Sneak peak: The God of Small Things

The God of Small Things; Source: Wikipedia

Acclaimed as a masterpiece in India, Arundhati Roy’s debut novel, The God of Small Things has taken the literary world by storm.

 

Winner of the prestigious Booker prize in 1997, The God of Small Things encompasses a tale of forbidden love and loss. It is a tale in which the intricate fibres of human nature and the simplicity of the ’small’ pleasures in life coalesce.

Set in the village of Ayemenem, in the South Indian state of Kerala, the novel follows the lives of its two main characters, fraternal twins, Estha and Rahel.

However, the narration does not start at the beginning of everything in 1969 (when the twins were children), but begins with the present situation (the return of adult Rahel to the village), and moves back and forth in time.

The twins move through life trying to avoid the turmoil that once, surrounded their childhood, until one day, the reality of things comes back to bite them, unleashing a torrent of emotion.

The main events occur during their cousin Sophie’s visit, which, I am only going to say, rocks the family to its very core.

Story

The twin’s blind grandmother Mammachi, also makes an entrance. Rhodes scholar, Chacko, the twin’s beloved uncle, his ex-wife and their mortal enemy, grandaunt Baby Kochamma, all play vital roles in Estha and Rahel’s fragmented childhood.

Ammu, the twin’s mother, and her illicit love affair with the untouchable Velutha, the man “her children loved by day and the man she loved by night,” makes an already bad situation, worse.

Their forbidden affair broke the ‘Love Laws’, the traditions and social barriers that India was built on.

The author expertly handles the touchy issues of caste, gender and communism, which plagued post-colonial India and which even prevail, to some extent, today.

Her knack for storytelling is emphasised by the way she expertly uses the twins to highlight these social evils. In spite of this however, Roy always manages to bring the characters tragic lives to the forefront.

On the downside, some Indian readers may be put off by the fact that their home country is continually portrayed as a place of brutal injustice and corruption throughout the novel.

Additionally, the erotic images with which Arundhati Roy describes the sexual encounters between Ammu, the upper caste Syrian Catholic, and Velutha, the Hindu untouchable, may be seen as highly offensive by Kerala’s conservative Syrian Catholic community.

Also, readers may find the shifting time sequences a tad tiresome. For me however, this inventive narrative style, which weaves between the past and present, heightens the suspense, mystery and drama, not to mention the complexity of each well-defined character. It definitely contributes to the books gripping climax.

As for Roy’s style of writing, remarkable, is the word that promptly springs to mind. For instance, she incorporates capital letters for emphasis and makes use of a number of typical Indian terms, like ‘mol’ for girl and ‘mon’ for boy.

From the very beginning, her poetic and descriptive language is able to capture the exotic qualities of tropical Kerala and is enough to leave reader’s totally hooked.

Often compared to Salman Rushdie’s earlier work, The God of Small Things is by no means a fairytale. Although it is a book that explores life’s greater dimensions, you can easily relate your own life to it.

After all, everyone has a past, and this book shows us that it is okay to revisit it, no matter how ugly.

So, be prepared to be transported to India and back, for that is how powerful Roy’s innate ability, as a writer is.

Are you spellbound by Enchanted?

Once your children, especially your little girls have seen this film, they are going to be well and truly captivated.

 

Disney’s Enchanted, immediately transports you into a world where fairy-tale characters come to life, literally.

 

Giselle (Amy Adams) is set to marry the love of her life, Prince Edward (James Marsden). However, the Queen (Susan Sarandon), Edward’s wicked stepmother has no intention of giving up her right to the throne and banishes her would-be daughter-in-law to present-day New York.

 

Naive of the potential dangers lurking around her, Giselle is rescued by Robert (Patrick Dempsey), a hunky divorce lawyer – with a girlfriend, I must add, and his daughter.

 

And yes, you guessed it, they find themselves falling head-over-heels for each other – their past relationships forgotten.

 

Although, what some may find a tad annoying is Giselle’s constant breaking into song and dance right in the middle of Manhattan.

Besides this, the film can do no wrong.

 

So, will Giselle escape the evil Queen’s poison apples? Will she stay in the real world with her newfound love or return to ‘real’ life?

Get ready folks for a night of enchantment, beyond your wildest dreams.