The God of Small Things in The Roundtable

Oct 03, 2016 Pamela rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: boxall-1001-read, guardian-1000-read, india

Twins Estha and Rahel live with their divorced mother Ammu in Kerala. Amid the family tensions and caste conflict, they get by together until the arrival of their cousin Sophie Mol from England sets in train a series of incidents that lead to tragedy.

This is a cleverly crafted novel, switching from present to past, and gradually revealing the tragic events. The author shows the misunderstandings between children and adults realistically and there are some brilliantly drawn moments - the episode ...more

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Jul 12, 2014 Irene rated it it was amazing

Everything changes for Estha and Rahel, 7 year old twins, and their family, everything stays the same for this rural Indian family and their society when Sophie, their London born cousin drowns. This story of love and jealousy, taboos and social expectations, of secrets and the unspoken common knowledge is written with brilliant, creative skill and a riveting unfolding story line. The characters, their fears and dreams, their desperation and wounds were as real as my own heart. I did not want th ...more

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Jul 13, 2017 Sera rated it liked it

Shelves: 1001-books, library, literary-fiction

I was slightly disappointed by this book. I had high expectations when reading it, and I found it difficult to get through at times. I found the writing style, or more specifically the writer's voice, to be uneven, ranging from pure narrative to extremely lyrical. As much as it pains me to say this, I found the lyrical prose to be very extreme, to the point where I found that it distracted from the story.

I did enjoy reading the story itself. It's about fraternal twins growing up in India while ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

May 21, 2021 Lise Petrauskas rated it really liked it

Shelves: novels, india

I had a really really hard time getting through this book. I have started it multiple times over the years and not gotten anywhere with it. It has a slow start, and now that I've read it, I feel that the beginning is problematic. So why did I rate it 4 stars? I'm not quite sure, but I think the story will stick with me. There's a real heart to it, a moral center in a way, but also an emotional intensity and an insight into the ways children make meanings out of small things while misunderstandin ...more

2 likes · Like · see review