The God Of Small Things: 200 Word Reviews #9

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy is an utterly phenomenal book. I struggle to put into words the beauty of its prose, or do a semblance of justice to the ragged and raw story of trauma it tells. Reading it changed me, changed the kind of books I hope to write.

The God of Small Things is one tale set in two times, but both in the same rural, Indian town. The first is a story of sudden and pointless tragedy amidst a spiderweb of familial baggage. The other is a few decades in the future and follows the processing of that trauma in the ghost town that was once home.

Roy’s prose is experimental and vivid, drawing on created terms and creative typography to convey the inner monologue of different characters. It paints such a world that I can smell it, and feel the sweat on my skin in the humid tropical air. I can see the people and all their mannerism; their failings and why they failed.

The God of Small Things is one of the few classics I have ever read that I feel deserves the title, and I promise you need to read it.