Un put down able.. And also, very well written, and very well structured.
Back in 97, when every other Indian novel to hit the stands was not winning the Booker prize, I didnt think it was surprising that this book won the prize. A book written the way this one was written, definitely deserved the prize.
Perhaps my enthusiasm for the book stemmed from the fact that I am one of those 'Caste Christians' and have seen Meenichilaaru almost every summer, while visiting my fathers house in Palai. I can very easily visualise a fat-basking in oil- lungi clad uncle asking about your die-vorce. And having watched enough Mallu movies, it is just as easy to imagine a Policeman who taps at someones breasts. However, having been brought up outside Kerala, I possibly missed the political context completely, and therefore did not find anything controversial in the book..(The fact of the matter is, I hardly know who EMS was... ) As for the alleged sexual content that the Mallu media was raising such a cry about.. I didnt find it to be any worse than an average Sidney Sheldon novel.
It was only later, when I started reading other winning novels set in other parts of our country, that I realised how difficult it is to comprehend the culture and subtleties of another state. I could not appreciate Kiran Desai's Inheritance of Loss. Nor did I like The White Tiger as much as I liked The God of Small Things. It is only then, that I realised how difficult a job "appreciation" is. And how difficult it must be for a booker prize committe to judge each book, coming in with the ethos and culture of authors from so many different countries. So far, I think they have done a wonderful job, picking out the right books..
Years after I finished reading The God of Small Things, I came upon another Booker prize winning novel called "The Bone People" by Kerewin Holmes. I was surprised by how similar the two books seemed in structure. Was it just a coincidence, or was Ms. Roy influenced by it? Now that I mention it, The Bone people is a great read too.
And for those of you who like Arundhati Roy, I would suggest that you try her essays. Her essays are at times even more impressive than the book.
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