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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
Finished reading the ministry of utmost happiness and needless to say, I'm utmost disappointed. PS: Spoilers ahead.
Most importantly, my beloved author is dead. RIP to whoever wrote God of small things. That imagination is gone. The elements of magical realism is completely missing. This is an activist ranting about every cause she can think of and somehow weaving a story around it.
Transgender inequality. Godra massacre. Castism and sexism in Kerala. Tribal and Naxal issues from Andra. Hindu fascism. Cattle lynching. Obviously she couldn't let go the Kashmir issue. A hodgepodge of rants, with no connection whatsoever. She is punishing the readers for just reading her book.
The 2 main plots of the story got connected in the most absurd way possible. They both got their slippers fixed at the same spot? So many auxiliary characters with no purpose whatsoever. The narrator feels so detached with no purpose.
The political arguments about Kashmir feels very one sided. I would love to be pointed to some unbiased records about the reality of army brutality there.
A blind activist murdered my beloved author. RIP.
Most importantly, my beloved author is dead. RIP to whoever wrote God of small things. That imagination is gone. The elements of magical realism is completely missing. This is an activist ranting about every cause she can think of and somehow weaving a story around it.
Transgender inequality. Godra massacre. Castism and sexism in Kerala. Tribal and Naxal issues from Andra. Hindu fascism. Cattle lynching. Obviously she couldn't let go the Kashmir issue. A hodgepodge of rants, with no connection whatsoever. She is punishing the readers for just reading her book.
The 2 main plots of the story got connected in the most absurd way possible. They both got their slippers fixed at the same spot? So many auxiliary characters with no purpose whatsoever. The narrator feels so detached with no purpose.
The political arguments about Kashmir feels very one sided. I would love to be pointed to some unbiased records about the reality of army brutality there.
A blind activist murdered my beloved author. RIP.
2.5 and that is because the prose is great in parts. The storyline is chaotic, I wonder if it could've been saved by making the chapters individual short stories. Overral I was v disappointed in this.
dark
tense
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:
No
Beautifully written but too political for me
challenging
hopeful
informative
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
Going to really miss these characters.
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Roy gives it all away on page 288, "I would like to write one of those sophisticated stories in which even though nothing much happens there's lots to write about."
Well played, Roy. And congratulations. Cross that off your bucket list.
Well played, Roy. And congratulations. Cross that off your bucket list.
I was just not in the mood. It actually seemed like a nice book though. Will get back yo it later
The story can be split into three parts:
1. Where Anjum, a Muslim transgender woman (born as Aftab) discovers, loses and then rediscovers herself as she creates a safe space for people like her in a graveyard (literally).
2. Of how Tilotamma, Musa, Naga and Das come together to work on a university play and from then on their lives are intertwined. This part mainly deals with the 3 men who love her and how they all find each other in Kashmir. This part is the most political out of the three with Kashmiris resisting the Indian occupation of Kashmir and has a very big chance of offending nationalists.
3. Anjum and Tilo's story merges because of Miss Jabeen the second.
The stories are interweaved deeply into the fabric of India, and most Indians reading this book will be able to identify the situations and characters that make an appearance in this book. Some of the issues Roy tries to address in this book are transgender rights, the Indian army occupation and war crimes in Kashmir, Adivasi issues, Cow Lynching, the Bhopal Gas tragedy and several other issues that have reached the doors of Jantar Mantar as hunger strikes. She has created some really interesting characters and their character names are intriguing like Dr Azad Bharatiya (The Free Indian), Biplab Dasgupta (the Revolution's guardian) and Saddam Hussein.
Even though this book may seem miles apart from The God of Small Things, it is still similar in terms of its beautiful writing and the general injustices she tries to address through her books.
1. Where Anjum, a Muslim transgender woman (born as Aftab) discovers, loses and then rediscovers herself as she creates a safe space for people like her in a graveyard (literally).
2. Of how Tilotamma, Musa, Naga and Das come together to work on a university play and from then on their lives are intertwined. This part mainly deals with the 3 men who love her and how they all find each other in Kashmir. This part is the most political out of the three with Kashmiris resisting the Indian occupation of Kashmir and has a very big chance of offending nationalists.
3. Anjum and Tilo's story merges because of Miss Jabeen the second.
The stories are interweaved deeply into the fabric of India, and most Indians reading this book will be able to identify the situations and characters that make an appearance in this book. Some of the issues Roy tries to address in this book are transgender rights, the Indian army occupation and war crimes in Kashmir, Adivasi issues, Cow Lynching, the Bhopal Gas tragedy and several other issues that have reached the doors of Jantar Mantar as hunger strikes. She has created some really interesting characters and their character names are intriguing like Dr Azad Bharatiya (The Free Indian), Biplab Dasgupta (the Revolution's guardian) and Saddam Hussein.
Even though this book may seem miles apart from The God of Small Things, it is still similar in terms of its beautiful writing and the general injustices she tries to address through her books.