The God of Small Things

Audiobook

English language

Published June 6, 2017 by Blackstone Audio.

ISBN:
978-1-5384-0766-0
Copied ISBN!

The God of Small Things is the 1997 debut novel written by Indian author Arundhati Roy. The novel follows the seven-year-old twins Estha and Rahel as they navigate their childhood and the circumstances surrounding the arrival of their British cousin to Ayemenem, India. The novel's events are set against the backdrop of social discrimination and political upheaval in 1960s Kerala, with casteism and British colonialism in India being central themes. Upon publication, the novel became a bestseller and was the recipient of the 1997 Booker Prize. The God of Small Things is Roy's most well known work and is considered a staple of postcolonial literature.

60 editions

Avoid this "literary genius" that is the '97 Booker prize winner.

I have no clue why so many people loved this book. There isn't anything there to like. A bunch of characters, none of which I grew to care for. A bunch of stuff happened that seems not very interconnected. I kept waiting for an exciting ending, and that was pretty much a big nothing burger too. The only thing that came out of this was a discussion on the LibraryThing Talk forum about "What is literature, and why do people think they are supposed to like it?" If it was a dead tree, I never would have finished it. I did finish it over a period of five months since it was the only audiobook I had on my phone.

The small things loom large

A portrait of a family in 1960s India, elegantly observed; the blurb says 'lyrical' and that's probably the best descriptor for Roy's style. But I found the increasing use of mid-sentence capitalization to highlight the Important Things toward the end a bit offputting, particularly when combined with a host of other choices such as phonetic spellings. Nearly a 4/5

Magnifique livre, émouvant !

Magnifique livre, très émouvant et incroyablement bien écrit. Ce premier livre de l'auteur, si je me rappelle bien mes lectures à son sujet, fit sensation dans le monde de la littérature anglaise. Il est de fait étudié au Bac français (option littérature anglaise) 2024-2025. Le style est de réalisme magique, vu depuis les yeux de deux enfants, faux-jumeaux, qui ont développés une vision très particulière du monde, certainement par protection. Bien qu'il traite de sujets parfois sur, ce style justement permet d'éviter de se retrouver le cœur trop broyé para leurs tribulations.

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Subjects

  • caste
  • India
  • Kerala
  • divorce
  • police brutality
  • twins
  • social hierarchy
  • social status

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