This book is so unlike anything I have ever read before, and is everything I would aspire to as a writer. This is the example I will constantly compare to, the standard by which anything I ever write will have to be held up to. Though this is probably a useless aspiration since I doubt anyone but Arundhati Roy could create what she has with this book. To try and emulate her would be fruitless, since she has invented a truly unique voice, a genuinely new language. 'The God of Small Things' won the 1997 Booker Prize and was Roy's debut novel, so I guess this review is a little late, but despite the fact I know I sound like a gushing publicist, I have ...  Read the complete review

Arundhati Roy burst into the literary scene with this novel, scooping the Booker Prize effortlessly in 1997. Now I always approach Booker prize novels with trepidation. They somehow never live up to the hype. I am happy to say that 'The God of small things' not only lives upto its hype but also surpasses all expectations. I am qualified to nitpick this book because I've been to the places she mentions and I still have relatives who live in Kerala. I was ready to take this book apart with an insiders toothcomb and show up its weak innards. Trouble is, I couldn't find any fault. Instead I found myself enjoying every minutiae, reminiscing ...  Read the complete review

I have picked this book up so many times, but only got round to reading it as I am making my way through the 1001 books to read before you die list. Without a doubt, this belongs on that list. I would say particularly so if you are a creative writer keen to explore various writing techniques. About the plot: In essence, the book centres around a boy and a girl (twins) and their part in a family tragedy, the tale then unpicks all the small things that make up this tragedy, and the connections that are made and broken along the way. A fairly simple plot, made interesting by a fractured structure, and the padding out of the history and motivations of ...  Read the complete review

This is a beautifully written book which is a delight to read. Roy invites us into the world of a well to do family in India which literally falls apart. Roy's storytelling is interesting as she skips back and forth in time and practically reveals the ending at the beginning. The story is haunting and she uses evocative language to increase sympathy for the main charcters, the two twins who are forced apart by the death of their cousin Sophie Mol. This book had a great effect on me as it was so simply told that you just get swept away with it. ...  Read the complete review

This book is one of the 1001 Books To Read Before You Die, and I can see why. The story is of a family in India who have suffered tragedies that aren't revealed until very late in the book, we are told early on that the girl Sophie Mol dies but we don't know how or why it had such a huge impact on the rest of the family's lives. The majority is about the twins, one boy and one girl, who are seperated as children and then reunited in their thirties, though there are many off shoots about others members of the family. The book is told completely out of order so important details are cleverly hidden from us yet teasingly mentioned as the story slowly untangles. It was ...  Read the complete review