First line: May in Ayemenem is a hot, brooding month.
To end this year of book reviews, I thought this book would be appropriate. Never in my short life have I come across a novel that has affected me so deeply. It's thought-provoking, disgusting, depressing, fervently beautiful, and disruptive. How deep into the soul of a land can you unearth, to gently hold its bones and stare at unflinchingly as Roy has? There is no exaggeration in this statement when I say: Arundhati Roy is a literary genius. And this was her first foray into novel-writing, debuted in 1997. Her next novel, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness is expected to be published next year in June.
The God of Small Things takes us into the world of Rahel and Esthappen, fraternal twins born of Ammu, a Syrian Christian whose failed 'love marriage', sends them back to the abusive household of her parents. However, their lives is one dominated by the 'Love Laws' which dictate "who should be loved, and how. And how much." Their lives gradually intertwine with that of Velutha, an untouchable who has worked for the family since childhood. In the midst of it all is the rumblings of communism and themes of separation and reunion within a society segregated by caste in a post-colonial Kerala.
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I kid you not, there was a section in this novel that had me put this book away for a week because the suffering of its characters became so intense and so... relatable. Being of Indian heritage myself, the discussion of caste is one that, while soft in conversation in Malaysia, is not completely disregarded But to actually look into the past, and to see how caste-dominance was played out in India, the vile notion of being treated like trash by virtue of your birth, is very real. And is in fact, still a big part of Indian culture today.
The God of Small Things speaks bravely about the effects of the caste system on its followers, especially of those who are on the lowest rung of the ladder: Untouchables. Dalits. You're so much of nothing that you would have to crawl, close to wherever you went, with a broom tied to your back to sweep away your footsteps. Evidence of your existence swept away by your own hand. Can you imagine a life such as this? Can you think upon an existence wherein you are born to nothing and forced by culture to stay at nothing, even if you have massive potential to contribute to your environment in a big way? Being stripped of the ability to love another because of the colour of your skin and your social strata?
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Roy breaks down boundaries and destroys stereotypes, fearlessly shining a light on the plight of subalterns in Indian society. She also picks on the different ways interracial marriage is looked at and the double standard put in place when it involves...Certain races.
This novel is not set chronologically, so you reader have to put the pieces together, bit by bit. It can be irritating, the jumping, the descriptive passages and the use of local Maliyali dialect littered within the novel, though I would argue it's to preserve the authenticity of the novel's background. There is good reason for the non-linear nature of the writing. At the end of the day, is it not the small things? The small pieces of sadness and the bits of joy, of what we take for granted, that make up the bigger picture of our lives? Are they not scattered across the continuum of our days? Furthermore, Roy was trained as an architect before she turned to activism and essays, therefore the structure of this novel could be said to be one that reflects her beginnings.
Read this book. Today. Next year. Naaley. Fucking hell, read this goddamn book if it's the last thing you do. It's hauntingly beautiful. You'll understand why it won the 1997 Man Booker prize.
tl;dr
Are there animals in the novel?: Nah.
Are there sexy times in it?: Yush.
Are there dead people in it?: Yep.
Is it lengthy?: It'll certainly take some time to digest.
Reread?: YES. Yes, yes, yes.
Judge the book by its cover: Could do with a better front cover.Rating: 4.8/5 meows
Pun: What rahel esthappening
