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A review by flor_di_luna
The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy
dark
informative
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
This book is a good reason why you should read the reviews before buying a book you haven't heard much of before. I judged Arundhati Roy as an author based on her previous the Man-Booker Prize winner and critically acclaimed 'The God of Small Things'.
I couldn't begin to tell you how I skimmed through the book like most modern poetry books (oops!). Compared to the small quantity of diaogues and overall development of the characters, there is an extreme amount of seemingly useless descriptions. No, I do not need to know a bird crossed the sky while Anjum was crossing the street! I understand somewhere it might have been my own failure to not be able to understand her apparently deep and violent nationalistic book(s).
But so far, it was hellish trying to understand what is the actual plot of the story. I have concluded that there is simply no plot, just a weapon for Arundhati to use spread her views. I don't know, I am not into politics, and the book was entirely political. Every page was filled with long descriptions of the most arbitrary things and her opinions on political happenings of history.
As much as I appreciate her strong remarks, the book had barely any depth to it, nothing that would as much as leave a mark on you or prompt you to think! It was just a series of incidents that were joined together by the string of time, a coincidence, followed by Arundhati's own lengthy speeches. No wonder the 'story' was written from a third person POV. To me, it felt it was not about the characters at all, it was about her author.
Regardless, 'The Ministry of Utmost Happiness' wasn't a total disappointment. Arundhati's love- or rather, hatred, for the topics spurned certain moments that hit the spot right. She isn't a bad writer. Or maybe I misjudged her. Either way, I think we can all agree it was a little better than Colleen Hoover's books at least, thereby earning a minimum of 2 stars.
I couldn't begin to tell you how I skimmed through the book like most modern poetry books (oops!). Compared to the small quantity of diaogues and overall development of the characters, there is an extreme amount of seemingly useless descriptions. No, I do not need to know a bird crossed the sky while Anjum was crossing the street! I understand somewhere it might have been my own failure to not be able to understand her apparently deep and violent nationalistic book(s).
But so far, it was hellish trying to understand what is the actual plot of the story. I have concluded that there is simply no plot, just a weapon for Arundhati to use spread her views. I don't know, I am not into politics, and the book was entirely political. Every page was filled with long descriptions of the most arbitrary things and her opinions on political happenings of history.
As much as I appreciate her strong remarks, the book had barely any depth to it, nothing that would as much as leave a mark on you or prompt you to think! It was just a series of incidents that were joined together by the string of time, a coincidence, followed by Arundhati's own lengthy speeches. No wonder the 'story' was written from a third person POV. To me, it felt it was not about the characters at all, it was about her author.
Regardless, 'The Ministry of Utmost Happiness' wasn't a total disappointment. Arundhati's love- or rather, hatred, for the topics spurned certain moments that hit the spot right. She isn't a bad writer. Or maybe I misjudged her. Either way, I think we can all agree it was a little better than Colleen Hoover's books at least, thereby earning a minimum of 2 stars.