An award winning book in all its right, The God Of Small Things will take you to a different realm entirely. But it's up to you whether or not you may like that realm. The novel delves into a the lives of two young siblings in the heart of South India as they go through happiness and tragedies alike. The narrative of this novel is the most unique thing I have ever read. Hard to believe this is Arundhati Roy's first novel, and to this day remains her only novel.
We read the novel through the mindset of the two children; this takes us through very serious subject matters, but in the innocent view-point of two children, bringing a unique and almost disturbing quality to it. Also extraordinary are the nature of its central characters, Estha and Rahel, the two twin siblings who are said to be Siamese twins; but joined not at the body, but said to have "shared a single soul". If you don't read closely, this book will seem only strange and weird to you. But this book is in reality, an in-depth study of the human nature, and its primal instincts and behavior. Yet, strangely enough, this book is centered mostly on the socio-political circumstances of a post-war, communist South India. But this is only expected out of the most famous columnist in the Indian-Subcontinent, as social commentary must be a second nature to her, if not a duty.
A word of caution: this is not a light read. In fact, this is the hardest book I've ever had to read and even more so, to understand. This book deals with racism, child abuse, and at one point, incest. But you have to read through that to find out why this book enchants every adult who reads it, and is Award-Winning to say the least. No wonder readers are demanding a follow-up of this novel. After all, how many times do we come across a classic in this side of the twentieth century?
3 comments:
You do not come across a classic on this side of the century,because it is not possible to call a book a classic when it has been published in this side of the century or else in recent time!
Yes they can be. Please go and type "Catcher in the Rye" on Google. It's a classic, and had been written in the 60's. Barely older than any of the Sheldon paperbacks. Classic isn't just the age of the book, rather it's an honour given to really really good books. And THIS book, has been named as a classic. Thank you for the comment.
And for more info on Classics and their perceived definition, you may consult to Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_books
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