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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
3.5 A huge cast of characters inhabit this powerful and political novel making a plot summary (of the little plot there is) almost impossible. It's almost two or three novels in one. It's a book about the vulnerable, the overlooked, the marginal. And it's a mirror to the unrest and violence in Kashmir. Roy's politics and activism speak loudly in this novel and that was fine with me. She doesn't attempt to come at it organically through her characters but puts her politics front and centre. There are so many details and small moments in this book that left me reeling, made me smile or shocked me. Roy's layered and lyrical storytelling can be confounding but it's worth the effort.
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a rather difficult book to read and/or to review. While [a:Arundhati Roy|6134|Arundhati Roy|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1496705394p2/6134.jpg] is a prolific writer, the story in itself lacked in certain aspects. The book is very complex, political and a little confusing at times. It revolves around two main characters, Anjum, confused about her sexuality, and her place in the world, and Tilo, caught in the web of love and politics. The author is candid about her political views on the religious riots and Kashmir unrest, and for those who will have the patience to navigate through the multiple characters in the book, the story is deliciously handled through the main characters.
Is it exciting, and engrossing? Probably no. Readers who have very little idea about the era and the political environment that is captured within these 500 pages, are unlikely to favour this book at all. However, it was an enlightening experience for me to read through her opinion, her take on the circumstances that are and have been affecting us one way or the other.
The story is a poignant way of showing us how we tend to find or make happiness with our lives, and the cards that we are dealt with. How we love, unconditionally. How we long to belong. It was an intricate story of humanness.
Is it exciting, and engrossing? Probably no. Readers who have very little idea about the era and the political environment that is captured within these 500 pages, are unlikely to favour this book at all. However, it was an enlightening experience for me to read through her opinion, her take on the circumstances that are and have been affecting us one way or the other.
The story is a poignant way of showing us how we tend to find or make happiness with our lives, and the cards that we are dealt with. How we love, unconditionally. How we long to belong. It was an intricate story of humanness.
I really loved The God Of Small Things, I do, but I just... I just can't with this. It's too broad, too ambitious, too meandering, too political.
I loved the first third of the book and so I felt I was missing Anjum and her story for the rest of it. Also as someone who admittedly knows very little about the Kashmir violence, I felt I was getting whiplash from all the different characters and stories and political scenes. I desperately wanted to learn but I felt like I needed to have researched about the conflict beforehand to get a better grip of what was going on.
The writing was beautiful tho but I really forced myself to finish this book. Not comparable to God of small things at all !
The writing was beautiful tho but I really forced myself to finish this book. Not comparable to God of small things at all !
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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
This is the second book I have read by Arundhati Roy, first being The God of Small Things. First things first, Ms Roy has an impeccable style of writing. She describes the smallest of emotion, sound or an object as beautifully as a poem. I have been a fan of her talent since the first time I read her book.
The story revolves around two humans, different from each other but yet very similar. Aftab’s story which must be set in 1950’s and would also be known as Anjum later. Through Aftab’s eyes you see his struggles of being born as a man with female body parts, his struggles to accept and make his family accept the reality, becoming Anjum from Aftab, transition of the most beloved Anjum to the discarded Anjum, the horrific Gujarat riots which changed Anjum, her life post her return to Delhi and finally the Jannat Guest House at a graveyard.
There is another character which comes through very silently into the book, as if it was waiting patiently for the reader to seek. That character is of Tilo, an illegitimate child who’s mother is in Kerala. This character and its incidents are very much of today’s times. Through Tilo’s eyes you see her careless life of college, her impact on the three men of her life and how these three men weave their story along hers, and a Kashmir most of us don’t know anything about. Both characters meet towards the end and they naturally blend with each other as though they were each other’s skin, showering their motherly love on Miss Jubeen, the second, another discarded baby who was left on Delhi’s Jantar Mantar.
Ms Roy has kept each layer of human emotion intact and breathed life in all her characters. And there are a lot of characters who have equally important roles in the story.
I felt while reading this book that Ms Roy has reflected herself in Tilo’s character. Or maybe it was inspired by her own struggles and experiences all along. Either way, the book has some really strong and interesting characters which Ms Roy has shaped beautifully.
A lot of people may have a difference of opinions on her political ideology but to me it seemed very fact based. I may or may not agree with the narrative but if it is presented with facts, I will not close my eyes. Very delicately and carefully, Ms Roy has explained the political tensions brewing all over the country and has managed to weave a picture very close to reality.
I wish she writes more, the world needs to read more of Arundhati Roy.
dark
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes