself is an amalgam of details and observations, coalescing in a beautifully elaborate yet somehow tightly scoped portrait of the little village of Ayemenem and the tragic story of the Mol family, eccentric Syrian Christians and Anglophiles living in post-Independence Kerala, India. There are certainly meaningful comparisons to be made with 100 Years of Solitude and I am very comfortable placing these on the same shelf of incredible literature.
It's the feeling of the story more than the story itself which impresses itself upon you (or else loses you entirely); to that end practically every single character encountered is provided their own very elaborate backstory, parentage, sad fate and lingering disquietude. Not all advance the plot, but all contribute to the oppressive sense of Ayemenem as the dead-end where dreamers end up after living their lives, however youthful they are. The book's structure is also brilliantly nonlinear in a way which perfectly paces and prefaces the emotional peaks of the novel. Over the course of the novel, the story picks up epithets and repeated sayings, little aphorisms, recurrent images and symbols to the point where the novel is always just on the verge of being overwritten and drowning in a miasma of literary pretensions. But again it is part of the density and brilliance of the book; the last few chapters and revelations, in a certain respect feel almost pre-read. The reader by this point recognizes all the language, all the sayings falling into place, given context, recontext, origins and endings, the nonlinear segments ensure that the reader knows what is going to happen; but the reader does not know how it feels until these last harrowing chapters are read.
The book toes the narrow line between sentimentality and aloofness, writing emotional scenes of complex, dark and reviling behaviour with a sincerity that pushes the reader to continue on, while knowing little hope is promised at the end. That this is the author's debut novel just enhances how much of a literary achievement it is.
It's the feeling of the story more than the story itself which impresses itself upon you (or else loses you entirely); to that end practically every single character encountered is provided their own very elaborate backstory, parentage, sad fate and lingering disquietude. Not all advance the plot, but all contribute to the oppressive sense of Ayemenem as the dead-end where dreamers end up after living their lives, however youthful they are. The book's structure is also brilliantly nonlinear in a way which perfectly paces and prefaces the emotional peaks of the novel. Over the course of the novel, the story picks up epithets and repeated sayings, little aphorisms, recurrent images and symbols to the point where the novel is always just on the verge of being overwritten and drowning in a miasma of literary pretensions. But again it is part of the density and brilliance of the book; the last few chapters and revelations, in a certain respect feel almost pre-read. The reader by this point recognizes all the language, all the sayings falling into place, given context, recontext, origins and endings, the nonlinear segments ensure that the reader knows what is going to happen; but the reader does not know how it feels until these last harrowing chapters are read.
The book toes the narrow line between sentimentality and aloofness, writing emotional scenes of complex, dark and reviling behaviour with a sincerity that pushes the reader to continue on, while knowing little hope is promised at the end. That this is the author's debut novel just enhances how much of a literary achievement it is.
Oh boy ! Where do I even start with this book. Winner of the Booker prize for the year 1997, author Arundhati Roy has managed to capture the very essence and soul of Kerala in a book. A little slow for the first many pages of the book, once the plot picks up it's a whirlwind of scenarios for you to keep up with. One thing I can say for sure is that you will NOT regret picking up with this book. And it will stay with you for many many years to come. Definitely one you should have on your bookshelf ❤️
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
what can i say that hasn't been said already? i grew into and outgrew different versions of myself with each chapter of the book. unapologetic, intense, radical
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes