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fuzah 's review for:
The Ministry of Utmost Happiness
by Arundhati Roy
I had mixed feelings when I first heard of this book; excited because I grew to love God of Small Things during my second reading after feeling unsettled and almost-hate the first time I went through it. At the same time, I was worried that I would not enjoy it (because of course it's not the same book and also, expectations).
Thing is, when I started reading the first two chapters, I really did think that I would not enjoy the read. It was slow, and very complex with all the historical conflicts of India as the setting. As someone who is very unfamiliar with that, it truly was a daunting idea to continue reading. However, the story slowly grew on me. As some reviewers have pointed out, true, there is no real plot in this book while lots of things are happening at the same time, and there's multiple povs on the same tale. In previous books, these same characteristics of writing would result in me disliking a book and give it a low rating, but somehow, in The Ministry of Utmost Happiness , it gives of an immersive vibe to the story. It's almost an important "stagnation", almost as if it reflected the slow change of wartime/full of conflict India over the years that even with the characters growing up, the story barely change. You get to see and live through various characters lives, and see how their lives intertwined with each other, characters of various background ending up at the same place, the Ministry of Utmost Happiness.
It does not carry the same level of trauma as God of Small Things , but it reads with a similar tone and atmosphere, slow and steady, carrying readers deeper into the story, revealing the effects of society on the lives of those living in it. It's a different sort of trauma even, one both personal and impersonal at the same time, it tells the story of people having to live with trauma of a much grander scale, one that has been normalised even in society.
Thing is, when I started reading the first two chapters, I really did think that I would not enjoy the read. It was slow, and very complex with all the historical conflicts of India as the setting. As someone who is very unfamiliar with that, it truly was a daunting idea to continue reading. However, the story slowly grew on me. As some reviewers have pointed out, true, there is no real plot in this book while lots of things are happening at the same time, and there's multiple povs on the same tale. In previous books, these same characteristics of writing would result in me disliking a book and give it a low rating, but somehow, in The Ministry of Utmost Happiness , it gives of an immersive vibe to the story. It's almost an important "stagnation", almost as if it reflected the slow change of wartime/full of conflict India over the years that even with the characters growing up, the story barely change. You get to see and live through various characters lives, and see how their lives intertwined with each other, characters of various background ending up at the same place, the Ministry of Utmost Happiness.
It does not carry the same level of trauma as God of Small Things , but it reads with a similar tone and atmosphere, slow and steady, carrying readers deeper into the story, revealing the effects of society on the lives of those living in it. It's a different sort of trauma even, one both personal and impersonal at the same time, it tells the story of people having to live with trauma of a much grander scale, one that has been normalised even in society.