A review by rustedpages
Azadi: Freedom. Fascism. Fiction. by Arundhati Roy

4.0

Lately I’ve been thinking of widening the scope of my reading by trying more nonfiction. ‘Azadi’ by Arundhathi Roy I think was a perfect place to begin. It is a compilation of her essays written between 2018 and 2020, covering topics like language, literature, Hindu nationalism, Kashmir, the caste system and the pandemic. A hero to many and likewise, controversial to many, Arundhathi Roy continues to make it onto India’s anti-nationalist list for choosing to stand up for Kashmir. This series of essays is a wonderful reminder of the importance of art and fiction in tumultuous times, and a warning to a country always teetering on the edge of self destruction. It’s written gorgeously, and being factual and to-the-point (as nonfiction must be) renders no hindrance to Roy’s passionate own voice.

One thing I will point out is that there is quite a bit of repetition, which I guess was inevitable since the essays were written in a similar time frame and the topics discussed overlap.