continuing my ramble on "The God of Small Things"...
so, on a recent trip to india, i had a lot of airport and flight time to finish TGOST and i did!
i maintain my initial view, which is that the book is a lovely read. as i went along, it did get darker and more "adult". towards the second half, Roy definitely took the gloves off. the seven year old's story made way for the mother's and the rest of the family's and their misfortunes and the fall(s) from glory. without revealing the story, i just want to say that its heartbreaking in the end. somewhat like "a fine balance" where the reader isn't offered any hope in the end. you look for something good, something hopeful, but there just isn't!
however, at the end of the day, as i see it, it is a story and its woven really well. some people may find her lyrical descriptions tiresome.. but i think they stop short of being so because every word she uses actually moves you to see and feel more of the scene she wants you to see. her description of the river, the smell of the monsoon, the oldness of the History house, the colour of blood, an old boat with its bottom sprouting plants and moss, the way a drowned human body looks even.. everything she tells you, makes it that much more vivid.
there's a point in the book where the three cousins are playing in the mud and one of them is killing ants.. the other says "leave one, so that it can be lonely". i re-read that a few times because it shows you how mean kids can be but how clueless they are of what they might be doing.. or witnessing or experiencing. another instance is when the twins ask ammu if she was having an afternoon-mare and she says it wasn't because she was happy in her dream. so the son asks, "if you're happy in a dream, does it count?" and ammu asks "does what count?" and he goes "the happiness". i think that not many a seven year old would have asked that question.. but it does make you think.. if you're happy in a dream.. does it count? it is happiness. right?
so there. i'm tired of writing about it. in the end, i just want to say that the book made me very sad but it also made me very glad to have read something that made me feel so much.
