The god of small things Book review

The God of Small Things: Book Review

The God of Small Things is a heart-rending story about the Indian fraternal twins, Rahil and Estha, who learn that their whole world can change in a day. It is a story about love — namely, the “laws of love.”
Estha and Rahel along with their Ammu (mother) live in their maternal grandparents’ house in Ayemenem following Ammu’s divorce. Ammu works in the family’s pickle factory in spite of which she and her kids are denied any rights, let alone love, by her Oxford returned brother Chacko who considers them nothing less than millstones around his neck. The story goes further when Chacko’s ex-wife Margaret brings their daughter Sophie to Ayemenem on a visit from London. The ill-fated visit ends in the demise of Sophie for which Estha and Rahel have to pay a heavy price. The kids are the victims as they are snatched of their childhood, their happiness sought in small things. The story reveals history’s cruel way of taking revenge at people who break the Love Laws.
Arundhati Roy is gifted in the art of language. The book has its own unique language with rhythmical analogies to every situation that is a completely lyrical experience until the last page. Shifts in different places and times create suspense and keep readers attracted. The text is very poetic and descriptive. Roy mainly uses foreshadowing to tell her story. The reader knows — to an extent — what happened from the beginning of the story. The details are unknown, but it is safe to assume there will be unfortunate events. That is what is special about her writing style. The rest of the novel is the story unfolding through the eyes of a child. Roy also repeats various parts that may be confusing, in a different manner later in the book.
A few points in politics are included in the novel, but the main focus is on the Love Laws, which indicate who can love whom. The story speaks of castes in India, which are “ranks” of civilians, where only members of the same caste can love each other. If the Love Laws are disobeyed, there will be consequences. The poetic quality of the novel should be appraised. Certain phrases, sentences or paragraphs were written in a rhythm, unlike most other novels. The storyline is very dark, showing the suffering in the lower castes of India. The innocent are often blamed and they are easily punished from an accusation of the higher class. The population in the lower castes seems hopeless; they will never be able to climb the ladder in society. In the novel, a low-class servant was beat to death by the police after being falsely accused of murder. The story is told from Estha’s point of view and can be intended for any audience. Estha talks about the story as an adult who has reunited with his twin. The story frequently changes the time to Estha’s childhood, where he recalls exactly what had happened. However, it can be slightly confusing due to the usage of phrases and terms of another language. I did not find the storyline to be very fascinating, but I do appreciate her writing style. Although this was her only novel, she demonstrated how to write great literature. The reader will be able to follow the pace easily, and will soon realize the poetry in her writing. I did not think the content is intriguing for the whole novel. I have already sensed that the twins will separate and their family will have terrible misfortune without reading half way into the novel. Although The God of Small Things is not one of my favourites, I still recommend this book because her writing style deserves to be praised.

Life is not always tied neatly in a bow, but some people do adapt and flourish despite the many dilemmas. These become life experiences that are truly endless and unforgettable. Betrayal, endurance, and sacrifice are concepts that humans deal with on a daily basis. It is not random chance that people develop qualities of confidence, motivation, and endurance; it is merely due to what one faces.
In the novel, And the Mountains Echoed, Khalid Hosseini, represents a different character’s perspective and story which provides a connection with the others by the idea of how difficult it is to make decisions and how they can impact one’s life. These pieces, representing the story of each character, of the whole puzzle are the echoes of an old story during the pre-Soviet era. The experiences of many central characters bring them to self-awareness and personal enlightenment based on the betrayal that the figures face as the onset of tragedy, the endurance to survive from the situation, and the difficult choices of sacrifice that they make in order to protect their loved ones.