Some Big, Irksome Things About Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things
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- čas přidán 10. 09. 2024
- Some Big, Irksome Things About Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things
The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy: www.goodreads....
The Ministry of Utmost Happiness - Arundhati Roy: / the-ministry-of-utmost... (My review: • Review: The Ministry o... )
I’m @shawnmooney on Litsy and on Twitter.
I’m shawnthebookmaniac on Instagram.
My Goodreads is / shawn-mooney
A huge part of the reading experience depends on your knowledge of the cultural and political context of Kerala. As someone from the state who had this in college, it was frustrating to know all these nuances which you would never even realise are right there in the open, if you're not a Malayali (or from Kerala). It's not about understanding the sentences, but rather what they imply - and the worlds each sentence could unravel. My friends who weren't from the state, albeit Indian, had profound experiences reading it, but they still missed out on so much simply because they weren't Malayalis/Keralites.
I don't disagree with your perspective, and I maintain that for a work of fiction to transcend its regional or national context, it has to speak more universally. Granted, I am in a distinct minority among international readers in feeling quite adamantly that it simply was an inferior novel.
This was a very emotional book for me to read and I remember feeling devastated at various points of the book. It was kind of like getting to know new people and following their train of thoughts. That was what I found marvelous about the book. The way she was able to switch across time periods that felt like following a single vein of thought. But I can understand how this book may not be for everyone as she does indeed have a different quirky writing style. The tone of the novel had a sort of childish innocence which was often conveyed through words smashed together or sometimes separated as might happen in a child’s mind.
I found Roy’s writing to be absolutely beautiful more often than not. But each to their own.
P.S for a book reviewer you seem to ‘hate’ this book a bit too much. Take it easy man.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Exactly
It’s written as if the author desired to cram every literary technique into every page. My high school IB Lang&Lit teacher actually let the class change our focus book over the course of summer vacation because this book was such a frustrating experience XD
High five!
I really wanted to love this book but as you mentioned aswell, it didn’t move me at all. Also if I have to read the phrase “a fountain in a love-in-tokyo” one more time I’ll burn the book… the language really annoyed me and this phrase drove me crazy!! It doesn’t contribute anything to the story and unless you might know the film it’s referring to it doesn’t create any mental image, for me it was completely void of meaning… just finished reading and very happy to have found someone who pinpoints many of the same reasons I didn’t like it.
Your complaints are valid and it can be challenging and irksome to keep up with Roy's distinctive use of language. But I do want to point out that it's not just a gimmick, it has a narrative purpose which I'm sure you're aware of. Rahel and Esta are both traumatized by their childhood (keep in mind they're around 7 or so when critical events happened), and it still very much haunts them to the present. They haven't grown up normally and haven't received any help to overcome their trauma. Hence, the distinct use of language throughout, which understandably doesn't work for everyone and can feel excessive. But I think it's worth a fair shot and it's easy to know if the book is for you very early on (within a few chapters imo). It also helps to know the sociopolitical situation of India and Kerala in particular, in this time period.
Loved this rant, especially concerning the childish characters and descriptions. It frees me up for one of my own about this week’s Anniversaries Reading (also concerning a child !). I didn’t understand when you talked about “ reacting emotionally to a book” before but this is the second instance of doing just that for me (after the Vietnam reaction). NTW, I am still loving the slow read of the book and having time to peruse and reread each section, but be ready for a blast about a certain character (with more thought- out reasons this time). “See” you Sunday and don’t forget you are first this week! One of my best and thought provoking reading experiences ever so far! 🤷♀️❤️❤️❤️📚
🥰🥰😍😍
Thank you for this post-dissection review. It made me see what I hadn't been able to see about this book. But...
Maybe it's been too long since you've crept out of the mind of a seven-year-old? That's why your frontal cortex just seems to be utterly offended here. I myself can distinctly remember how I used to love playing with fancy words as long as I hadn't seen them written out. It was just exhilarating how words seemed to make up a garland and only well afterwards got back into their definite shapes and lengths. I totally understand this narrative stance. As for the structure... There has to be something puzzling about this jumbled chronology. But then once again, unless you love to have your ducks in a row before shooting them, I prefer the jigsaw of chapters that keeps you out of the same old boring building of tension and release... Pfff. Tragedy and determinism permeate the whole thing and there's no way you can totally forget about them. I don't think it's meant to be read as a thriller. Children's minds and sense of time are confused, why not accept that from the very start? Makes the reading much less frustrating. 😉 I also really enjoyed the Ministry...
Thank you for such thoughtful comments. You've explained very well why you liked the book a lot better than I did. :)
I fet everything you mentioned. It drove me insane after getting halfway through the book. The glum storyline didn't help either.
Everyone online loves this book whereas a few friends of mine warned me about it. Thanks for putting this out there. I had high hopes because I loved the imagery in the opening paragraph. Over time, I began hating some descriptions that I thought were wandering away from the main plot, which was stagnating towards the middle.
Your review really resonates with people in the minority like me, who struggled with this book. The constant description of trauma and sexual assault pained me way too much to be able to enjoy this book enough.
I see how other people may like it but it's certainly not my cup of tea. Thanks again.
High five! 🙌🙌
I had a feeling you might have problems with this one. I started it some years ago and I can’t remember a thing about it now except that I was like, “everyone loves this?” Thanks for reminding me not to be tempted to try it again.
High five!
I love your candid responses to your reads and your video clarifies some of the issues I had with GOST (couldn't resist capitalizing it :) ). I admit I am more of a visceral reader and either I like something or it is just not for me. Recently I was listening to the audio while buddy reading A Suitable Boy and thought it suffered in the comparison but now on reflection maybe it just isn't that stellar a read.
High five! Hope to get to Suitable Boy next year!
@@shawnbreathesbooks I look forward to your thoughts on it :)
Thank you for this review I felt the same frustrations you did when reading this book
High five!
Our reading experiences are so different! I loved those ticks...
Different strokes for different folks, hey?
I enjoyed the story but the way it is written feels like she brought a manuscript to some 3rd rate publishing house and the editor told her to use more similes/metaphors, shake up the story sequence, use more foreshadowing, etc. and she overdid all of those things to ensure it would get published.
Uh oh. Just about to watch but the title of your video petrifies me. I thought you would love this one!
But different strokes for different folks right? 😍
Well.... our differences and similarities in what we love in books is what makes booktube so wonderful. I’m sorry you had a bad experience but you gave me some great hope about Ministry as I’d been avoiding it thinking it wouldn’t be as good. And, well, it might not be 😊
Hear, hear - that’s what keeps life interesting on BookTube!
I just finished reading this book and I loved it very much.
Your review made me laugh, I can totally see how the things you described can be frustrating.
And I agree that the foreshadowing could have been toned down a bit, but since I liked the prose itself so much, it didn't bother me personally.
I enjoyed your review because it reaffirmed my love for this book.
We all read different books when we read the same book, hey?
I do love a good book rant. Those writer's ticks sound hellish. That thing with using capitals unnecessarily would rip my knitting too. Great stuff fella! :)
Rip my knitting! Omg I love that
Enjoyed this. And Sunday Sentences is the best.
Thanks!
Its very culture specific. If you are a malayali ( a oerson from kerala ) you would find the nuances very relatable
This is great! Where do you post your Sunday Sentences?
On Twitter and Instagram. You can find my info in my show notes.
I still remember when this novel first came out. I had a friend who loved it but I still haven’t managed to read it after all these years. I’ll get to it eventually!
It’ll be interesting to hear how you make out with it!
After having read this in the nineties and really enjoying it I'd recently picked up a $1 copy to see how I felt now- I'm even more intrigued after your very honest review 😉
Ooh let me know how!
OH WOW!!! Ok.
I have never read her previous work, but like you, I absolutely adored The Ministry... thank you for saving me a read because I am going to trust you on this one. Wow.
Most readers, including the Booker judges, disagree with me. 😜
Nah it’s probably one of the best things I’ve read
I haven’t read this one, but I had some of the same trouble with the Ministry of Utmost Happiness. Good concept, periods of great writing, but in the end , the story did not come together for me.
when does a writer's tick become bad writing?
When they fail to recognize that they have one. All writers tics equate to repeated instances of bad writing.
Good writing is free of writers ticks like enjoyable personalities are free of annoying habbits.
Maybe after the second instance? 😜
Thank you Shawn - I bought this when it came out and even saw her do a reading so was really fired up to read it. I had the same response as you and I can still remember what an emotionally flat experience it was - I think because of some of the things you've mentioned like the childish writing. I really don't see what the Booker judges and many other readers have found in it - it is easily the worst Booker winner I've read (or maybe that was Old Devils by Kingsley Amis!). However, unlike you, I bailed on Ministry as it was like being lost inside her brain. I have every respect for her social and political work in India but I don't like her novels, and I feel bad about that.
This (and Ministry) are definitely marmite books!
Each to their own, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel, but I can see your points too 😁
When I say ‘enjoyed’ I mean I felt heart broken at the end
That's usually Shawn the Book Maniac's kind of enjoyment too -- but not in this case.
Hello Shawn...I am from India, the same place where the God of Small things happened. I have written novel. Can I send u a few chapters? I would like to know your thoughts.
No, but I wish you all the best with it!
Oh my goodness! This is a holy universe we’re talking about here! 😂😂😂
🕳 🕳
I feel your pain!
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I love a good rant before going to sleep. I DNF this book. I might try The Ministry of Utmost Happiness!
Let me know how it goes if you do!
I am so curious now if I would like this book.... All the things you mention seem like things that would annoy me, but I don't know if I would notice them so much on my own.
There’s only one way to find out, right? :-)
I don't remember much about this novel other than I loved it when I was reading it way back in the 1990s. I wonder if storytelling and novel writing has evolved so that what once was new and fresh writing (all the tics you talk about) seem hackneyed now? I mean, the examples you gave made me cringe and I don't think I'd want to spend hours reading that. Yet I did somehow?
I also wonder whether I might’ve loved it if I’d read it much earlier
When I saw your goodreads rating of this one on twitter, I was hoping there would be a video from you on it. I've never read this one, but have thought about doing so.
You should, the book is great!
No, you should not 😉!
It’ll be interesting if you come down on Claudia’s and my side of the fence, or Sandra’s! 😍
Disagree completely.
It’s a free country. 😜
@@shawnbreathesbooks Is it? Japan, USA, or Britain?
I'll tell you what I loved the most about this video! 😍
When it ended
Mirrors my experience of reading the awful novel! 😛
Ah good. So I'm not the only one who thought the Emperor had no clothes.
High five!
Oh dear haha. I bought this from a second hand shop recently but it sounds like maybe it won't be up my street. I can't stand when author's repeat certain descriptions or phrases, it's so annoying!
It sure bugged the heck out of me!
😭😭 same for me...the “godamn 2 egg twins” got so tired of this! I felt like she was reaching , trying to be too poetic
My condolences to you Mr Shawn for you utterly failed to understand the language..you pointed out that wahatisit is made a single word question,i ll help u a bit,there the writer described how the people reacted the did not say like what pause den is ....that was when in church where a bat baby made one of the attendants cry out...instead they said like normal people say and that is described which you who were reading absentmindedly did not understand....please read something for reading not just for giving a review....do you think the judges who gave the judgement for 1997 booker prize were foolish....don't mind
Happy new year to you. I'm sure you're a nice person even if you have questionable literary tastes.
@@shawnbreathesbooks thank u and same to u..now apart from formalities,u can't question someone's tastes,can u?u could not reach the grapes does not mean they are sour...Andd how on earth can u relate my being a nice person with my literary tastes!...i don't know what u wanna say by that,'questionable!'
No, no, no...you're wrong...
Different strokes for different folks
It's pronounced K-ray-laa
Thank you.
She's an amazing speaker, comes across as a very knowledgeable person but.....this book.....
I read it back in 1997, it got a really strong negative reaction from me.....so much so that I still remember how much I hated it. My most hated book of all time. :D
Wow. Well it’s on my shortlist of hated books, that’s for sure!
I'm currently reading "the god of small things" and I'm hating it! I'm having a terrible reading experience! I agree with everything you said, it's a boring and very repetitive writing. I had very high expectations for this book, but unfortunately it's one of the worst books I've ever read.
Thank god i'm not the only one who feel that way...🥲