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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-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
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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
Un llibre irregular, interessant per el context que perfila més que pels personatges, de vegades excessiu en floritures, però que no deixa de ser una bona lectura.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
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:
Complicated
Starting out, I felt it was hard to follow the story, the seemingly pointless details sprinkled into the story. As it evolved, the different strings were masterfully interwoven like different instruments joining in to become an orchestra. A challenging read which i would recommend to take on in long, continuous reading sessions over a short amount of time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Torture, Violence, War
I, like many people, have heard of the success of Roy's [b:The God of Small Things|9777|The God of Small Things|Arundhati Roy|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1436217001s/9777.jpg|810135] from twenty years ago. It's been on my mental longlist of books to read since before Goodreads existed. Perhaps it was a mistake to put it off and opt for Roy's newer release instead, but all I can say is my expectations have significantly lowered after reading [b:The Ministry of Utmost Happiness|32388712|The Ministry of Utmost Happiness|Arundhati Roy|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1490606297s/32388712.jpg|53001637].
At first, I thought the story was slow, dense and hard to follow. It took me a couple hundred pages of squinting hard to see the truth: there is no story.
These kind of books have a special place in the heart of a certain type of reader. A reader who puts beautiful, complex writing over plot and emotional pull; a reader who doesn't mind looking back over almost 500 pages and realizing very little has happened, even if it was told with pretty language.
[b:The Ministry of Utmost Happiness|32388712|The Ministry of Utmost Happiness|Arundhati Roy|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1490606297s/32388712.jpg|53001637] essentially follows two main characters in South Asia - Tilo and Anjum - the former is dragged into the center of an independence movement, while the latter is intersex and living among ghosts. However, there is a confusing mess of characters introduced throughout the book and I found it hard to warm to anyone. It is set across the span of many years, through the partition of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, but these times of tremendous upheaval and horror were narrated coldly.
The book is just very difficult to enjoy. It feels deliberately intellectual and lacking in personality. Not only is there a sea of forgettable characters, but the book zips quickly between past and present, third and first person, with almost no dialogue to separate the huge paragraphs of dense description. The book constantly has a foot in several tangents about spiritual anecdotes, diatribes, history lessons and various monologues, each of which went on far too long. When it finally came back to the main issues, it took me a while to get back on track.
[b:The Ministry of Utmost Happiness|32388712|The Ministry of Utmost Happiness|Arundhati Roy|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1490606297s/32388712.jpg|53001637] is a book without a plot that simply explores the perspectives, past and present, of many characters. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it's also not the kind of book I enjoy reading. It even feels disjointed, almost like a collection of short stories rather than a novel. I feel like [b:The God of Small Things|9777|The God of Small Things|Arundhati Roy|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1436217001s/9777.jpg|810135] is going to be on my TBR a lot longer.
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At first, I thought the story was slow, dense and hard to follow. It took me a couple hundred pages of squinting hard to see the truth: there is no story.
These kind of books have a special place in the heart of a certain type of reader. A reader who puts beautiful, complex writing over plot and emotional pull; a reader who doesn't mind looking back over almost 500 pages and realizing very little has happened, even if it was told with pretty language.
[b:The Ministry of Utmost Happiness|32388712|The Ministry of Utmost Happiness|Arundhati Roy|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1490606297s/32388712.jpg|53001637] essentially follows two main characters in South Asia - Tilo and Anjum - the former is dragged into the center of an independence movement, while the latter is intersex and living among ghosts. However, there is a confusing mess of characters introduced throughout the book and I found it hard to warm to anyone. It is set across the span of many years, through the partition of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, but these times of tremendous upheaval and horror were narrated coldly.
The book is just very difficult to enjoy. It feels deliberately intellectual and lacking in personality. Not only is there a sea of forgettable characters, but the book zips quickly between past and present, third and first person, with almost no dialogue to separate the huge paragraphs of dense description. The book constantly has a foot in several tangents about spiritual anecdotes, diatribes, history lessons and various monologues, each of which went on far too long. When it finally came back to the main issues, it took me a while to get back on track.
[b:The Ministry of Utmost Happiness|32388712|The Ministry of Utmost Happiness|Arundhati Roy|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1490606297s/32388712.jpg|53001637] is a book without a plot that simply explores the perspectives, past and present, of many characters. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it's also not the kind of book I enjoy reading. It even feels disjointed, almost like a collection of short stories rather than a novel. I feel like [b:The God of Small Things|9777|The God of Small Things|Arundhati Roy|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1436217001s/9777.jpg|810135] is going to be on my TBR a lot longer.
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Youtube
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
emotional
reflective
sad
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:
No
It is with great sadness that I give this book such a bad review. Roy's The God of Small Things is, without contest, one of the best books I've ever read and has been a book I've both recommended and returned to multiple times since reading it my sophomore year of college.
While Roy's prose is poetic and beautiful--a feat in and of itself--beautiful writing could not prop up this mishandled story. There were moments of great beauty and profound wisdom, but overall, the storyline and characters were so jumbled that I had a hard time keeping them all straight.
Overall, it felt to me like a book written around causes, both political and moral, rather than around well-built characters or a cohesive plot. I love Arundhati Roy's writing, but this novel just didn't hold up for me. I had a hard time finishing it and, even so, it took me almost a month to do so because I wasn't motivated to read it.
While Roy's prose is poetic and beautiful--a feat in and of itself--beautiful writing could not prop up this mishandled story. There were moments of great beauty and profound wisdom, but overall, the storyline and characters were so jumbled that I had a hard time keeping them all straight.
Overall, it felt to me like a book written around causes, both political and moral, rather than around well-built characters or a cohesive plot. I love Arundhati Roy's writing, but this novel just didn't hold up for me. I had a hard time finishing it and, even so, it took me almost a month to do so because I wasn't motivated to read it.