Reviews

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

ethelothos's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

strawberryblume's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

blueyorkie's review against another edition

4.0

The God of Small Things, by Arundhati Roy, is a fantastic book. It takes place in a town in India called Ayemenem. It is about a family and how they deal with their day-to-day life. Rahel and Estha, the main characters, are twins who are always getting into trouble with their mom, Ammu. It tells about their life in India and how their government and society work. They own a Pickle factory, so Rahel and Estha's family is known as a "touchable" family. Since they are touchable, they are not allowed to talk to or do with the untouchables." You will later find out that this is a problem in the story. This story tells about how they grew up with the issues they had when they were little, like when one of the characters gets sexually abused, he has to deal with it his whole life, and it tells about his struggle. This book is a page-turner and is easy to read. However, it sometimes gets confusing because some of the chapters are flashbacks. I would recommend this book more to girls, but boys would enjoy it, too.

yoliesbookdates's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

shinyhappycamper's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

3milyr0se's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

tigerhologram's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

karenschiavelli's review against another edition

4.0

I struggled to get into this book but in the end I really thought it was worth reading. Poignant, honest, & sad with well developed characters. In my life lately, I have had many conversations about the effects of childhood on my present personality. This book subtly illustrates this and amplified (for me) the importance of being aware & happy, today, in the present.

ara_14's review against another edition

medium-paced

4.75

home_again's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

3.5

I'm still trying to process what I read. When people complain about books skipping around, they are complaining about much less confusing narratives than this one. The constant tumble back and forth along the timeline was challenging to say the least. Add to that the constant intrusions of random details and sing song lyrics and you have text that you can barely discern the meaning of. 

While this jumble of difficult locution made for frustrating moments and a plotting pace, it was undeniably poetic and beautiful. Beautiful and ugly at times. Ugly because the story addresses many hideous things.

The disjointed style was reminiscent of a child's sporadic attention that often flits among insignificant details. Not just a child's perspective, but a madman's perspective as well. You feel a little crazy as you get tossed around in this story. 

Overall, I found this book to be compelling. While I sometimes found its style to be difficult, I didn't want to put it down. It was still hauntingly beautiful. And desperately sad.

I think it's worth reading for anyone who is serious about literature. If you read for enjoyment, I don't know if you will like this book. But if you like to delve into the written word and explore challenging ideas, this is the book for you.