The God of Small Things

By: Arundhati Roy

Narrated by: Sneha Mathan

Man Booker Prize Winner, 1997

Likened to the works of Faulkner and Dickens when it was first published 20 years ago, this extraordinarily accomplished debut novel is a brilliantly plotted story of forbidden love and piercing political drama, centered on the tragic decline of an Indian family in the state of Kerala, on the southernmost tip of India.

Armed only with the invincible innocence of children, the twins Rahel and Esthappen fashion a childhood for themselves in the shade of the wreck that is their family - their lonely, lovely mother Ammu (who loves by night the man her children love by day), their blind grandmother Mammachi (who plays Handel on her violin), their beloved uncle Chacko (Rhodes scholar, pickle baron, radical Marxist, bottom-pincher), their enemy Baby Kochamma (ex-nun and incumbent grandaunt), and the ghost of an imperial entomologist's moth (with unusually dense dorsal tufts).

When their English cousin and her mother arrive on a Christmas visit, the twins learn that things can change in a day. That lives can twist into new, ugly shapes, even cease forever. The brilliantly plotted story uncoils with an agonizing sense of foreboding and inevitability. Yet nothing prepares you for what lies at the heart of it.

©1997 Arundhati Roy (P)2017 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

The most beautiful book in history

There are no words to describe this story because Arundhati Roy has already used them all up. Raw Beauty and Sadness. Descriptive brilliance. Structurally unique. A literary enigma. It blew my heart away.

Loved it!

Just beautiful! Would have liked to finish at one go instead of the two days it took. Can't wait to start Roy's new book tomorrow.

The narration makes the story come to life!

I read this book when it first came out, over a decade ago. Decided to listen to it on audiobook since it was free on Audible. Let me just say that I am incredibly impressed by the narration! I knew the storyline and enjoyed the intricate pictures Roy creates with her words, but the narration was so perfect that it made the story vibrant in a way I had not anticipated. I highly recommend it!

Beautifully written but difficult to read

The book is so creatively and beautifully written but it was hard to read. I found it much more enjoyable to listen on audible than actually read.

Couldn’t stick with it

Abundant metaphors, vivid descriptions, colorful characters. Storytelling deftly woven. Impassionate. Maybe it’s me but it was all too much. And sad. I couldn’t stick with it.