#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

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