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The God of Small Things

book summary


When I first saw the cover of the book, The God of Small Things, decorated with a stylistic painting of some water lilies, I got the sense it would be about some type of fantasy world. Then, when I opened the book and was confronted with a picture of Arundhati Roy, the author, who looks very middle-eastern, I got another feeling as though the book might possibly be about Hinduism or something along those lines. My first impressions of this book definitely had nothing to do with what the book is about.
This book mainly revolves around the family and the small tragedies that they experience. All of the characters have very middle-eastern names, which was somewhat a little problem for me. The fact that there were so many characters in the first place made it difficult to follow. The names of the characters just made it more difficult.
Arundhati has a very flowing way in which she writes, although there were a few times where I felt she jumped around too much, but I would just read them again. I have to compliment the title of this novel. I think it suits the story very well because sometimes, its the small things that cause people to bond. Sometimes its the small things that build and build until peoples emotions erupt.
She has a great knack for descriptions. I think she uses just the right adjectives for just the right occasions. Heres one for an example, Outside, the rain had stopped. The gray sky curdled and the clouds resolved themselves into little lumps, like substandard mattress stuffing. I got great visuals as I read her many descriptions. In my mind, if you are going to use the English language to express written thoughts, use it to its fullest extent.
All in all, this book was easier to read once I got past the beginning, when all of the characters were being introduced. I guess I would rate this book about a 7. Its not really the type of subject matter that I really enjoy but she is a great writer and I might see what else she has to offer in the way of books.