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hkeogh13 's review for:
The Magnificent Ruins
by Nayantara Roy
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I saw this book during my normal casual meanders in book shops and I was interested in the idea of inheritance, of identity forming across a continent from a family and of complex family dynamics.
There were a load of things I really enjoyed about this story. It was rich, with a set of vivid characters who were complex and flawed. The main character was sometimes written about through other eyes, and it was interesting to read about how she was seen by her lover, her mother, the maid. It was a show of talent that Roy was able to cast characters through the eyes of so many different people's judgements.
Heightened emotion was rampant, not just from the grieving family but also from the wider characters, including Lila's lover who follows her across the world based on his own 'love'. There was a lot of underhand behaviour throughout, with hypocrisy a common theme whenever anyone interacted or engaged with one another. It's a family dynamic I am in no way familiar with, and so I found it eye opening! The idea of a large, complex family living so closely together feels so removed from a small scattered one I've experienced.
I also enjoyed how the story was peppered with history lessons and little windows into India's history and India's politics, and how the current situation can be traced back through the colonial past. I would love to know more about this.
The reason I've not rated it higher is because I feel there was a lot of fat that could have been trimmed. I felt like some strands of the story didn't need dwelling on, and I often got a little disconnected from reading because it lost me. I think it would have been more powerful if it had managed to hone in more on the relationships Roy wanted to highlight rather than stretching everything so taut. Perhaps the professional life that Lila was juggling could have received slightly less attention?
There were a load of things I really enjoyed about this story. It was rich, with a set of vivid characters who were complex and flawed. The main character was sometimes written about through other eyes, and it was interesting to read about how she was seen by her lover, her mother, the maid. It was a show of talent that Roy was able to cast characters through the eyes of so many different people's judgements.
Heightened emotion was rampant, not just from the grieving family but also from the wider characters, including Lila's lover who follows her across the world based on his own 'love'. There was a lot of underhand behaviour throughout, with hypocrisy a common theme whenever anyone interacted or engaged with one another. It's a family dynamic I am in no way familiar with, and so I found it eye opening! The idea of a large, complex family living so closely together feels so removed from a small scattered one I've experienced.
I also enjoyed how the story was peppered with history lessons and little windows into India's history and India's politics, and how the current situation can be traced back through the colonial past. I would love to know more about this.
The reason I've not rated it higher is because I feel there was a lot of fat that could have been trimmed. I felt like some strands of the story didn't need dwelling on, and I often got a little disconnected from reading because it lost me. I think it would have been more powerful if it had managed to hone in more on the relationships Roy wanted to highlight rather than stretching everything so taut. Perhaps the professional life that Lila was juggling could have received slightly less attention?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse