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rafdee13's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
krishnendu's review against another edition
5.0
4.8/5
This is one of those books that profoundly impacts you, alters your brain chemistry and forever changes your perception of society.
This novel is essentially a social and political commentary on India, addressing a wide array of issues such as caste discrimination, transphobia, corruption, the Kashmir Valley conflict, Maoist insurgency, environmental degradation, and, pervasively, the rise of 'Gujarat ka Lalla' and the saffron fundamentalist army. It also touches upon significant historical events like the Emergency and subsequent Sikh lynching, the Gujarat riots of 2001, the 1993 Bombay bombings, and the US invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq and its aftermath in India, culminating in Lalla's Holy Prime Ministership.
The story intertwines the initially independent lives of two complex and bewitching characters: Anjum, a Muslim hijra who lives in a graveyard in Delhi, and Tilottama, a fiercely independent Malayali woman (possibly Roy's alter-ego) deeply entangled in Kashmir's bloody tangle and with Musa, a separatist militant.
Although the novel received mixed reviews, especially with a long wait of 20 years after [b:The God of Small Things|9777|The God of Small Things|Arundhati Roy|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1590282886l/9777._SY75_.jpg|810135] I ended up liking [b:The Ministry of Utmost Happiness|32388712|The Ministry of Utmost Happiness|Arundhati Roy|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1520327592l/32388712._SY75_.jpg|53001637] even more. I'm in love with Roy's lush, lyrical prose and her mastery of language, with a stream-of-consciousness-like narration and rich elements of magical realism.
I'm glad to have read this work; it will be one of my favourites!
P.S. Eternally grateful to Roy for introducing me to Rasoolan Bai and Leonard Cohen's music.
This is one of those books that profoundly impacts you, alters your brain chemistry and forever changes your perception of society.
This novel is essentially a social and political commentary on India, addressing a wide array of issues such as caste discrimination, transphobia, corruption, the Kashmir Valley conflict, Maoist insurgency, environmental degradation, and, pervasively, the rise of 'Gujarat ka Lalla' and the saffron fundamentalist army. It also touches upon significant historical events like the Emergency and subsequent Sikh lynching, the Gujarat riots of 2001, the 1993 Bombay bombings, and the US invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq and its aftermath in India, culminating in Lalla's Holy Prime Ministership.
The story intertwines the initially independent lives of two complex and bewitching characters: Anjum, a Muslim hijra who lives in a graveyard in Delhi, and Tilottama, a fiercely independent Malayali woman (possibly Roy's alter-ego) deeply entangled in Kashmir's bloody tangle and with Musa, a separatist militant.
Although the novel received mixed reviews, especially with a long wait of 20 years after [b:The God of Small Things|9777|The God of Small Things|Arundhati Roy|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1590282886l/9777._SY75_.jpg|810135] I ended up liking [b:The Ministry of Utmost Happiness|32388712|The Ministry of Utmost Happiness|Arundhati Roy|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1520327592l/32388712._SY75_.jpg|53001637] even more. I'm in love with Roy's lush, lyrical prose and her mastery of language, with a stream-of-consciousness-like narration and rich elements of magical realism.
I'm glad to have read this work; it will be one of my favourites!
P.S. Eternally grateful to Roy for introducing me to Rasoolan Bai and Leonard Cohen's music.
saraaaa's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Wow, this book was a lot. A lot of good, a lot-ish of bad. But surely a lot.
The first few chapters were great – the gentleness and simplicity with which Roy touched themes usually considered taboo or niche made for a comforting read.
The story read like an ensemble of fables, and as such its characters are only briefly focused on, barely skimming the surface of their essence, touching only those traits of theirs that are relevant to the narrative. At the end of the second chapter, I grew fond of Anjum, but the narrator keeps such a distance that she feels in a way out of reach, visible only through binoculars that follow her as she moves her residence from place to place.
After a hundred pages focusing on her character and the people and places that make up her world, I really couldn't care less about the others at they came into frame quite abruptly. This could easily have been a two novels installments, as, though surely strictly interlinked, the two main stories fail to be seamlessly bound together. It felt like she couldn't decide which story to tell, which battle to fight in, so instead of making a collection of shorter stories, she tried very hard to fit everything into a single box, full to the brim, so that the reader ends up struggling to find anything at all. It was as if Roy was trying to fit as many of her opinions as she could into these pages, and then some more.
The men's voices fell particularly flat, like heroines' in a 1800s male novelist's work.Both The Landlord chapters' first person narration split the novel in two, and Garson Hobart felt like an intruder in someone else's story. Perhaps both things were intentional, with Roy you can hardly ever know.
But all in all, I'm glad I read it – it's a heavily politicized book, with even heavier themes, so definitely not a light leisure read, but offers an important perspective nonetheless.
The first few chapters were great – the gentleness and simplicity with which Roy touched themes usually considered taboo or niche made for a comforting read.
The story read like an ensemble of fables, and as such its characters are only briefly focused on, barely skimming the surface of their essence, touching only those traits of theirs that are relevant to the narrative. At the end of the second chapter, I grew fond of Anjum, but the narrator keeps such a distance that she feels in a way out of reach, visible only through binoculars that follow her as she moves her residence from place to place.
After a hundred pages focusing on her character and the people and places that make up her world, I really couldn't care less about the others at they came into frame quite abruptly. This could easily have been a two novels installments, as, though surely strictly interlinked, the two main stories fail to be seamlessly bound together. It felt like she couldn't decide which story to tell, which battle to fight in, so instead of making a collection of shorter stories, she tried very hard to fit everything into a single box, full to the brim, so that the reader ends up struggling to find anything at all. It was as if Roy was trying to fit as many of her opinions as she could into these pages, and then some more.
The men's voices fell particularly flat, like heroines' in a 1800s male novelist's work.
But all in all, I'm glad I read it – it's a heavily politicized book, with even heavier themes, so definitely not a light leisure read, but offers an important perspective nonetheless.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Grief, Hate crime, Terminal illness, Police brutality, Murder, Dementia, Deportation, Genocide, Classism, Mass/school shootings, Sexual assault, Abortion, Animal cruelty, Gore, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Islamophobia, War, Kidnapping, Rape, Torture, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Racism, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Violence, Confinement, Deadnaming, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Suicide, Racial slurs, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Medical content
Minor: Stalking, Suicide attempt, Infidelity, and Misogyny
tombennett72's review against another edition
3.0
Beautiful, moving, intricate.
I won't pretend it's a quick read but I did enjoy it.
I won't pretend it's a quick read but I did enjoy it.
tararoi_'s review against another edition
3.0
what she tried write was an epic. i enjoyed reading Anjum's story. but that is all.
savaging's review against another edition
5.0
At the end, a character writes:
How
to
tell
a
shattered
story?
By
slowly
becoming
everybody.
No.
By slowly becoming everything.
Everything? That seems like a crowded book. But that's what Roy's doing -- you've got to put in every single struggle in India, not forgetting the beagle who escaped from the animal testing lab. (Nota bene: pay attention to names as you move through this book. Try to remember them. But then also shrug and accept when you are inevitably confused about who this one is.)
Does this novel make sense as a plot? I'm not so sure. Maybe Roy is trying to mirror the strange meandering plotlessness of social change, summed up by Musa:
"You're not destroying us. You are constructing us. It's yourselves that you are destroying."
Everyone -- no, everything -- slowly becomes constructed out of all this attempted destruction. Maybe not a big revolutionary triumph with a marching band parade, but a little space for some misfits to help each other become their whole glorious selves. Not paradise, but when you piss in the dust the puddle you made still reflects the stars.
I loved this book.
How
to
tell
a
shattered
story?
By
slowly
becoming
everybody.
No.
By slowly becoming everything.
Everything? That seems like a crowded book. But that's what Roy's doing -- you've got to put in every single struggle in India, not forgetting the beagle who escaped from the animal testing lab. (Nota bene: pay attention to names as you move through this book. Try to remember them. But then also shrug and accept when you are inevitably confused about who this one is.)
Does this novel make sense as a plot? I'm not so sure. Maybe Roy is trying to mirror the strange meandering plotlessness of social change, summed up by Musa:
"You're not destroying us. You are constructing us. It's yourselves that you are destroying."
Everyone -- no, everything -- slowly becomes constructed out of all this attempted destruction. Maybe not a big revolutionary triumph with a marching band parade, but a little space for some misfits to help each other become their whole glorious selves. Not paradise, but when you piss in the dust the puddle you made still reflects the stars.
I loved this book.
maximum_moxie's review against another edition
4.0
Confusing nonlinear storyline and perhaps a hundred pages too long. But Roy is always so full of beauty and rage she makes up for it. Some parts are slow—specifically regarding politics, but the politics in question are so interesting that this book is definitely worth picking up.
isigman's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
I read the god of small things in high school at the perfect time for me in terms of my personal and political growth and it makes me kind of emo to now have the same experience with this book 8 years later