A review by aayjaysbookshelf
The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Even though I had felt very confused in the middle and was about to give it a 1 or 2 star rating, as I kept on reading, I found this to be an interesting book. True to being a typical Arundhati Roy book, Ministry of Utmost Happiness touches on several bold subjects - Kashmir, minority communities, caste  ystem , Khuajasiras, the Indo-Pak relations and the like. The main theme revolves around Roy's exploration of human nature amidst the backdrop of politics of power and religion.  I specifically liked the geographical description of the story - going back and forth between zooming in the Delhi corners and panning out to the Kashmir landscape. Although in the middle it had got too confusing to keep track of the plot, and I think the morphing of Anjum's story into Tilo's story could have been done in a better way, it got understa dable as I kept reading on.  The general mood of the story is a melancholic one, with finding moments of fleeting joy in between. Overall, an average read. I was expecting a more heart touching, poignant read of this, specially after having read Roy's The God of Small Things. The Ministry of Utmost Happiness was nice, but it didn't hit me that much or has the potential to stay with me for a long time.