The God of Small Things
by Arundhati Roy
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About This Book
ISBN13: 9780060977498 |
Powells.com Staff Pick
One of the best works of contemporary literature. This rare work
of fiction by Roy is a gem. Her intensity and intellect are felt in both her
nonfiction and in her fiction.
Recommended by Adrienne, Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
Publisher Comments:
The story of the tragic decline of an Indian family whose members suffer the terrible consequences of forbidden love, The God of Small Things is set in the state of Kerala, on the southernmost tip of India. Armed only with the invincible innocence of children, the twins Rahel and Esthappen fashion a childhood for themselves in the shade of the wreck that is their family — their lonely, lovely mother, Ammu (who loves by night the man her children love by day), their blind grandmother, Mammachi (who plays Handel on her violin), their beloved uncle Chacko (Rhodes scholar, pickle baron, radical Marxist, bottom-pincher), their enemy, Baby Kochamma (ex-nun and incumbent grandaunt), and the ghost of an imperial entomologist's moth (with unusually dense dorsal tufts).
When their English cousin and her mother arrive on a Christmas visit, the twins learn that Things Can Change in a Day. That lives can twist into new, ugly shapes, even cease forever. The brilliantly plotted story uncoils with an agonizing sense of foreboding and inevitability. Yet nothing prepares you for what lies at the heart of it.
Review:
"A novel of real ambition must invent its own language, and this one does.... A Tiger Woodsian debut." (-- John Updike, The New Yorker)
Synopsis:
"A banquet for all the senses", said "Newsweek" of this bestselling and Booker Prize-winning literary novel--a richly textured first book about the tragic decline of one family whose members suffer the terrible consequences of forbidden love.
About the Author
Arundhati Roy was trained as an architect. She has worked as a production designer and has written the screenplays for two films. She lives in New Delhi. This is her first book.
What Our Readers Are Saying
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Emily Mattson, September 4, 2006 (view all comments by Emily Mattson)
This was the first book I read after graduating from college as a literature major. I thought, "Wow! I get to choose a novel all by myself!" ...but I had no idea what I was getting myself into.
Roy's book is the incredibly heart-wrenching, painful story of fraternal twins whose lives take very different paths. The misery that marks their lives is rivaled only by their mother's strife and hardship. This story is difficult to swallow and utterly painful; however, the prose is some of the most remarkable that I've ever come across. Arundhati Roy quite literally creates her own mode of discourse for this novel, and the stark contrast of the sadness of the story and the lilting, wistful beauty of the prose will leave you absolutely breathless. I cannot recommend this book enough. It is truly a masterpiece.
Product Details
- ISBN:
- 9780060977498
- Author:
- Publisher:
- Harper Perennial
- Author:
- Author:
- Location:
- New York :
- Subject:
- General
- Subject:
- Literary
- Subject:
- Fiction
- Subject:
- India
- Subject:
- Twins
- Subject:
- Family saga
- Subject:
- Social classes
- Subject:
- India Fiction.
- Copyright:
- 1998
- Edition Number:
- 1st ed.
- Edition Description:
- Harperperennial
- Publication Date:
- June 1998
- Binding:
- Paperback
- Grade Level:
- General/trade
- Language:
- English
- Illustrations:
- Yes
- Pages:
- 336
- Dimensions:
- 8.00x5.46x.78 in. .56 lbs.











