The God of Small Things
Winner of the Booker Prize
-
-
4.3 • 135 Ratings
-
-
- £2.99
Publisher Description
‘They all broke the rules. They all crossed into forbidden territory. They all tampered with the laws that lay down who should be loved, and how. And how much.’
This is the story of Rahel and Estha, twins growing up among the banana jam vats and peppercorns of their blind grandmother’s factory, and amid scenes of political turbulence in Kerala. Armed only with the innocence of youth, they fashion a childhood in the shade of the wreck that is their family: their lonely, lovely mother, their beloved Uncle Chacko (pickle baron, radical Marxist, bottom-pincher) and their sworn enemy, Baby Kochamma (ex-nun, incumbent grand-aunt).
Arundhati Roy’s Booker Prize-winning novel was the literary sensation of the 1990s: a story anchored to anguish but fuelled by wit and magic.
Reviews
‘Richly deserving the rapturous praise it has received on both sides of the Atlantic…”The God of Small Things” achieves a genuine tragic resonance. It is, indeed, a masterpiece.’ Observer
‘Roy is truly gifted, not just in her ability to make words playful and meaning mischievous, but to use this to create a language texture that bowls you along, gathering momentum like the narrative itself…Witty and vivid, full of rich, memorable images…a verbal stream of steady beauty.’ Ali Smith
‘It is rare to find a book that so effectively cuts through the clothes of nationality, caste and religion to reveal the bare bones of humanity. A sensational novel.’ Daily Telegraph
‘A quite astonishing novel by any standards – broad in its historical sweep, emotionally profound and marvellously acute and delicate.’ Economist
‘Quite brilliant…One can only strongly recommend this extremely funny and enchanting and pretty much genius piece of debut fiction.’ Spectator
About the author
Arundhati Roy is the author of the novels The God of Small Things, which won the Booker Prize in 1997, and The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, which was longlisted for the Booker Prize in 2017. She is the author of various works of nonfiction including My Seditious Heart, Azadi and The Architecture of Modern Empire, as well as an upcoming memoir, Mother Mary Come to Me.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Words pinwheel and sizzle throughout Indian writer Arundhati Roy’s astonishing debut, which clinched the Man Booker Prize in 1997. Shifting between present and past, The God of Small Things centres on Rahel and Estha Kochamma, fraternal twins who’ve never recovered from the traumas of their short-lived childhood. Upon returning to her maternal family’s lushly decaying Kerala estate, Rahel—who’s divorced from her American husband and adrift—reunites with her brother and reflects back on the events that tore them apart. With dazzling originality, Roy explores India’s rich and problematic modern history and challenges notions of what constitutes real love.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
With sensuous prose, a dreamlike style infused with breathtakingly beautiful images and keen insight into human nature, Roy's debut novel charts fresh territory in the genre of magical, prismatic literature. Set in Kerala, India, during the late 1960s when Communism rattled the age-old caste system, the story begins with the funeral of young Sophie Mol, the cousin of the novel's protagonists, Rahel and her fraternal twin brother, Estha. In a circuitous and suspenseful narrative, Roy reveals the family tensions that led to the twins' behavior on the fateful night that Sophie drowned. Beneath the drama of a family tragedy lies a background of local politics, social taboos and the tide of history--all of which come together in a slip of fate, after which a family is irreparably shattered. Roy captures the children's candid observations but clouded understanding of adults' complex emotional lives. Rahel notices that "at times like these, only the Small Things are ever said. The Big Things lurk unsaid inside." Plangent with a sad wisdom, the children's view is never oversimplified, and the adult characters reveal their frailties--and in one case, a repulsively evil power--in subtle and complex ways. While Roy's powers of description are formidable, she sometimes succumbs to overwriting, forcing every minute detail to symbolize something bigger, and the pace of the story slows. But these lapses are few, and her powers coalesce magnificently in the book's second half. Roy's clarity of vision is remarkable, her voice original, her story beautifully constructed and masterfully told. First serial to Granta; foreign rights sold in France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Italy, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Estonia, Holland, India, Greece, Canada and the U.K.
Customer Reviews
Great book
[Spoiler alert]
I honestly loved this book and its depiction of love that surpasses the ‘Love Laws’. Though I have an issue with it - the last thing that happens between Estha and Rahel, when they reunite as adults. It was off-putting and the story could have done ended more pleasurably without it.
Nevertheless, Roy’s ‘God of Small Things’ was a meaningful read that I don’t regret picking up.
Devastating
A deep and dark dive into how one day can change everything.
A must read
This is truly an incredible book, should be read more than once. Beware it will make you cry, passed it to my son who texted me from the bus to work to say he can't believe he cried reading a book in public!