The Ministry of Utmost Happiness | Women's Prize 2018 Review
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- čas přidán 22. 05. 2018
- My thoughts on the sprawling novel The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy (longlisted for this year's Women's Prize for Fiction)
Other Works Mentioned:
-Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
-One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
-"Poem Without a Hero" by Anna Akhmatova
-Regarding the Pain of Others by Susan Sontag
Find me on Twitter: / insertlitpun
Find me on Goodreads: / jennifer
This is not a sponsored video, and unless otherwise stated, I bought these books myself. - Zábava
Out of all of the longlisted books, I was most eagerly awaiting the posting of this review so I'm delighted that like a hero you fought through your initial hesitance of reading a novel called by others "complicated and demanding" and delivered this lovely review, Jenny.
I do not think it lacked substance in any way, just by the way.
thankyou for this excellently done
Thanks a lot for this review. The God of Small Things is one of my favorite novels of all time so I was pretty excited when this book came out. Needles to say, after hearing mixed reviews I was very intimidated to pick this up. I did read the first few chapters and put it down due to some personal life stuff and never went back to it. It intimidates me even more, but your review is encouraging; not because you liked it but because you broke it down and gave me a framework to tackle this text.
"Did I say anything worth saying?" Well you did. Wonderful review. And it may sound a cliche but even if you feel like you have nothing 'worth' saying you should still not discount it. A reader's relationship to the writer is through her book and what thoughts and feelings it awakens inside the heart and the mind and nothing about that could be flattened to worthiness.
I think the clue to this book is on the back cover:
'How to tell a shattered story? By slowly becoming everybody. No. By Slow becoming everything.'
My favourite part about Roy is her ability to paint images and worlds with her words: her's is the writing that follows effortlessly. The opening is also quite haunting about cattle being fed muscle relaxants, the dairy it produces and the iconic ice-creams of the 90s that kids of this generation ate; Butterscotch, nutty-buddy and chocolate chip. Vultures feeding on carcass and their subsequent disappearance from the Indian skies. From this point on, I was hooked.
You’re probably super glad prize season is over but I am going to miss it so so much!! Congratulations on completing such detailed, satisfying, often funny and careful reviews. We all appreciate you ☺️
YES! I'm starting to feel similar in the sense that I was taking goodreads opinions way too seriously.
Case in point: I was intimidated by The Luminaries (Eleanor Catton) & now I am thoroughly enjoying it, wishing I hasn't waited so long... but glad to have found it. Unlike other hyped books circulating. I'm also wondering how many other books I've been put off of this way.
Your videos are always so refreshing to see!
I think you nailed it - it was a definitely slog but Roy did an amazing job of conveying the hot mess that is India, both its humanity and its misery. I'm glad I stuck with it... it's a necessary book that involves work and that is often what good literature is.
Absolutely agreed 😀I am starting to appreciate this more now that I'm finished reading it.
Thank you for this beautiful review❤
Zany. Unanchored. Your review has given me these words among many other phrases and wonderfully thought out responses to the novel for me to chew on. This was a five star read for me when it first came out - my reading experience intensified absolutely lusciously by reading the entire book while listening to Roy narrate every word in my ear. The audiobook is to die for. Yet I felt myself backing away from my five star exuberance since then because I couldn’t really articulate why I loved it. (I made the humongous new BookTuber mistake of attempting my very first full review on my channel of this book - why haven’t I deleted that yet?… :-). So, while I now think the Delhi story is the weaker, less successful part, that the hijras narrative and characters were given short shrift, whereas the Kashmir story was the more fully-realized heart of the story, you’ve challenged me to try and hold the entire novel in my hands again. I’d love to reread it after finally reading her first novel. Great review!
I agree so much with what you said about not letting intimidation keep you away from a book... I wish I'd overcome my "fear" of Virginia Woolf YEARS before I finally read anything by her. Turns out, you don't need to be particularly intellectual to appreciate her prose - who knew!
My library has this novel, so I'll give it a try (especially since "One Hundred Years of Solitude" is one of my favourites).
Yes, you definitely did say something worth saying, and thank you for saying it! Your videos are always a delight!
Bravo again, great food for thought and an excellent review -to someone who hasn't read the book, I must confess. I love the comparisons you suggest to other books. What you say about violence and personal histories becoming barely relevant tiny details in a much larger picture reminds me of Exit West, and another novel about India: 'River of Fire'. Qurratulain Hyder, a real monster of a book, but profound and witty.
It's refreshing to listen to a review so full of intriguing and relevant points!
And, yes, yes! Three cheers re your quote with 'the chuckle'.
Interesting review!
I had an almost completely opposite reaction to the two storylines in this one. I read the parts about Anjum & Co as having characters that existed more as symbols than people, and thought the Kashmiri parts felt more natural. I think a big part of that was that so many of the issues represented in the Delhi characters seemed to be a checklist from Roy's political writing, that I had a hard time not reading them as talking points instead of people.
You should do a video (If you haven't already) about how you read so much because I'd love to know! You've said before you're a slow reader and so am I, and your monthly wrap ups are very impressive, so I'd love to see where you fit in time to read the amount that you do.
I was watching and trying to remember where I'd read something about the normalisation of death in "exotic places", how we often regard the other as someone to be seen rather than someone who sees... and, yep, it was your review of Susan Sontag's book on Goodreads, lol.
great review, loads of things worth saying for sure :) I'm a bit intimidated by this one, but I've found that your recommendations always work for me, so I'll give it a try.
This is my second giving this try, but I'm anxious that I won't be able to review, because I might not understand it. I'm definitely going to read it.
Loved your review! I definitely plan on reading it.
love the review! i would never have picked this up myself, but I will after watching!
I was really looking forward to your take on this novel. You seemed to have done your homework on the political climate of India pretty well given how contextual the novel is. I am from India so I could really connect with the story, and while Roy's angst against the government is evident, that was not the highlight of the novel for me. Like you and so many I have interacted with on the book, I was touched by Anjum's section. Above all, what worked for me was Roy's poetic language and the brilliant metaphors strewn across the novel. The novel is bloated and convoluted but loved it for descriptions like the sparkling ruby coloured non-alcoholic drink Rooh Afza, Elixir of the Soul. Enjoyed your video.
I really love stories that take advantage of the medium in which they were written, and feel like they would be fundamentally changed if they were adapted to a different form. I find this happens often with film, particularly animated films, that feel like there is no other way the story could be told. I also find this happens a lot with video games in a unique way. It is definitely one of my particular fascinations as a lover of stories and storytelling.
I don't think this book would be for me, but I did really love hearing your thoughts :] I do maybe want to try The God of Small Things though, and see if I'd get on with her writing style. That could change my mind.
Great review! I’ve been meaning to read this for a while, especially since I adore The God of Small Things.
Thanks for this review. I just ordered the audio book!
Fabulous review !
thanks for the amazing review!
I know you are probably relieved you are done with these reviews but I will miss this series. And what a great review to end on. As a political conflict professor I especially appreciated the way you framed the competing rationalities of the violence in this book. Have you read Roy's other book? Now that you are done - predictions/desires for the win?
This was a great review, reminded me why I had subscribed in the first place.
Superb review!!
The association with Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s work doesn’t excite me 😅 I have never gotten along with him. But the historical and cultural dissection sounds fascinating! Thanks for the review. Maybe Roy should start writing Nonfiction (maybe she has). You read Regarding the Pain of Others? I read it this year as well! Please film a discussion or review! I need to think more about that book.
I read this book but definitely struggled with it. Your review has placed it more firmly in my mind and helped me understand a bit of what the author was trying to do. But unlike The Idiot, with Ministry I was always interested enough to keep reading so for me, it was the better book.
Nice review, as always :) I was very intrigued by the premise of this book, and I was so happy I had finally picked up my first book about India (yeah I know, that’s on me for not doing it before - sorry India), but I really didn’t like this book - and I’m sorry to say it. I was excited for the firs 100 pages: Anjum and her story were so fascinating, I had never read anything about India, let alone hijras! But then the writing style failed me, and the plot as well: as for the writing style, it felt to me like that type of writing you find in an introduction to a story, where every scene moves so quickly because you just need a quick understanding of the scenario in order to get to the main story of the book - but the writing style never changed and it felt to me like a 400-something pages of introduction. (Also, I didn’t get why it was all narrated from an omniscient narrator’s pov, and then just two chapters switched to a first person pov) And the plot was loose, it felt to me like the characters were parts of different stories that stitched together just because there was a novel to write, and that they were there to be the devices of the political story, and not the opposite - because I felt like Roy was trying to blend non-fiction with fiction, but giving so much space to the non-fiction rather than the fiction aspects of her novel (I swear I checked the cover for the word “novel” at some point 😂); and I understand and believe that a country’s policy WILL influence (and possibly ruin) people’s lives, but the political aspects and the looooooong descriptions were an interruption to the story rather that an explanation, in my reading experience - they felt like long tangents the author would make while narrating someone’s story, just like when someone is trying to tell you what they did last night and end up giving you all the details and the side thoughts of the story, making it a long and frustrating experience. And I like books that discuss countries, I like books that show the world that there’s always more to the story than media and history classes will ever tell you, but it also comes down to how you tell that story, and to me there were not enough characters (which, at the end of the day, did almost nothing in their story - except for Tilo and her friends) and too much political rambling for me to enjoy this book. To me it felt more like a collection of political essays with some fictional characters in it rather than a novel. But I’ve heard amazing things about The God of Small Things, even from people whose opinion I really trust, so I’ll definitely give her another chance :)
Lol. Your ending! Yes you said quite a bit that was worth saying! First of all, have you read The Gift of Fear? Im in the middle.of that audio and its.an experts non fiction discussion on violence and how to.predict violence...i only bring it up because you mentioned being interested in hearing all.of the different protestors viewpoints, and the book talks.about how violence erupts and why and how.we can subconsciously predict thru intuition that we dont listen to. Anyhow, I.think its interesting and maybe youd like it.
As for.this book. I havent read it yet, but i love stories set in India. Ever since reading Shantaram I have this very romantic idealist view of the country and its ppl. Have you read Shanataram? Big book, great characters, lots of adventure. Love that book. Ahhh my phone is making major.typos that i am.too tired to correct. Id like to read this one. Ive also hears mixed reviews on it.
Heyyy btw how about the booker man prize? That book scares me lol. Read that one Flight by Olga something Polish last name lol. Sounds interesting but i am.completely intimidated by it and i domt want my books to.make me feel stupid. I actually detest when i feel stupid OR if i feel like im reading a 13 year olds words both extremes drive me crazy. Anyhow, i digress. Great review.
Correction: It is not "the Partition of India-Pakistan", but the Partition of India.
Ugh, I recently passed on buying this book, and now I'm sorely regretting it. Oh well, not like I don't have plenty to read at home...
I completed the first half of the book. It was amazing. But not I kinda feel lost and can’t comprehend the plot. What do you suggest I should do ?
There is no linear trajectory of the plots in this book. You should better read it as collage of images, and then make a sequence of your own.
Your most shocking confession was that you had not read Midnight's Children! Especially since it owes quite a lot to One Hundred Years of Solitude (my all time top book - if such a concept makes any sense!).
I really enjoyed your review, but as an Indian I wouldn't recommend you to take everything political at face value. Most books try to bank in on these aspects for the 'exotic' value and overplay several aspects. I recognised all of the political conflicts you talked about but not necessarily in the same way. Good rearing, but maybe not politically accurate.
Ojaswi Sharma be more specific. What about the book isnt politically accurate? Its a very human view at the victims of politico-religious conflicts. And all the political events actually happened. Like Modi (gujrat CM, no PM), the babri masjid demolition, the gujrat riots of 2002.... all of them. Maybe the truth presented in such a stripped away style discomforted you. There is no other way to view conflicts because Roy takes a very humanitarian view (which is she able to do under the garb of fiction). You might be sold on the BJP Hindutva narrative, and if thats the case then this novel is (1) too real and (2) too nuanced for you to understand.
You nailed it.
Ojaswi Sharma Yes I agree. A book written by ONE person based on the facts that that one person chose to acknowledge while ignoring several other equally true facts can't really be trusted to correctly and impartially portray a county so diverse, with a population so huge. I mean if Tariq Fateh (a Muslim, who has experienced living in India and uses real FACTS) were to write a book and it were to get famous, the rest of the world would be convinced that India is a safe haven for Muslims and treats them well while "some other neighbouring country" is a total hell. It's just my opinion though...
@Sunshine Tarek Fateh is a Canadian of Pakistani origin who HAS NOT LIVED in India. His family migrated from Mumbai to Karachi at the time of partition and he was born in Karachi in 1949. I am not saying you are lying but you are factually incorrect. Also, on a side note, 'real facts' are just like 'unreal facts', both oxymoron. Facts by their very definition are real or they are not facts. By the way, Tarek (not Tariq) Fateh considers himself an Indian born in Pakistan so perhaps that is where the confusion stems from but rest assured he was neither born in India nor was raised or ever lived in India.
' "Some neighbouring country" is a total hell '- Don't you mean Pakistan? Pakistan or for the matter Bangladesh or China or Sri Lanka or Bhutan has nothing to do with this book nor calling another country a total shit makes India look any good. On the contrary, it only validates the arrogant, condescending and xenophobic attitudes that exist in India.
One of the strands of The Ministry of Utmost Happiness celebrates the plurality of Indian life, its diversity and the how the very diversity is essential to all that is India. Tarek Fateh calls himself 'Indian born in Pakistan' because he describes himself a secularist. On that stand at least he is more likely going to be in agreement with Arundhati Roy and if he was to write a book about Indian Muslims, chances are he will be as critical of the steady developments in India becoming a Hindu Pakistan; which by the way will be something else but not India.
There is a not a single part of Arundhati Roy's book that is factually incorrect. Not one fact that cannot be verified or cross checked (except in the eyes of right-wing demagogues who write off any criticism that doesn't fit their narrative of India as anti-national or West pandering).
By the way, when I read Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie (Yes, a Pakistani Writer) the character of Karamat Lone reminded me of Tarek Fateh.
I just want to clarify my response "You nailed it" was in response to Nilanjan Dey