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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
So much torture and descriptions of the worst things that can happen to anyone, that it became gratuitous, boring, and exhausting. It has not been touched by an editor. The first 100 pages is a different book in quality and tone and joy compared to the rest. I’m so incredibly disappointed - God of Small Things is my favourite ever book. This is a world away.
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The title is misleading, this book is horribly depressing. From discrimination to torture to murder to rape, this book describes human suffering on the Indian subcontinent. More accurately it describes how Indians are inhumane to each other. Despite all of this the main characters somehow live their lives and find minuscule amounts of happiness - if it can even be considered happiness.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A beautiful, sad, haunting, adventurous, inspiring, heart-wrenching story. It's hard to find the words to describe this book. For those (like me) who have little knowledge of India and its modern history, particularly of Kashmir, this book is eye-opening.
adventurous
dark
hopeful
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The absolute worst god damn book I’ve ever read. A hellish structure. God forbid you have a bad memory. A story within a story within a story. Even Christopher Nolan wouldn’t try to adapt this tragedy. A must read.
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
The book really rattled me, it made me questions our preconceptions and prejudices and sometimes the language that we use so casually not realising the origin. In a world which is growing increasingly divided, low tolerance levels, and the pompous self-centred attitudes, this book captures the hatred towards certain groups of people. It gives us a small glimpse into the lives of the Hijra community, Dalits and the people of Kashmir who are conflicted about their place in the country, their sense of self and purpose. There were references to the political landscape within the country which may read as harsh, but I suppose the truth is sometimes a bitter pill to swallow. It deals with the themes of caste, regional and power dynamics. The Kashmir questions is a prickly one, this book brings in one perspective - the version of a group of people. The situation of course is far more complex than the book can cover, but it brings in the elements or situations which can alter the course of a person.
Yet in the space of intolerance the book tells us a story of the interconnected lives of people who support and uplift the other.
Yet in the space of intolerance the book tells us a story of the interconnected lives of people who support and uplift the other.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, Violence, Religious bigotry, Classism
Premise: I started this book without much expectation. 20 years after the "God of Small Things", hype is the only thing that could grow, and I resisted to nullify it, and didn't expect it to be 'this' or 'that'. This is the case with almost all of the books I start - take it as it is, no history, no bias, just the book in itself. I think being devoid of 'isms' is the best way to deal with a piece of writing - but I should also accept that a lot of works will be dull paintings without the cover of 'isms'. This is not going to hold true in all instances, but it should be the case as far as possible.
As I moved on, (having heard all the comments of this book being boring and not up-to-the mark), of all the things that I felt, I didn't feel bored. At all times, however, I waited for the story to begin. Waited for the plot to take a pace in its usual expected twists and turns, but it never came. I felt like it's a long narrative, an elaborate premise prepared before the characters form a form and start driving things around. It never happened, at least for me, it didn't.
But, on a hindsight, is it necessary for a story to form a clearly drawn progression? May be not. It is perfectly fine for a landscape to be just a landscape - with all its glory and pain embedded within. The plot takes a good pace during the last quarter of the book, and it feels like a rush.
I think the story telling is beautiful. The transformation of Gender, vivid and minute portrait of life is noteworthy. Imagine someone establishing one's residence in a Graveyard.
Roy has made a point for Kashmir, and that is the gist of this book. I take this for that much. Kashmir pained me, and lured me - at the same time. Despite dreading the everlasting conflict, I wondered how would it feel to spend time on the house boat at Dal Lake.
As I moved on, (having heard all the comments of this book being boring and not up-to-the mark), of all the things that I felt, I didn't feel bored. At all times, however, I waited for the story to begin. Waited for the plot to take a pace in its usual expected twists and turns, but it never came. I felt like it's a long narrative, an elaborate premise prepared before the characters form a form and start driving things around. It never happened, at least for me, it didn't.
But, on a hindsight, is it necessary for a story to form a clearly drawn progression? May be not. It is perfectly fine for a landscape to be just a landscape - with all its glory and pain embedded within. The plot takes a good pace during the last quarter of the book, and it feels like a rush.
"She rattled through its gilded chambers like a fugitive absconding from herself. She tried to dismiss the cortège of saffron men with saffron smiles who pursued her with infants impaled on their saffron tridents, but they would not be dismissed. ...lying neatly folded in the middle of the street, like one of his crisp cash-birds. But he followed her, folded, through closed doors on his flying carpet. She tried to forget the way he had looked at her just before the light went out of his eyes. But he wouldn’t let her."
I think the story telling is beautiful. The transformation of Gender, vivid and minute portrait of life is noteworthy. Imagine someone establishing one's residence in a Graveyard.
"She tried to un-know what they had done to all the others – how they had folded the men and unfolded the women. And how eventually they had pulled them apart limb from limb and set them on fire. But she knew very well that she knew.
They.
They, who?
Newton’s Army, deployed to deliver an Equal and Opposite Reaction.
...
She tried to un-know that little detail as she rattled through her private fort. But she failed. She knew very well that she knew very well that she knew very well."
Roy has made a point for Kashmir, and that is the gist of this book. I take this for that much. Kashmir pained me, and lured me - at the same time. Despite dreading the everlasting conflict, I wondered how would it feel to spend time on the house boat at Dal Lake.
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Transphobia, Violence