You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
I loved the opening chapters of this novel. I was reading for a book club. Most of my book club when we met that month had started, liked the beginning, were confused by the change in storyline and hadn't bothered to finish... I am a little more stubborn and was determined to find out why this book had been prize listed. It took months of off and on reading and finally a hospital stay with nothing to do but stare at something, for me to complete this. It was an initially interesting and character driven story that devolved into random words, meandering plot lines, endless characters and no real meaning for me by the end. I am more impressed by my book group who waved it goodbye unfinished.
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The sprawling nature of this book was compelling and marvelous. I fell in love with a number of characters - their way of speaking, their gentleness in times of savagery, their misfit ability to connect to others and to humanity in illuminating ways.
I did, however, find this book somewhat confusing. My confusion could be, in large part, due to my ignorance when it comes to Indian politics (Kashmir included, of course). While I could connect to parts of this story or at least extrapolate certain things from the way my questions throughout the book guided my reading of it, I did think it interesting and good that Roy doesn't do a lot of hand holding of the reader. A person's lack of knowledge of this place, of these politics, didn't force Roy to spend too much expositional time on developing a context -- somewhat adding to the humanity of it all, though I did find it hard to track.
Overall, I couldn't stop reading once I let go of some of the confusion. What a book!
I did, however, find this book somewhat confusing. My confusion could be, in large part, due to my ignorance when it comes to Indian politics (Kashmir included, of course). While I could connect to parts of this story or at least extrapolate certain things from the way my questions throughout the book guided my reading of it, I did think it interesting and good that Roy doesn't do a lot of hand holding of the reader. A person's lack of knowledge of this place, of these politics, didn't force Roy to spend too much expositional time on developing a context -- somewhat adding to the humanity of it all, though I did find it hard to track.
Overall, I couldn't stop reading once I let go of some of the confusion. What a book!
I planned to love this book. The God of Small Things is one of my all-time favorites. But alas I could barely turn the pages of this one. Couldn’t scrounge up emotional investment in any of these people. Pages and pages and pages of descriptive narrative without toehold. As soon as Anjum faded after the first section, so did my hope of liking this book. Beautiful language wasn’t enough.
I couldn't make it past 40 pages.
medium-paced
This is a book about real stories (some of them we want to here and some of them wants to be heard).
maybe after reading this book you won't know "Where the old birds go to die?" or "is it possible to live outside language?" but you'll know how to tell shattered stories.
You will read about happiness hunters, about people who are remembered as the forgotten ones, about people who knew very well.., about falling people who are holding on the other falling people, about people who say good mourning, who kill and at the same time understand each other, who die twice and about people who you want to be survived <3
Remember: By slowly becoming everything!
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
How to tell a shattered story?This is truly a shattered book. There are fragments,broken pieces of story strewn across the book that you have to pick out and assemble while reading. This is not a masterpiece written in 20 years. Its the jumble of thoughts that could accumulate inside someones head for 20 years, just like that "drawer" in every one of our homes.
By slowly becoming everybody.
No.
By slowly becoming everything
I would like to write one of those sophisticated stories in which even though nothing much happens there’s lots to write about. That can’t be done in Kashmir. It’s not sophisticated, what happens here. There’s too much blood for good literature. Q 1: Why is it not sophisticated? Q 2: What is the acceptable amount of blood for good literature?”
Don't go into this book expecting a novel. Its not a novel. Its too real to be fiction. This book is not everyone's cup of tea and I understand that. It has certain feature that would not appeal to a large number of people. But most of them worked out for me. So, I'm just going to list the features down below and leave it upon yourselves to decide if this book is for you or not.
1. It has an excessive number of characters. It is impossible to remember all of them throughout the book. It didn't bother me much. If I didn't remember a certain character, I just rolled with it and it eventually came to me.
2. The story is not linear. And I don't mean only the timeline, the story line also jumps from here to there. But it all wraps up in the end.
3. It is very very politically inclined which I loved. If you are not extensively interested in the politics of Kashmir and India in general, this book will feel as dry as a desert to you. Most of the politician's name is not mentioned directly, she uses individual nick names for them. I found it very fascinating.
4. The writing is just absolutely marvelous. There's no denying it. You'll enjoy the book, even if you hate the story, just for the sake of writing. Arundhati Roy's prose has such a musical element to it.
5. This book doesn't have any definitive plot. There are subplots within plots which come together eventually. And the story drags quite a few times,because the writer delves deep into the political situations.
So thats "The Ministry of Utmost Happiness" for you. As much as I enjoyed the book, I appreciated it even more and I'd recommend it to everyone who's afraid to pick it up. But go into the book with an open mind. Because, it surely wont be what you expect.