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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
Firstly, where is the story?
Secondly, if you want to rant, then call it that. Why call it fiction?
Thirdly, eloquence and all is fine, even not having a story is fine, but where is structure and continuity. I mean, 'beauty in meandering lines' is something I can acknowledge in a poem, but in a book? One can't just wake up, write some lines, shut the manuscript, wake up again, write some more lines, which may or may not be linked to the previous set (mostly not), shut the manuscript and so on. Or maybe one can. Doesn't mean the reader has to read it. I understand that the author feels strongly about a lot of causes - Muslims, caste system, Maoist struggle. Please write one book each on each of those (fiction), don't mash everything together and rant rant rant.
Fourthly, the beauty in a book (for me - I am no one to show off to a Booker prize winner) is in characterisation. The reader should feel one with the character, at least feel for the character. There is no depth, no depth at all.
Lastly, where is the story?
Secondly, if you want to rant, then call it that. Why call it fiction?
Thirdly, eloquence and all is fine, even not having a story is fine, but where is structure and continuity. I mean, 'beauty in meandering lines' is something I can acknowledge in a poem, but in a book? One can't just wake up, write some lines, shut the manuscript, wake up again, write some more lines, which may or may not be linked to the previous set (mostly not), shut the manuscript and so on. Or maybe one can. Doesn't mean the reader has to read it. I understand that the author feels strongly about a lot of causes - Muslims, caste system, Maoist struggle. Please write one book each on each of those (fiction), don't mash everything together and rant rant rant.
Fourthly, the beauty in a book (for me - I am no one to show off to a Booker prize winner) is in characterisation. The reader should feel one with the character, at least feel for the character. There is no depth, no depth at all.
Lastly, where is the story?
One must not give up in the first reading. I liked it much better, when I read again.
Too many unrelatable cultural and religious references
Hard to wrap my head around and consume all of the history and context, but loved a couple of the core characters and things wrapped up nicely at the end. One of my favorite authors
A good story but full of too much trivia that drowns the story. The audiobook narrator was flat, and it only compounded the tedious nature of this book.
This might work as a BBC series.
This might work as a BBC series.
This book sounded very appealing to me in that I hoped it would expose me to prevalent social issues from a cultural perspective beyond America/Europe. I spent most of the book confused, couldn’t keep track of the characters, and wasn’t really sure what the point was. Maybe I’ll revisit in the future when I’m in a different mindset, but for now I’m going to admit defeat at not quite being able to interpret the heavy symbolism of this book.
I don’t fault Roy for my three stars. The book is dense, but it is wonderfully written. There were parts that grabbed my heart just like The God of Small Things, which I LOVED. However the novel condenses, not necessarily unsuccessfully, thousands of years of history. I am ignorant of the Kashmir-India conflict, but this story made me want to learn more.
Don't put it first on your list. There is some beautiful language and turned phrases phrases that will make you chuckle but the cavalcade of characters is brutal and the politics are unnecessarily complicated. Great moments not a great book.
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, War
Great political and societal commentary that absolutely didn’t fit the plot
I loved the God of small things. But not gonna lie, seeing the low rating I was a little scared to read this book from the author. And I’m not surprised that the story is rated so low. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve grown to appreciate the writing (after like 200 pages) but this story is so ridiculously meandering.
Case in point - a scene starts and the author spends the next 20 pages focusing on the backstory of every bystander or some very losely connected story from the past that vaguely explains the motivations of the characters before coming back to finish the original scene which I’ve almost forgotten about already. And this happened repeatadly. Took some getting used to, just saying.
At times I felt like the plot was there just so the author could comment on the state of indian society. It was more like a series of losely connected short stories. On the other hand I really enjoyed the commentary, especially regarding the conflict in kashmir. But since I don’t know much about India I would have appreciated some footnotes with more detailed explanations.
I loved the God of small things. But not gonna lie, seeing the low rating I was a little scared to read this book from the author. And I’m not surprised that the story is rated so low. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve grown to appreciate the writing (after like 200 pages) but this story is so ridiculously meandering.
Case in point - a scene starts and the author spends the next 20 pages focusing on the backstory of every bystander or some very losely connected story from the past that vaguely explains the motivations of the characters before coming back to finish the original scene which I’ve almost forgotten about already. And this happened repeatadly. Took some getting used to, just saying.
At times I felt like the plot was there just so the author could comment on the state of indian society. It was more like a series of losely connected short stories. On the other hand I really enjoyed the commentary, especially regarding the conflict in kashmir. But since I don’t know much about India I would have appreciated some footnotes with more detailed explanations.