#14 The God of Small Things, by Arundhati Roy
Booker Prize : Winner 1997 Plot Time and Place : Kerala, India, in the 1960s. Opening sentence : "The days are long and humid." Plot summary : Set in Kerala in the 1960s, the novel paints a vivid picture of life in a rural Indian town, the thoughts and feelings of two small children, and the complexity and hypocrisy of the adults in their world. It is also a poignant lesson in the destructive power of the caste system and moral and political bigotry in general. Review : This book gave me mixed feelings. The story is sad and depressing, it leaves no room for hope. Sometimes it drags on for too long (though I didn't find it boring). On the other hand, this author writes beautifully, crafting the sentences in an almost poetic way, and her sentences have a particular rhythm. (They "sound" nice in your head). I also enjoyed the social criticism and the tragic love story. Rating : 3 and 1/2