Arundhati Roy plays with words and time in this novel. The action of this tragic story moves in time, so that the reader knows early on that Chacko's daughter will die and that Estha will be separated from his twin Rahel. The word play is regular, Lay Ter and Bar Nowl are just short examples. It is a complex story set in Kerala in India about a family living in rural Kerala with a pickle factory where they make illegal banana jam! Some of the word play and similies felt clumsy but the novel is well crafted. ( )

I really enjoyed this story and I enjoyed the writing style. It was a little like reading a very very long poem with a lovely story.
I loved the time spent developing the characters and the storyline.

But, I thought the foreshadowing was just too much for too long. When you have a 300 page book, 200 of the pages shouldn't be repeatedly reminding you of the end (and the big twist). So, when it finally got to the part it had been warning about, I was let down because it was just so undramatic.

It got a little weird at times, but it was a good read even with some flaws. I'm glad I read it. ( )

Take two timelines a couple of decades apart. The earlier line is a few times longer than the later one. Cut each one into beads and string them on threads, every third or fourth bead equipped with a compass pointing to the big, dark whirlpool of a bead near the end of the early string. Cut each string in several pieces. Tangle them up. Try reading that.
I did not enjoy the experience of this book. The story, about a dysfunctional family of no great character and with one dishonestly malevolent member, heads precipitously toward more than one of the tragedies littering the Indian landscape. The language is compelling, as is the imagery. The only aspect I found worthwhile was the portrayal of children making their own sense out of the adults' insane behaviors. Oh, and the second timeline is dreck. ( )

"But at times like these, only the Small Things are ever said. The Big Things lurk unsaid inside."

Resplendent in style and panoramic in scope, this is the tale of a family dispersed after tragedies, abuse, separation, and death. Rahel and Estha are twins, after their mother returns to her hometown of Ayemenem, Kerala, India, following the end of her marriage with their father, they’re thrust into the life of this incredible town which Arundhati Roy creates in such sumptuous detail.

The way the historical, social, political, and economic state of this town is embedded into the narrative is no small feat. The level of work done so that a person like me who knows little about the caste system in India came to understand about the ways it affects lives, without much disturbance in the story, is incredible.

There are a few things that made this difficult to read, one of them being, in my opinion, an unrestrained use of metaphor which at times gave, I think, a ridiculous comparison like this one:
"The ants made a faint crunchy sound as life left them. Like an elf eating toast, or a crisp biscuit."

And better yet, a paragraph that shows Roy's rich style that’s weighed down with metaphor that's unneeded with such unique style:

"The floor was sticky. White walls had turned an uneven grey. Brass hinges and doorhandles were dull and greasy to the touch. Infrequently used plug points were clogged with grime. Lightbulbs had a film of oil on them. The only things that shone were the giant cockroaches that scurried around like varnished gofers on a film set.”

This could just be said to be taste. I prefer restraint in metaphor use–and description too but the richness of description in this story was such that I didn’t mind, even enjoyed, sentence upon sentence of this–and my obsessive mind would be thrown off when I read a metaphor that seemed ill-used. But literary tastes aren’t as set down as the laws of physics are, this being fiction there are those that don’t mind it, and even enjoy it.

The other difficulty encountered with the story was the spatial and temporal leaps taken. Sporadic shifts in time period and geographical setting made this disorienting to read. I learned that by the time Roy wrote this she was already an established and award-winning screenplay writer, which makes sense. There are certain ways film helps the viewer take such leaps that’s different from the novel.

This book is still an outstanding feat. Its people and the place is imprinted in my mind and I won’t forget it anytime soon. On a whim I decided to search up the town of Ayemenem, and to my surprise it turned out to be real (the writer drew certain aspects of her life and those of others into the story) and it looks exactly as the writer painted it.
I also found this photo essay meant to commemorate the book’s 20th anniversary which features the beautiful and gracious (because I personally wouldn’t have been able to do it) residents of the town posing with the book. I'll finish this review with a link to the photo essay:

https://www.thedelhiwalla.com/2016/07/15/photo-essay-20-the-god-of-small-things-... ( )

I read a lot of books, and enjoy many, but only very occasionally do I read and enjoy a book as moving and powerful as this one. What a book! And the author's first novel!!
A tale of members of a family, some nice, some not so nice, but all searingly realistic and believable. Set in south-west India, the family is well educated and worldly, but still subject to the horrors of the caste system.
The story is told in a non-linear fashion. Part is set with the young mother and her twins as children, and some is set about 20 years later. The structure works well - snippets of the key events are told early, while the details come later.
Anyway - amazingly good. ( )