In her first novel, award-winning Indian screenwriter Arundhati Roy conjures a whoosh of wordplay that rises from the pages like a brilliant jazz improvisation. The God of Small Things is nominally the story of young twins Rahel and Estha and the rest of their family, but the book feels like a million stories spinning out indefinitely; it is the product of a genius child-mind that takes everything in and transforms it in an alchemy of poetry. The God of Small Things is at once exotic and familiar to the Western reader, written in an English that's completely new and invigorated by the Asian Indian influences of culture and language.

Masterpiece! , 21 Oct 2008
The God of Small Things is an excellent book, one of a kind. Vocabulary that Roy has used, though unconventional and sometimes grammatically incorrect, is what makes the story powerful and unique.

In its simplest description it is a story of one family, mostly of Estha and Rahel. In its complex description it is a story that raises many questions that for generations have been unanswerable.

Caste system in India, discrimination against untouchables is only of them. Through sad tale of Velutha and Ammu, we see the price one pays for trying to overcome the barriers that society has placed. Velutha's untouchable body touched Ammu's upper-cast body in the most intimate form. He was a man, she a woman and they made passionate love. But it wasn't how the society saw it. He was an untouchable and she a divorcee woman of upper-cast. She had on right to sleep with any man, least of all with an untouchable. She had no right to open her legs for a man, who was not considered good enough to be invited in the house. As Roy reminds us several times, there are rules about who should be loved and how much. When someone like Ammu dares to break those rules, someone like Velutha pays the price.

Twins broke the rules too, but their oneness of soul protects them from the accusing fingers of society. They are withdrawn; careless about the world. They have a protective shell around them which no one but only the other twin can enter. No one understands their bond, the closeness they share. Estha's silence is interpreted only by Rahel. Estha's invisible presence is seen by Rahel.

It is a story of love and loss, of politics and national changes. But above all it is a story of humanity that somehow manages to touch a soul of a reader.


A mix of everything, 04 Oct 2008
The God of Small Things tells the story of an Indian family that defies the Laws of Love ("that say who should be loved and how much").

It's a wonderful portrayal of Indian society over the past forty years and surprisingly insightful about family relationships. It's got a bit of everything as well: humor, innocence, sorrow, death, love, sex. It hides very little and it happens to give a very clear idea of the world through a child's eyes - something that reminded me of Mark Haddon, I must admit.

I enjoyed it a lot and I recommend whole-heartedly.

Tray Bong, 25 Sep 2008
My first attempt at reading this book took me to page 70, then I gave up. The descriptive language and pointless metaphors annoyed me. I also found the book hard to get into because it kept jumping around between past and present.
Unfortunately, I had to try and read the book again because I was studying it in English. I started, again, from the beginning and persisted with Roy's unique style. Once I had re-reached page 70 I realised that I was enjoying the book much more this time around. The mixed up chronology gives each event more significance and realism, and the jumbled order soon becomes easy enough to follow and understand. Every chapter has its own importance and relevance as in any good book, you just don't know it yet. I think that some knowledge of India and Indian Politics, especially Communism, might help people enjoy the book more because it will make some parts easier to understand.
Overall, it is worth the initial struggle needed to get into this book, because when you do you will be rewarded. It is also ironic that Roy's style is the first thing you hate but the last thing you love.
I would like to finish by urging anyone that gave the book a review of 1 or 2 stars to read it again. Of course, you are entitled to your opinion and if you believe this book to be bad then that is fine. However, you are wrong.


Review of 'The God of Small Things', 24 Sep 2008
At first, I found this book quite inaccessible, due to the many characters thrown at you within the first few pages, and the way the plot gallops off without you. In fact, I did wonder whether my copy had a few pages missing at the start, and it took me several attempts at reading chapter 1 before I finally started to get into the book. But when I did, it was well worth it.

Roy displays emotions in an equally sensitive and delicate way as nature. Working hard to follow the sections of plot revealed at different points, I think I learnt something of the confusion Rahel and Estha felt, and the efforts they had to make growing up in the midst of a broken family, and a troubled culture. I found the juxtaposition between the un-conventionally structured novel, and the ever present metaphorical boundaries very appropriate.

A mix of the stories of individuals, and those that affect all of us, this book finishes with a concept we can all relate to: tommorow.

Worth it!, 24 Sep 2008
The fact that `The God of Small Things' has won the Booker Prize would initially make anyone think that the book was probably worth a read.

However Roy's individual writing style can make getting into this book and understanding the concepts and plot challenging. Other reviewers have commented on the difficulty in getting to know the characters and associating with them in the plot that frequently switches between past and present. Initially, after the first few chapters, I would have agreed with them; however if you want to fully appreciate this book it is necessary to look further into the book than merely the words on the page. The childish language and descriptive narrative that many readers have expressed dislike with, I think is entirely necessary in creating the right ambiance in the chapters where Rahel and Estha are children. Additionally, the way in which the plot is told is entirely in keeping with how any real life story is discovered, through snippets of information, and not in a chronological list.

The negative reviews of this book I can sympathise with, but unfortunately I have to say that they will be from reviewers who do not want to delve deeper into the Indian meanings, customs and cultures that Roy includes; and instead want everything laid out for them on a plate... Persevere with this book and you will be rewarded!

Masterpiece! , 21 Oct 2008
The God of Small Things is an excellent book, one of a kind. Vocabulary that Roy has used, though unconventional and sometimes grammatically incorrect, is what makes the story powerful and unique.

In its simplest description it is a story of one family, mostly of Estha and Rahel. In its complex description it is a story that raises many questions that for generations have been unanswerable.

Caste system in India, discrimination against untouchables is only of them. Through sad tale of Velutha and Ammu, we see the price one pays for trying to overcome the barriers that society has placed. Velutha's untouchable body touched Ammu's upper-cast body in the most intimate form. He was a man, she a woman and they made passionate love. But it wasn't how the society saw it. He was an untouchable and she a divorcee woman of upper-cast. She had on right to sleep with any man, least of all with an untouchable. She had no right to open her legs for a man, who was not considered good enough to be invited in the house. As Roy reminds us several times, there are rules about who should be loved and how much. When someone like Ammu dares to break those rules, someone like Velutha pays the price.

Twins broke the rules too, but their oneness of soul protects them from the accusing fingers of society. They are withdrawn; careless about the world. They have a protective shell around them which no one but only the other twin can enter. No one understands their bond, the closeness they share. Estha's silence is interpreted only by Rahel. Estha's invisible presence is seen by Rahel.

It is a story of love and loss, of politics and national changes. But above all it is a story of humanity that somehow manages to touch a soul of a reader.


A mix of everything, 04 Oct 2008
The God of Small Things tells the story of an Indian family that defies the Laws of Love ("that say who should be loved and how much").

It's a wonderful portrayal of Indian society over the past forty years and surprisingly insightful about family relationships. It's got a bit of everything as well: humor, innocence, sorrow, death, love, sex. It hides very little and it happens to give a very clear idea of the world through a child's eyes - something that reminded me of Mark Haddon, I must admit.

I enjoyed it a lot and I recommend whole-heartedly.

Tray Bong, 25 Sep 2008
My first attempt at reading this book took me to page 70, then I gave up. The descriptive language and pointless metaphors annoyed me. I also found the book hard to get into because it kept jumping around between past and present.
Unfortunately, I had to try and read the book again because I was studying it in English. I started, again, from the beginning and persisted with Roy's unique style. Once I had re-reached page 70 I realised that I was enjoying the book much more this time around. The mixed up chronology gives each event more significance and realism, and the jumbled order soon becomes easy enough to follow and understand. Every chapter has its own importance and relevance as in any good book, you just don't know it yet. I think that some knowledge of India and Indian Politics, especially Communism, might help people enjoy the book more because it will make some parts easier to understand.
Overall, it is worth the initial struggle needed to get into this book, because when you do you will be rewarded. It is also ironic that Roy's style is the first thing you hate but the last thing you love.
I would like to finish by urging anyone that gave the book a review of 1 or 2 stars to read it again. Of course, you are entitled to your opinion and if you believe this book to be bad then that is fine. However, you are wrong.


Review of 'The God of Small Things', 24 Sep 2008
At first, I found this book quite inaccessible, due to the many characters thrown at you within the first few pages, and the way the plot gallops off without you. In fact, I did wonder whether my copy had a few pages missing at the start, and it took me several attempts at reading chapter 1 before I finally started to get into the book. But when I did, it was well worth it.

Roy displays emotions in an equally sensitive and delicate way as nature. Working hard to follow the sections of plot revealed at different points, I think I learnt something of the confusion Rahel and Estha felt, and the efforts they had to make growing up in the midst of a broken family, and a troubled culture. I found the juxtaposition between the un-conventionally structured novel, and the ever present metaphorical boundaries very appropriate.

A mix of the stories of individuals, and those that affect all of us, this book finishes with a concept we can all relate to: tommorow.

Worth it!, 24 Sep 2008
The fact that `The God of Small Things' has won the Booker Prize would initially make anyone think that the book was probably worth a read.

However Roy's individual writing style can make getting into this book and understanding the concepts and plot challenging. Other reviewers have commented on the difficulty in getting to know the characters and associating with them in the plot that frequently switches between past and present. Initially, after the first few chapters, I would have agreed with them; however if you want to fully appreciate this book it is necessary to look further into the book than merely the words on the page. The childish language and descriptive narrative that many readers have expressed dislike with, I think is entirely necessary in creating the right ambiance in the chapters where Rahel and Estha are children. Additionally, the way in which the plot is told is entirely in keeping with how any real life story is discovered, through snippets of information, and not in a chronological list.

The negative reviews of this book I can sympathise with, but unfortunately I have to say that they will be from reviewers who do not want to delve deeper into the Indian meanings, customs and cultures that Roy includes; and instead want everything laid out for them on a plate... Persevere with this book and you will be rewarded!


Undistinctly mediocre..., 25 Jun 2008
This collection of short stories is a fairly insipid group of overly-similar tales, which neither present an interesting snapshot, nor constitute mini-stories in themselves. As such, it is a disappointment.

First, the good news. Lahiri has a gentle, fairly soft literary style which doesn't grate, and sits fairly easily on the page. It is not going to offend. Neither will it excite, outrage, drive you to drink or euphoria, agitate, or thrill. It simply sits there, like wallpaper.

The subject matter of the stories becomes repetitive very quickly. Indian person arrives in New York/New England. Finds it odd. Feels dislocated. The end. Okay - one or two stories might conceivably cover that concept with something fresh or insightful. Five or six just gets tedious. I can't vouch for the authenticity of the tales set in India, but to this reader it read like a collection of clichés, and could have been compiled by anyone, using Wikipedia and some pictures on Google. Where are the Indian middle classes? Where is the sense of a subcontinent exploding outwards, taking on the world? No, we have the poor women living on the roof.

Ultimately, Lahiri appears to be writing the same basic story over and over. As a result, the stories have no resonance or impact. When you finish one you merely think "oh yeah, that was just like the last one." For the past few years, it has been the fashion to laud just about any book about India, China or Islam that was written by a photogenic woman. This is clearly just another in that sad trend. Lahiri will have to write a fine novel to raise her level up from this mediocrity.


Over-Rated and Over-Feted Lahiri, 29 Mar 2007
Unlike most readers and reviewers, I am not gaga over this collection. In fact, I am amazed that several of the stories even saw the light of day. I'm going to puke if I read one thing more about "exotic" Indians, with their fish and meat curries, and mustard. And the urban characters she writes about seem like cardboard cutouts (like the guy in the first story who is depressed because his wife has bought him a sweater as a gift) and somewhat snooty. From the literary perspective, it seems that Lahiri has neither had enough experience of real pain or sorrow, nor does she possess the empathy needed for imagining it.

And she should stick to writing about people in America - she simply has no depth to write about India, a country she knows little about (not that I would fault her for that - she is an American).

The last story in the book is the only story that moved me and that is the only one that makes me think Lahiri has genuine glimmers of talent. But the collection, was by no means, deserving of any major award.

Discerning readers should keep in mind that something need not be good simply because it got an award. Especially in the case of the Pulitzer. Please, ...if Thomas Friedman, the Emperor of hacks and jerks, can get one, then why not anyone else?

Interpreting maladies., 24 Aug 2006
An Interpreter of Maladies is not, as Mrs. Das thinks (and as the reader of Jhumpa Lahiri's stories may initially be thinking, too), a medical doctor or a psychologist; someone who interprets the origin and meaning of his patients' various illnesses and malaises and then prescribes the adequate treatment. No: an Interpreter of Maladies is someone who helps them communicate, who speaks the patients' language and is therefore able to translate their personal representation of their feelings to the listener who then, in turn, must come up with his own interpretation of those representations.

And like Mr. Kapasi, the improbable hero of this collection's title story, Ms. Lahiri merely gives an account of her characters' feelings and situation in life at one particular moment - she rarely judges them, nor does she strive to tell the entire story of their lives; even where, as in "The Third and Final Continent," the narrative covers several decades, it is truly only one brief but crucial period which is important. No sledgehammer is being wielded; Lahiri's tone is subtle, subdued - like any good interpreter, she talks in a low voice, just loud enough for her listener/reader to understand; and you have to want to listen to her. If you expect her to shout, to force her account on you in bullet points and bold strikes, you will miss the many finer nuances in between.

Jhumpa Lahiris heroes are Asian and American, they live in India, Pakistan, London and the U.S., and they eat (and painstakingly slowly prepare) delicious, spicy and flavorful food. Many of the stories deal with emotions and life situations which, although they happen to be experienced by Indians and Asian Americans here, are truly universal - the slow and unspoken death of a marriage ("A Temporary Matter"), prejudice against the unknown, particularly when it comes in the form of an illness ("The Treatment of Bibi Haldar"), the frustrations of a life of unfulfilled promises ("Interpreter of Maladies"), and the multilateral deceptions of marital infidelity ("Sexy"), blunted by the trappings of middle class materialism (again, the title story).

Most of Lahiri's Asian American protagonists belong to the "intellectual" upper middle class suburbian population of Boston and other East Coast cities. While on the one hand this is a plus, because that is the author's own background, too, and therefore a segment of society she can describe from personal experience - which also allows her to make these characters particularly accessible - it on the other hand provides for the story collection's one deficiency; in that it renders her portrayal of Asian Americans (whether recent immigrants or second- and third-generation U.S. citizens) unnecessarily unilateral, to the point of bordering on stereotype - more precisely, the Indian version of the stereotypes generally associated with this part of society. Nevertheless, most of Jhumpa Lahiri's often unlikely heroes are portrayed in great depth, and many of them with a lot of sympathy for their humanness and shortcomings. In the best sense of her adopted role as an interpreter of her protagonists' maladies, it is this delicate understanding and empathy which ultimately carries the tone in Lahiri's writing and which makes her reader want to listen, and to come up with his or her own interpretation of each of these stories.

Over-rated, unbelievable and trite, 29 Jul 2006
Sorry, I disagree with all the reviews (and the Pulitzer prize panel!) - I found these stories dull and just not credible. The dialogue, the things people did, the things they thought - just none of it worked for me. I also found the writing passionless and forced, with oddly jarring words and images that made me think of the author at her computer rather than drawing me further into the story.

There's an odd sense of dislocated time that I don't think was deliberate, for example a girl in present day New York having an affair with an Indian had never heard of Bengal and thought India was somewhere myserious that didn't really exist, like Atlantis. Really?

I also have a major problem with a writer who describes someone as 'polishing off' their drink. How this won the Pulitzer is beyond me and a sad indictment on the state of literature today.

Kind and sensitive, 20 Jun 2006
Jhumpa Lahiri's writing is exquisitely simple and elegant. The stories convey immense kindness and the characters are shown in such sensitive and compassionate light that they feel like friends or neighbours rather than fictional types. The best book that I have read in many, many years.

Masterpiece! , 21 Oct 2008
The God of Small Things is an excellent book, one of a kind. Vocabulary that Roy has used, though unconventional and sometimes grammatically incorrect, is what makes the story powerful and unique.

In its simplest description it is a story of one family, mostly of Estha and Rahel. In its complex description it is a story that raises many questions that for generations have been unanswerable.

Caste system in India, discrimination against untouchables is only of them. Through sad tale of Velutha and Ammu, we see the price one pays for trying to overcome the barriers that society has placed. Velutha's untouchable body touched Ammu's upper-cast body in the most intimate form. He was a man, she a woman and they made passionate love. But it wasn't how the society saw it. He was an untouchable and she a divorcee woman of upper-cast. She had on right to sleep with any man, least of all with an untouchable. She had no right to open her legs for a man, who was not considered good enough to be invited in the house. As Roy reminds us several times, there are rules about who should be loved and how much. When someone like Ammu dares to break those rules, someone like Velutha pays the price.

Twins broke the rules too, but their oneness of soul protects them from the accusing fingers of society. They are withdrawn; careless about the world. They have a protective shell around them which no one but only the other twin can enter. No one understands their bond, the closeness they share. Estha's silence is interpreted only by Rahel. Estha's invisible presence is seen by Rahel.

It is a story of love and loss, of politics and national changes. But above all it is a story of humanity that somehow manages to touch a soul of a reader.


A mix of everything, 04 Oct 2008
The God of Small Things tells the story of an Indian family that defies the Laws of Love ("that say who should be loved and how much").

It's a wonderful portrayal of Indian society over the past forty years and surprisingly insightful about family relationships. It's got a bit of everything as well: humor, innocence, sorrow, death, love, sex. It hides very little and it happens to give a very clear idea of the world through a child's eyes - something that reminded me of Mark Haddon, I must admit.

I enjoyed it a lot and I recommend whole-heartedly.

Tray Bong, 25 Sep 2008
My first attempt at reading this book took me to page 70, then I gave up. The descriptive language and pointless metaphors annoyed me. I also found the book hard to get into because it kept jumping around between past and present.
Unfortunately, I had to try and read the book again because I was studying it in English. I started, again, from the beginning and persisted with Roy's unique style. Once I had re-reached page 70 I realised that I was enjoying the book much more this time around. The mixed up chronology gives each event more significance and realism, and the jumbled order soon becomes easy enough to follow and understand. Every chapter has its own importance and relevance as in any good book, you just don't know it yet. I think that some knowledge of India and Indian Politics, especially Communism, might help people enjoy the book more because it will make some parts easier to understand.
Overall, it is worth the initial struggle needed to get into this book, because when you do you will be rewarded. It is also ironic that Roy's style is the first thing you hate but the last thing you love.
I would like to finish by urging anyone that gave the book a review of 1 or 2 stars to read it again. Of course, you are entitled to your opinion and if you believe this book to be bad then that is fine. However, you are wrong.


Review of 'The God of Small Things', 24 Sep 2008
At first, I found this book quite inaccessible, due to the many characters thrown at you within the first few pages, and the way the plot gallops off without you. In fact, I did wonder whether my copy had a few pages missing at the start, and it took me several attempts at reading chapter 1 before I finally started to get into the book. But when I did, it was well worth it.

Roy displays emotions in an equally sensitive and delicate way as nature. Working hard to follow the sections of plot revealed at different points, I think I learnt something of the confusion Rahel and Estha felt, and the efforts they had to make growing up in the midst of a broken family, and a troubled culture. I found the juxtaposition between the un-conventionally structured novel, and the ever present metaphorical boundaries very appropriate.

A mix of the stories of individuals, and those that affect all of us, this book finishes with a concept we can all relate to: tommorow.

Worth it!, 24 Sep 2008
The fact that `The God of Small Things' has won the Booker Prize would initially make anyone think that the book was probably worth a read.

However Roy's individual writing style can make getting into this book and understanding the concepts and plot challenging. Other reviewers have commented on the difficulty in getting to know the characters and associating with them in the plot that frequently switches between past and present. Initially, after the first few chapters, I would have agreed with them; however if you want to fully appreciate this book it is necessary to look further into the book than merely the words on the page. The childish language and descriptive narrative that many readers have expressed dislike with, I think is entirely necessary in creating the right ambiance in the chapters where Rahel and Estha are children. Additionally, the way in which the plot is told is entirely in keeping with how any real life story is discovered, through snippets of information, and not in a chronological list.

The negative reviews of this book I can sympathise with, but unfortunately I have to say that they will be from reviewers who do not want to delve deeper into the Indian meanings, customs and cultures that Roy includes; and instead want everything laid out for them on a plate... Persevere with this book and you will be rewarded!


Undistinctly mediocre..., 25 Jun 2008
This collection of short stories is a fairly insipid group of overly-similar tales, which neither present an interesting snapshot, nor constitute mini-stories in themselves. As such, it is a disappointment.

First, the good news. Lahiri has a gentle, fairly soft literary style which doesn't grate, and sits fairly easily on the page. It is not going to offend. Neither will it excite, outrage, drive you to drink or euphoria, agitate, or thrill. It simply sits there, like wallpaper.

The subject matter of the stories becomes repetitive very quickly. Indian person arrives in New York/New England. Finds it odd. Feels dislocated. The end. Okay - one or two stories might conceivably cover that concept with something fresh or insightful. Five or six just gets tedious. I can't vouch for the authenticity of the tales set in India, but to this reader it read like a collection of clichés, and could have been compiled by anyone, using Wikipedia and some pictures on Google. Where are the Indian middle classes? Where is the sense of a subcontinent exploding outwards, taking on the world? No, we have the poor women living on the roof.

Ultimately, Lahiri appears to be writing the same basic story over and over. As a result, the stories have no resonance or impact. When you finish one you merely think "oh yeah, that was just like the last one." For the past few years, it has been the fashion to laud just about any book about India, China or Islam that was written by a photogenic woman. This is clearly just another in that sad trend. Lahiri will have to write a fine novel to raise her level up from this mediocrity.


Over-Rated and Over-Feted Lahiri, 29 Mar 2007
Unlike most readers and reviewers, I am not gaga over this collection. In fact, I am amazed that several of the stories even saw the light of day. I'm going to puke if I read one thing more about "exotic" Indians, with their fish and meat curries, and mustard. And the urban characters she writes about seem like cardboard cutouts (like the guy in the first story who is depressed because his wife has bought him a sweater as a gift) and somewhat snooty. From the literary perspective, it seems that Lahiri has neither had enough experience of real pain or sorrow, nor does she possess the empathy needed for imagining it.

And she should stick to writing about people in America - she simply has no depth to write about India, a country she knows little about (not that I would fault her for that - she is an American).

The last story in the book is the only story that moved me and that is the only one that makes me think Lahiri has genuine glimmers of talent. But the collection, was by no means, deserving of any major award.

Discerning readers should keep in mind that something need not be good simply because it got an award. Especially in the case of the Pulitzer. Please, ...if Thomas Friedman, the Emperor of hacks and jerks, can get one, then why not anyone else?

Interpreting maladies., 24 Aug 2006
An Interpreter of Maladies is not, as Mrs. Das thinks (and as the reader of Jhumpa Lahiri's stories may initially be thinking, too), a medical doctor or a psychologist; someone who interprets the origin and meaning of his patients' various illnesses and malaises and then prescribes the adequate treatment. No: an Interpreter of Maladies is someone who helps them communicate, who speaks the patients' language and is therefore able to translate their personal representation of their feelings to the listener who then, in turn, must come up with his own interpretation of those representations.

And like Mr. Kapasi, the improbable hero of this collection's title story, Ms. Lahiri merely gives an account of her characters' feelings and situation in life at one particular moment - she rarely judges them, nor does she strive to tell the entire story of their lives; even where, as in "The Third and Final Continent," the narrative covers several decades, it is truly only one brief but crucial period which is important. No sledgehammer is being wielded; Lahiri's tone is subtle, subdued - like any good interpreter, she talks in a low voice, just loud enough for her listener/reader to understand; and you have to want to listen to her. If you expect her to shout, to force her account on you in bullet points and bold strikes, you will miss the many finer nuances in between.

Jhumpa Lahiris heroes are Asian and American, they live in India, Pakistan, London and the U.S., and they eat (and painstakingly slowly prepare) delicious, spicy and flavorful food. Many of the stories deal with emotions and life situations which, although they happen to be experienced by Indians and Asian Americans here, are truly universal - the slow and unspoken death of a marriage ("A Temporary Matter"), prejudice against the unknown, particularly when it comes in the form of an illness ("The Treatment of Bibi Haldar"), the frustrations of a life of unfulfilled promises ("Interpreter of Maladies"), and the multilateral deceptions of marital infidelity ("Sexy"), blunted by the trappings of middle class materialism (again, the title story).

Most of Lahiri's Asian American protagonists belong to the "intellectual" upper middle class suburbian population of Boston and other East Coast cities. While on the one hand this is a plus, because that is the author's own background, too, and therefore a segment of society she can describe from personal experience - which also allows her to make these characters particularly accessible - it on the other hand provides for the story collection's one deficiency; in that it renders her portrayal of Asian Americans (whether recent immigrants or second- and third-generation U.S. citizens) unnecessarily unilateral, to the point of bordering on stereotype - more precisely, the Indian version of the stereotypes generally associated with this part of society. Nevertheless, most of Jhumpa Lahiri's often unlikely heroes are portrayed in great depth, and many of them with a lot of sympathy for their humanness and shortcomings. In the best sense of her adopted role as an interpreter of her protagonists' maladies, it is this delicate understanding and empathy which ultimately carries the tone in Lahiri's writing and which makes her reader want to listen, and to come up with his or her own interpretation of each of these stories.

Over-rated, unbelievable and trite, 29 Jul 2006
Sorry, I disagree with all the reviews (and the Pulitzer prize panel!) - I found these stories dull and just not credible. The dialogue, the things people did, the things they thought - just none of it worked for me. I also found the writing passionless and forced, with oddly jarring words and images that made me think of the author at her computer rather than drawing me further into the story.

There's an odd sense of dislocated time that I don't think was deliberate, for example a girl in present day New York having an affair with an Indian had never heard of Bengal and thought India was somewhere myserious that didn't really exist, like Atlantis. Really?

I also have a major problem with a writer who describes someone as 'polishing off' their drink. How this won the Pulitzer is beyond me and a sad indictment on the state of literature today.

Kind and sensitive, 20 Jun 2006
Jhumpa Lahiri's writing is exquisitely simple and elegant. The stories convey immense kindness and the characters are shown in such sensitive and compassionate light that they feel like friends or neighbours rather than fictional types. The best book that I have read in many, many years.

A double affair, 06 Jun 2003
This book is enjoyable on all sorts of levels and deals with many issues facing India today.

It has as its central theme women. Women and marriage and love and politics and sexuallity and religion. A heady brew which could very easily boil over into a messy novel. The fact that Kapur manages to control her plot is a tribute to the skill of an emerging talent.

I also learnt a lolt from the book. On the factual side I gained a deeper understanding of what was going on in the 1980's and 1990's when the Hindu fundamentalist BJP were the main challenge to the corrupt Congress I party.

But this book is more than facts, it is about emotions and sexuality. About how much a woman has the right to expect and about how women are controlled and manipulated. Most of all it is about fear. Fear of going against social convention by marrying for love. Fear about breaking social convention by leaving your husband and his family for the love of another woman. And the fear of the society which imposes those social conventions. Yes society is very affraid.

This book has all of that and more. And it's thoroughly enjoyable as well

A book with a message., 21 May 2003
I have just finished reading "A Married Women" and are very sorry that there are no more. Every page was a pleasure - very straight-forward language, always right to the point. No unnecessary explanations or words. Just pure action. The novel is about the loves and life of a contemporary Indian women. A women that asks a bit more of life, than tradition will automatically give her. It also gives a very interesting and profound describtion of India today, and the everyday life of Indian women. The special touch of female love gives the novel even more value and describes feelings and senses that can be transfered to any society of the world. A very relevant book, indeed!

Masterpiece! , 21 Oct 2008
The God of Small Things is an excellent book, one of a kind. Vocabulary that Roy has used, though unconventional and sometimes grammatically incorrect, is what makes the story powerful and unique.

In its simplest description it is a story of one family, mostly of Estha and Rahel. In its complex description it is a story that raises many questions that for generations have been unanswerable.

Caste system in India, discrimination against untouchables is only of them. Through sad tale of Velutha and Ammu, we see the price one pays for trying to overcome the barriers that society has placed. Velutha's untouchable body touched Ammu's upper-cast body in the most intimate form. He was a man, she a woman and they made passionate love. But it wasn't how the society saw it. He was an untouchable and she a divorcee woman of upper-cast. She had on right to sleep with any man, least of all with an untouchable. She had no right to open her legs for a man, who was not considered good enough to be invited in the house. As Roy reminds us several times, there are rules about who should be loved and how much. When someone like Ammu dares to break those rules, someone like Velutha pays the price.

Twins broke the rules too, but their oneness of soul protects them from the accusing fingers of society. They are withdrawn; careless about the world. They have a protective shell around them which no one but only the other twin can enter. No one understands their bond, the closeness they share. Estha's silence is interpreted only by Rahel. Estha's invisible presence is seen by Rahel.

It is a story of love and loss, of politics and national changes. But above all it is a story of humanity that somehow manages to touch a soul of a reader.


A mix of everything, 04 Oct 2008
The God of Small Things tells the story of an Indian family that defies the Laws of Love ("that say who should be loved and how much").

It's a wonderful portrayal of Indian society over the past forty years and surprisingly insightful about family relationships. It's got a bit of everything as well: humor, innocence, sorrow, death, love, sex. It hides very little and it happens to give a very clear idea of the world through a child's eyes - something that reminded me of Mark Haddon, I must admit.

I enjoyed it a lot and I recommend whole-heartedly.

Tray Bong, 25 Sep 2008
My first attempt at reading this book took me to page 70, then I gave up. The descriptive language and pointless metaphors annoyed me. I also found the book hard to get into because it kept jumping around between past and present.
Unfortunately, I had to try and read the book again because I was studying it in English. I started, again, from the beginning and persisted with Roy's unique style. Once I had re-reached page 70 I realised that I was enjoying the book much more this time around. The mixed up chronology gives each event more significance and realism, and the jumbled order soon becomes easy enough to follow and understand. Every chapter has its own importance and relevance as in any good book, you just don't know it yet. I think that some knowledge of India and Indian Politics, especially Communism, might help people enjoy the book more because it will make some parts easier to understand.
Overall, it is worth the initial struggle needed to get into this book, because when you do you will be rewarded. It is also ironic that Roy's style is the first thing you hate but the last thing you love.
I would like to finish by urging anyone that gave the book a review of 1 or 2 stars to read it again. Of course, you are entitled to your opinion and if you believe this book to be bad then that is fine. However, you are wrong.


Review of 'The God of Small Things', 24 Sep 2008
At first, I found this book quite inaccessible, due to the many characters thrown at you within the first few pages, and the way the plot gallops off without you. In fact, I did wonder whether my copy had a few pages missing at the start, and it took me several attempts at reading chapter 1 before I finally started to get into the book. But when I did, it was well worth it.

Roy displays emotions in an equally sensitive and delicate way as nature. Working hard to follow the sections of plot revealed at different points, I think I learnt something of the confusion Rahel and Estha felt, and the efforts they had to make growing up in the midst of a broken family, and a troubled culture. I found the juxtaposition between the un-conventionally structured novel, and the ever present metaphorical boundaries very appropriate.

A mix of the stories of individuals, and those that affect all of us, this book finishes with a concept we can all relate to: tommorow.

Worth it!, 24 Sep 2008
The fact that `The God of Small Things' has won the Booker Prize would initially make anyone think that the book was probably worth a read.

However Roy's individual writing style can make getting into this book and understanding the concepts and plot challenging. Other reviewers have commented on the difficulty in getting to know the characters and associating with them in the plot that frequently switches between past and present. Initially, after the first few chapters, I would have agreed with them; however if you want to fully appreciate this book it is necessary to look further into the book than merely the words on the page. The childish language and descriptive narrative that many readers have expressed dislike with, I think is entirely necessary in creating the right ambiance in the chapters where Rahel and Estha are children. Additionally, the way in which the plot is told is entirely in keeping with how any real life story is discovered, through snippets of information, and not in a chronological list.

The negative reviews of this book I can sympathise with, but unfortunately I have to say that they will be from reviewers who do not want to delve deeper into the Indian meanings, customs and cultures that Roy includes; and instead want everything laid out for them on a plate... Persevere with this book and you will be rewarded!


Undistinctly mediocre..., 25 Jun 2008
This collection of short stories is a fairly insipid group of overly-similar tales, which neither present an interesting snapshot, nor constitute mini-stories in themselves. As such, it is a disappointment.

First, the good news. Lahiri has a gentle, fairly soft literary style which doesn't grate, and sits fairly easily on the page. It is not going to offend. Neither will it excite, outrage, drive you to drink or euphoria, agitate, or thrill. It simply sits there, like wallpaper.

The subject matter of the stories becomes repetitive very quickly. Indian person arrives in New York/New England. Finds it odd. Feels dislocated. The end. Okay - one or two stories might conceivably cover that concept with something fresh or insightful. Five or six just gets tedious. I can't vouch for the authenticity of the tales set in India, but to this reader it read like a collection of clichés, and could have been compiled by anyone, using Wikipedia and some pictures on Google. Where are the Indian middle classes? Where is the sense of a subcontinent exploding outwards, taking on the world? No, we have the poor women living on the roof.

Ultimately, Lahiri appears to be writing the same basic story over and over. As a result, the stories have no resonance or impact. When you finish one you merely think "oh yeah, that was just like the last one." For the past few years, it has been the fashion to laud just about any book about India, China or Islam that was written by a photogenic woman. This is clearly just another in that sad trend. Lahiri will have to write a fine novel to raise her level up from this mediocrity.


Over-Rated and Over-Feted Lahiri, 29 Mar 2007
Unlike most readers and reviewers, I am not gaga over this collection. In fact, I am amazed that several of the stories even saw the light of day. I'm going to puke if I read one thing more about "exotic" Indians, with their fish and meat curries, and mustard. And the urban characters she writes about seem like cardboard cutouts (like the guy in the first story who is depressed because his wife has bought him a sweater as a gift) and somewhat snooty. From the literary perspective, it seems that Lahiri has neither had enough experience of real pain or sorrow, nor does she possess the empathy needed for imagining it.

And she should stick to writing about people in America - she simply has no depth to write about India, a country she knows little about (not that I would fault her for that - she is an American).

The last story in the book is the only story that moved me and that is the only one that makes me think Lahiri has genuine glimmers of talent. But the collection, was by no means, deserving of any major award.

Discerning readers should keep in mind that something need not be good simply because it got an award. Especially in the case of the Pulitzer. Please, ...if Thomas Friedman, the Emperor of hacks and jerks, can get one, then why not anyone else?

Interpreting maladies., 24 Aug 2006
An Interpreter of Maladies is not, as Mrs. Das thinks (and as the reader of Jhumpa Lahiri's stories may initially be thinking, too), a medical doctor or a psychologist; someone who interprets the origin and meaning of his patients' various illnesses and malaises and then prescribes the adequate treatment. No: an Interpreter of Maladies is someone who helps them communicate, who speaks the patients' language and is therefore able to translate their personal representation of their feelings to the listener who then, in turn, must come up with his own interpretation of those representations.

And like Mr. Kapasi, the improbable hero of this collection's title story, Ms. Lahiri merely gives an account of her characters' feelings and situation in life at one particular moment - she rarely judges them, nor does she strive to tell the entire story of their lives; even where, as in "The Third and Final Continent," the narrative covers several decades, it is truly only one brief but crucial period which is important. No sledgehammer is being wielded; Lahiri's tone is subtle, subdued - like any good interpreter, she talks in a low voice, just loud enough for her listener/reader to understand; and you have to want to listen to her. If you expect her to shout, to force her account on you in bullet points and bold strikes, you will miss the many finer nuances in between.

Jhumpa Lahiris heroes are Asian and American, they live in India, Pakistan, London and the U.S., and they eat (and painstakingly slowly prepare) delicious, spicy and flavorful food. Many of the stories deal with emotions and life situations which, although they happen to be experienced by Indians and Asian Americans here, are truly universal - the slow and unspoken death of a marriage ("A Temporary Matter"), prejudice against the unknown, particularly when it comes in the form of an illness ("The Treatment of Bibi Haldar"), the frustrations of a life of unfulfilled promises ("Interpreter of Maladies"), and the multilateral deceptions of marital infidelity ("Sexy"), blunted by the trappings of middle class materialism (again, the title story).

Most of Lahiri's Asian American protagonists belong to the "intellectual" upper middle class suburbian population of Boston and other East Coast cities. While on the one hand this is a plus, because that is the author's own background, too, and therefore a segment of society she can describe from personal experience - which also allows her to make these characters particularly accessible - it on the other hand provides for the story collection's one deficiency; in that it renders her portrayal of Asian Americans (whether recent immigrants or second- and third-generation U.S. citizens) unnecessarily unilateral, to the point of bordering on stereotype - more precisely, the Indian version of the stereotypes generally associated with this part of society. Nevertheless, most of Jhumpa Lahiri's often unlikely heroes are portrayed in great depth, and many of them with a lot of sympathy for their humanness and shortcomings. In the best sense of her adopted role as an interpreter of her protagonists' maladies, it is this delicate understanding and empathy which ultimately carries the tone in Lahiri's writing and which makes her reader want to listen, and to come up with his or her own interpretation of each of these stories.

Over-rated, unbelievable and trite, 29 Jul 2006
Sorry, I disagree with all the reviews (and the Pulitzer prize panel!) - I found these stories dull and just not credible. The dialogue, the things people did, the things they thought - just none of it worked for me. I also found the writing passionless and forced, with oddly jarring words and images that made me think of the author at her computer rather than drawing me further into the story.

There's an odd sense of dislocated time that I don't think was deliberate, for example a girl in present day New York having an affair with an Indian had never heard of Bengal and thought India was somewhere myserious that didn't really exist, like Atlantis. Really?

I also have a major problem with a writer who describes someone as 'polishing off' their drink. How this won the Pulitzer is beyond me and a sad indictment on the state of literature today.

Kind and sensitive, 20 Jun 2006
Jhumpa Lahiri's writing is exquisitely simple and elegant. The stories convey immense kindness and the characters are shown in such sensitive and compassionate light that they feel like friends or neighbours rather than fictional types. The best book that I have read in many, many years.

A double affair, 06 Jun 2003
This book is enjoyable on all sorts of levels and deals with many issues facing India today.

It has as its central theme women. Women and marriage and love and politics and sexuallity and religion. A heady brew which could very easily boil over into a messy novel. The fact that Kapur manages to control her plot is a tribute to the skill of an emerging talent.

I also learnt a lolt from the book. On the factual side I gained a deeper understanding of what was going on in the 1980's and 1990's when the Hindu fundamentalist BJP were the main challenge to the corrupt Congress I party.

But this book is more than facts, it is about emotions and sexuality. About how much a woman has the right to expect and about how women are controlled and manipulated. Most of all it is about fear. Fear of going against social convention by marrying for love. Fear about breaking social convention by leaving your husband and his family for the love of another woman. And the fear of the society which imposes those social conventions. Yes society is very affraid.

This book has all of that and more. And it's thoroughly enjoyable as well

A book with a message., 21 May 2003
I have just finished reading "A Married Women" and are very sorry that there are no more. Every page was a pleasure - very straight-forward language, always right to the point. No unnecessary explanations or words. Just pure action. The novel is about the loves and life of a contemporary Indian women. A women that asks a bit more of life, than tradition will automatically give her. It also gives a very interesting and profound describtion of India today, and the everyday life of Indian women. The special touch of female love gives the novel even more value and describes feelings and senses that can be transfered to any society of the world. A very relevant book, indeed!

An engrossing epic!, 08 May 2007
I have read all of Amulya Malladi's novels and this, by far, is the best. The story is gripping; the characters are believable and their relationships are fascinating. In short,it's a rollercoaster read of a brilliantly constructed tale of the lives of a group of so-called outcast women in southern India, from the 1960s-2000s. Definitely a recommended read for anyone who likes that sort of thing!

The anti-hero of The Impressionist, Hari Kunzru's daringly ambitious first novel, is half-English and half-Indian. In the Raj of the 1920s the racial and social divides are enormous but Pran Nath is able to bridge them, crossing from one side to another in a series of reinventions of his own personality. He begins as the spoilt child of an Indian lawyer but circumstances thrust him out of his pampered adolescence into the teeming and dangerous life of the streets. After a bewildering period as one of the pawns in Machiavellian political and sexual scheming at the decadent court of a minor Maharajah, he escapes to Bombay. There he is taken up by a half-demented Scottish missionary and his wife but prefers to slope off to the city's red light district whenever he can. During a time of riot and bloodshed the chance of recreating himself as an English schoolboy, destined for public school and Oxford, presents itself and he takes it. Even this is not to be his final transformation, however.

In some ways Kunzru is almost too ambitious. There is so much crammed into the pages of The Impressionist that some of it, almost inevitably, doesn't work as well as it might. However, as the shape-shifting Pran Nath moves from one identity to another, knockabout farce mixes with satire, social comedy with parody. And, beneath the comic exuberance and linguistic invention, there is an intelligent and occasionally moving examination of notions of self, identity and what it means to belong to a class or society. --Nick Rennison

Masterpiece! , 21 Oct 2008
The God of Small Things is an excellent book, one of a kind. Vocabulary that Roy has used, though unconventional and sometimes grammatically incorrect, is what makes the story powerful and unique.

In its simplest description it is a story of one family, mostly of Estha and Rahel. In its complex description it is a story that raises many questions that for generations have been unanswerable.

Caste system in India, discrimination against untouchables is only of them. Through sad tale of Velutha and Ammu, we see the price one pays for trying to overcome the barriers that society has placed. Velutha's untouchable body touched Ammu's upper-cast body in the most intimate form. He was a man, she a woman and they made passionate love. But it wasn't how the society saw it. He was an untouchable and she a divorcee woman of upper-cast. She had on right to sleep with any man, least of all with an untouchable. She had no right to open her legs for a man, who was not considered good enough to be invited in the house. As Roy reminds us several times, there are rules about who should be loved and how much. When someone like Ammu dares to break those rules, someone like Velutha pays the price.

Twins broke the rules too, but their oneness of soul protects them from the accusing fingers of society. They are withdrawn; careless about the world. They have a protective shell around them which no one but only the other twin can enter. No one understands their bond, the closeness they share. Estha's silence is interpreted only by Rahel. Estha's invisible presence is seen by Rahel.

It is a story of love and loss, of politics and national changes. But above all it is a story of humanity that somehow manages to touch a soul of a reader.


A mix of everything, 04 Oct 2008
The God of Small Things tells the story of an Indian family that defies the Laws of Love ("that say who should be loved and how much").

It's a wonderful portrayal of Indian society over the past forty years and surprisingly insightful about family relationships. It's got a bit of everything as well: humor, innocence, sorrow, death, love, sex. It hides very little and it happens to give a very clear idea of the world through a child's eyes - something that reminded me of Mark Haddon, I must admit.

I enjoyed it a lot and I recommend whole-heartedly.

Tray Bong, 25 Sep 2008
My first attempt at reading this book took me to page 70, then I gave up. The descriptive language and pointless metaphors annoyed me. I also found the book hard to get into because it kept jumping around between past and present.
Unfortunately, I had to try and read the book again because I was studying it in English. I started, again, from the beginning and persisted with Roy's unique style. Once I had re-reached page 70 I realised that I was enjoying the book much more this time around. The mixed up chronology gives each event more significance and realism, and the jumbled order soon becomes easy enough to follow and understand. Every chapter has its own importance and relevance as in any good book, you just don't know it yet. I think that some knowledge of India and Indian Politics, especially Communism, might help people enjoy the book more because it will make some parts easier to understand.
Overall, it is worth the initial struggle needed to get into this book, because when you do you will be rewarded. It is also ironic that Roy's style is the first thing you hate but the last thing you love.
I would like to finish by urging anyone that gave the book a review of 1 or 2 stars to read it again. Of course, you are entitled to your opinion and if you believe this book to be bad then that is fine. However, you are wrong.


Review of 'The God of Small Things', 24 Sep 2008
At first, I found this book quite inaccessible, due to the many characters thrown at you within the first few pages, and the way the plot gallops off without you. In fact, I did wonder whether my copy had a few pages missing at the start, and it took me several attempts at reading chapter 1 before I finally started to get into the book. But when I did, it was well worth it.

Roy displays emotions in an equally sensitive and delicate way as nature. Working hard to follow the sections of plot revealed at different points, I think I learnt something of the confusion Rahel and Estha felt, and the efforts they had to make growing up in the midst of a broken family, and a troubled culture. I found the juxtaposition between the un-conventionally structured novel, and the ever present metaphorical boundaries very appropriate.

A mix of the stories of individuals, and those that affect all of us, this book finishes with a concept we can all relate to: tommorow.

Worth it!, 24 Sep 2008
The fact that `The God of Small Things' has won the Booker Prize would initially make anyone think that the book was probably worth a read.

However Roy's individual writing style can make getting into this book and understanding the concepts and plot challenging. Other reviewers have commented on the difficulty in getting to know the characters and associating with them in the plot that frequently switches between past and present. Initially, after the first few chapters, I would have agreed with them; however if you want to fully appreciate this book it is necessary to look further into the book than merely the words on the page. The childish language and descriptive narrative that many readers have expressed dislike with, I think is entirely necessary in creating the right ambiance in the chapters where Rahel and Estha are children. Additionally, the way in which the plot is told is entirely in keeping with how any real life story is discovered, through snippets of information, and not in a chronological list.

The negative reviews of this book I can sympathise with, but unfortunately I have to say that they will be from reviewers who do not want to delve deeper into the Indian meanings, customs and cultures that Roy includes; and instead want everything laid out for them on a plate... Persevere with this book and you will be rewarded!


Undistinctly mediocre..., 25 Jun 2008
This collection of short stories is a fairly insipid group of overly-similar tales, which neither present an interesting snapshot, nor constitute mini-stories in themselves. As such, it is a disappointment.

First, the good news. Lahiri has a gentle, fairly soft literary style which doesn't grate, and sits fairly easily on the page. It is not going to offend. Neither will it excite, outrage, drive you to drink or euphoria, agitate, or thrill. It simply sits there, like wallpaper.

The subject matter of the stories becomes repetitive very quickly. Indian person arrives in New York/New England. Finds it odd. Feels dislocated. The end. Okay - one or two stories might conceivably cover that concept with something fresh or insightful. Five or six just gets tedious. I can't vouch for the authenticity of the tales set in India, but to this reader it read like a collection of clichés, and could have been compiled by anyone, using Wikipedia and some pictures on Google. Where are the Indian middle classes? Where is the sense of a subcontinent exploding outwards, taking on the world? No, we have the poor women living on the roof.

Ultimately, Lahiri appears to be writing the same basic story over and over. As a result, the stories have no resonance or impact. When you finish one you merely think "oh yeah, that was just like the last one." For the past few years, it has been the fashion to laud just about any book about India, China or Islam that was written by a photogenic woman. This is clearly just another in that sad trend. Lahiri will have to write a fine novel to raise her level up from this mediocrity.


Over-Rated and Over-Feted Lahiri, 29 Mar 2007
Unlike most readers and reviewers, I am not gaga over this collection. In fact, I am amazed that several of the stories even saw the light of day. I'm going to puke if I read one thing more about "exotic" Indians, with their fish and meat curries, and mustard. And the urban characters she writes about seem like cardboard cutouts (like the guy in the first story who is depressed because his wife has bought him a sweater as a gift) and somewhat snooty. From the literary perspective, it seems that Lahiri has neither had enough experience of real pain or sorrow, nor does she possess the empathy needed for imagining it.

And she should stick to writing about people in America - she simply has no depth to write about India, a country she knows little about (not that I would fault her for that - she is an American).

The last story in the book is the only story that moved me and that is the only one that makes me think Lahiri has genuine glimmers of talent. But the collection, was by no means, deserving of any major award.

Discerning readers should keep in mind that something need not be good simply because it got an award. Especially in the case of the Pulitzer. Please, ...if Thomas Friedman, the Emperor of hacks and jerks, can get one, then why not anyone else?

Interpreting maladies., 24 Aug 2006
An Interpreter of Maladies is not, as Mrs. Das thinks (and as the reader of Jhumpa Lahiri's stories may initially be thinking, too), a medical doctor or a psychologist; someone who interprets the origin and meaning of his patients' various illnesses and malaises and then prescribes the adequate treatment. No: an Interpreter of Maladies is someone who helps them communicate, who speaks the patients' language and is therefore able to translate their personal representation of their feelings to the listener who then, in turn, must come up with his own interpretation of those representations.

And like Mr. Kapasi, the improbable hero of this collection's title story, Ms. Lahiri merely gives an account of her characters' feelings and situation in life at one particular moment - she rarely judges them, nor does she strive to tell the entire story of their lives; even where, as in "The Third and Final Continent," the narrative covers several decades, it is truly only one brief but crucial period which is important. No sledgehammer is being wielded; Lahiri's tone is subtle, subdued - like any good interpreter, she talks in a low voice, just loud enough for her listener/reader to understand; and you have to want to listen to her. If you expect her to shout, to force her account on you in bullet points and bold strikes, you will miss the many finer nuances in between.

Jhumpa Lahiris heroes are Asian and American, they live in India, Pakistan, London and the U.S., and they eat (and painstakingly slowly prepare) delicious, spicy and flavorful food. Many of the stories deal with emotions and life situations which, although they happen to be experienced by Indians and Asian Americans here, are truly universal - the slow and unspoken death of a marriage ("A Temporary Matter"), prejudice against the unknown, particularly when it comes in the form of an illness ("The Treatment of Bibi Haldar"), the frustrations of a life of unfulfilled promises ("Interpreter of Maladies"), and the multilateral deceptions of marital infidelity ("Sexy"), blunted by the trappings of middle class materialism (again, the title story).

Most of Lahiri's Asian American protagonists belong to the "intellectual" upper middle class suburbian population of Boston and other East Coast cities. While on the one hand this is a plus, because that is the author's own background, too, and therefore a segment of society she can describe from personal experience - which also allows her to make these characters particularly accessible - it on the other hand provides for the story collection's one deficiency; in that it renders her portrayal of Asian Americans (whether recent immigrants or second- and third-generation U.S. citizens) unnecessarily unilateral, to the point of bordering on stereotype - more precisely, the Indian version of the stereotypes generally associated with this part of society. Nevertheless, most of Jhumpa Lahiri's often unlikely heroes are portrayed in great depth, and many of them with a lot of sympathy for their humanness and shortcomings. In the best sense of her adopted role as an interpreter of her protagonists' maladies, it is this delicate understanding and empathy which ultimately carries the tone in Lahiri's writing and which makes her reader want to listen, and to come up with his or her own interpretation of each of these stories.

Over-rated, unbelievable and trite, 29 Jul 2006
Sorry, I disagree with all the reviews (and the Pulitzer prize panel!) - I found these stories dull and just not credible. The dialogue, the things people did, the things they thought - just none of it worked for me. I also found the writing passionless and forced, with oddly jarring words and images that made me think of the author at her computer rather than drawing me further into the story.

There's an odd sense of dislocated time that I don't think was deliberate, for example a girl in present day New York having an affair with an Indian had never heard of Bengal and thought India was somewhere myserious that didn't really exist, like Atlantis. Really?

I also have a major problem with a writer who describes someone as 'polishing off' their drink. How this won the Pulitzer is beyond me and a sad indictment on the state of literature today.

Kind and sensitive, 20 Jun 2006
Jhumpa Lahiri's writing is exquisitely simple and elegant. The stories convey immense kindness and the characters are shown in such sensitive and compassionate light that they feel like friends or neighbours rather than fictional types. The best book that I have read in many, many years.

A double affair, 06 Jun 2003
This book is enjoyable on all sorts of levels and deals with many issues facing India today.

It has as its central theme women. Women and marriage and love and politics and sexuallity and religion. A heady brew which could very easily boil over into a messy novel. The fact that Kapur manages to control her plot is a tribute to the skill of an emerging talent.

I also learnt a lolt from the book. On the factual side I gained a deeper understanding of what was going on in the 1980's and 1990's when the Hindu fundamentalist BJP were the main challenge to the corrupt Congress I party.

But this book is more than facts, it is about emotions and sexuality. About how much a woman has the right to expect and about how women are controlled and manipulated. Most of all it is about fear. Fear of going against social convention by marrying for love. Fear about breaking social convention by leaving your husband and his family for the love of another woman. And the fear of the society which imposes those social conventions. Yes society is very affraid.

This book has all of that and more. And it's thoroughly enjoyable as well

A book with a message., 21 May 2003
I have just finished reading "A Married Women" and are very sorry that there are no more. Every page was a pleasure - very straight-forward language, always right to the point. No unnecessary explanations or words. Just pure action. The novel is about the loves and life of a contemporary Indian women. A women that asks a bit more of life, than tradition will automatically give her. It also gives a very interesting and profound describtion of India today, and the everyday life of Indian women. The special touch of female love gives the novel even more value and describes feelings and senses that can be transfered to any society of the world. A very relevant book, indeed!

An engrossing epic!, 08 May 2007
I have read all of Amulya Malladi's novels and this, by far, is the best. The story is gripping; the characters are believable and their relationships are fascinating. In short,it's a rollercoaster read of a brilliantly constructed tale of the lives of a group of so-called outcast women in southern India, from the 1960s-2000s. Definitely a recommended read for anyone who likes that sort of thing!

scenes of empire, 19 Mar 2008
This starts out as a particularly grim book, with the outcast antihero
finding himself in different types of sexual slavery. In different guises,
he then finds himself in England and Africa, where the writer allows himself
more scope for seeing the funny side of life. Starting out in the Raj and
finishing in Africa, the effects of empire are reflected in this readable story.

A remarkable first novel, 19 Aug 2007
Ronald Forrester is an English forester in Simla, India, where he came to see what life was like in, ironically, a country without trees. In 1918 during a violent storm which floods the country, this difficult and taciturn man encounters a young woman called Armrita in a cave. After an expert and violent sex scene, the Englishman is killed by the flood and Armrita is taken to Agra to be married to Razdan, a distinguished court pleader who belongs to one of the highest and most distinguished castes in all Hindustan. Some months later, Armrita gives birth to a son, Pran Nath, who is actually Ronald Forrester's child, and dies after delivering the baby. A few years later, when Razdan learns that is son is the "bastard child of a casteless, filth eating, left-and-right-hand-confusing Englishman", he dies of shock. Now an orphan, Pran Nath is thrown out of the house by the chowkidar and becomes one of the many homeless of Agra.
So begins the epic life of a young boy of six in India. His odyssey-like journey will take him from Agra to the red light district of Bombay, then to the brick cloisters of the University of Oxford and finally to Fotseland, in Africa. It is the sad story of a man never understanding who he really is, neither really Indian nor really English, despite all his efforts. Mr Kunzru meditates on the construction of identity, self deprecation, miscegenation and racism in an ambitious and remarkable first novel.


Derivative and ultimately as confused as its protagonist, 01 Aug 2007
The Impressionist is OK, but nothing more than that. It deals with issues of identity, but does not match Philip Roth's The Human Stain.

It is full of Indian colour, but cannot compare to "A Suitable Boy" for its veracity, although there is more sex (and less romance) in The Impressionist.

It has something to say about colonialism, but unfortunately deals so much in caricatures, with its sex-crazed, spendaholic Nawabs, ascetic Sabus, and drunken, repressed English Commissioners that you never quite believe any of it. If the writing had the verve and style of PG Wodehouse, or Evelyn Waugh, one might forgive Kunzru his eccentric panapoply of characters, but the funny bits are not that funny, and sentimental parts lack an emotional heart.

The writing is OK, but not much more. This was fine for a holiday read, but I would not recommend it.

interesting perspective, 19 Feb 2006
Interesting book to read due to the main characters wild adventures set with back-drops that come to life vividly in the mind. The author continues to skilfuly paint landscapes and lives layer upon layer. fascinating subjects covered too.

Dazzingly clever, deceptively complex., 06 Jan 2006
The most wonderful aspect of this book is the reader's slowly growing awareness that this is not "just" another plot-driven novel with exotic locations and an unusual protagonist facing life-changing decisions, however fascinating they may be. It is also a deeply engrossing and carefully constructed tour de force which uses an exciting plot and a good deal of humor to make statements about the essence of selfhood, the importance of national and cultural identity, and, ultimately, our definitions of civilization and civilized behavior.

In a daring move, Kunzru throws the conventions of characterization to the winds. Instead of bringing his main character alive by showcasing his uniqueness and highlighting his different personal perspective on the world and its history, Kunzru does the opposite. In Pran/Rukhsana/Chandra/Pretty Bobby/Jonathan Bridgeman, he gives us a character who becomes, during the novel, less unique, more stereotypical--a man who sees life "in general" and from the perspective of whatever society he inhabits, a man who accepts the judgments and morality imposed upon him, acting, ultimately, "For God and England and the Empire and Civilization and Progress and Uplift and Morality and Honor."

Set primarily in the latter years of World War I and in the turbulent 1920's of the British Raj in India, the novel introduces Pran Nath Razdan, the beautiful, spoiled, and arrogant son of a wealthy court pleader in Agra. Banished from his home when his true status as a half Anglo is discovered, he must adapt to changed circumstances to stay alive. As the chief hijra of Fatehpur tells him when he assumes the role of Rukhsana and enters the harem of the Sultan, "We are all as mutable as the air! Just release...your body and you can be a myriad! An army!"

In successive roles in other locations, he learns to create impressions, to become stereotypical of the cultures in which he finds himself, to be whatever someone wants him to be, from a male prostitute and procurer in India to a student at Oxford and an assistant to an anthropologist in Africa. Along the way, he learns that it pays to be British--while the reader sees the extent to which British colonialism and arrogance have indelibly changed the world for the worse.

Satirical touches (not the least of which are some of the characters' names), broad humor, and irony make reading this story a continual delight, despite the author's occasional lapses into irrelevant background material for some of the characters. The descriptions are vibrant, the observations of human nature are incisive, the message is important, and the conclusion is wonderfully appropriate. This is a book which escapes the bounds of its plot to make an important anticolonial statement and promote respect for other, non-western cultures. Mary Whipple

Masterpiece! , 21 Oct 2008
The God of Small Things is an excellent book, one of a kind. Vocabulary that Roy has used, though unconventional and sometimes grammatically incorrect, is what makes the story powerful and unique.

In its simplest description it is a story of one family, mostly of Estha and Rahel. In its complex description it is a story that raises many questions that for generations have been unanswerable.

Caste system in India, discrimination against untouchables is only of them. Through sad tale of Velutha and Ammu, we see the price one pays for trying to overcome the barriers that society has placed. Velutha's untouchable body touched Ammu's upper-cast body in the most intimate form. He was a man, she a woman and they made passionate love. But it wasn't how the society saw it. He was an untouchable and she a divorcee woman of upper-cast. She had on right to sleep with any man, least of all with an untouchable. She had no right to open her legs for a man, who was not considered good enough to be invited in the house. As Roy reminds us several times, there are rules about who should be loved and how much. When someone like Ammu dares to break those rules, someone like Velutha pays the price.

Twins broke the rules too, but their oneness of soul protects them from the accusing fingers of society. They are withdrawn; careless about the world. They have a protective shell around them which no one but only the other twin can enter. No one understands their bond, the closeness they share. Estha's silence is interpreted only by Rahel. Estha's invisible presence is seen by Rahel.

It is a story of love and loss, of politics and national changes. But above all it is a story of humanity that somehow manages to touch a soul of a reader.


A mix of everything, 04 Oct 2008
The God of Small Things tells the story of an Indian family that defies the Laws of Love ("that say who should be loved and how much").

It's a wonderful portrayal of Indian society over the past forty years and surprisingly insightful about family relationships. It's got a bit of everything as well: humor, innocence, sorrow, death, love, sex. It hides very little and it happens to give a very clear idea of the world through a child's eyes - something that reminded me of Mark Haddon, I must admit.

I enjoyed it a lot and I recommend whole-heartedly.

Tray Bong, 25 Sep 2008
My first attempt at reading this book took me to page 70, then I gave up. The descriptive language and pointless metaphors annoyed me. I also found the book hard to get into because it kept jumping around between past and present.
Unfortunately, I had to try and read the book again because I was studying it in English. I started, again, from the beginning and persisted with Roy's unique style. Once I had re-reached page 70 I realised that I was enjoying the book much more this time around. The mixed up chronology gives each event more significance and realism, and the jumbled order soon becomes easy enough to follow and understand. Every chapter has its own importance and relevance as in any good book, you just don't know it yet. I think that some knowledge of India and Indian Politics, especially Communism, might help people enjoy the book more because it will make some parts easier to understand.
Overall, it is worth the initial struggle needed to get into this book, because when you do you will be rewarded. It is also ironic that Roy's style is the first thing you hate but the last thing you love.
I would like to finish by urging anyone that gave the book a review of 1 or 2 stars to read it again. Of course, you are entitled to your opinion and if you believe this book to be bad then that is fine. However, you are wrong.


Review of 'The God of Small Things', 24 Sep 2008
At first, I found this book quite inaccessible, due to the many characters thrown at you within the first few pages, and the way the plot gallops off without you. In fact, I did wonder whether my copy had a few pages missing at the start, and it took me several attempts at reading chapter 1 before I finally started to get into the book. But when I did, it was well worth it.

Roy displays emotions in an equally sensitive and delicate way as nature. Working hard to follow the sections of plot revealed at different points, I think I learnt something of the confusion Rahel and Estha felt, and the efforts they had to make growing up in the midst of a broken family, and a troubled culture. I found the juxtaposition between the un-conventionally structured novel, and the ever present metaphorical boundaries very appropriate.

A mix of the stories of individuals, and those that affect all of us, this book finishes with a concept we can all relate to: tommorow.

Worth it!, 24 Sep 2008
The fact that `The God of Small Things' has won the Booker Prize would initially make anyone think that the book was probably worth a read.

However Roy's individual writing style can make getting into this book and understanding the concepts and plot challenging. Other reviewers have commented on the difficulty in getting to know the characters and associating with them in the plot that frequently switches between past and present. Initially, after the first few chapters, I would have agreed with them; however if you want to fully appreciate this book it is necessary to look further into the book than merely the words on the page. The childish language and descriptive narrative that many readers have expressed dislike with, I think is entirely necessary in creating the right ambiance in the chapters where Rahel and Estha are children. Additionally, the way in which the plot is told is entirely in keeping with how any real life story is discovered, through snippets of information, and not in a chronological list.

The negative reviews of this book I can sympathise with, but unfortunately I have to say that they will be from reviewers who do not want to delve deeper into the Indian meanings, customs and cultures that Roy includes; and instead want everything laid out for them on a plate... Persevere with this book and you will be rewarded!


Undistinctly mediocre..., 25 Jun 2008
This collection of short stories is a fairly insipid group of overly-similar tales, which neither present an interesting snapshot, nor constitute mini-stories in themselves. As such, it is a disappointment.

First, the good news. Lahiri has a gentle, fairly soft literary style which doesn't grate, and sits fairly easily on the page. It is not going to offend. Neither will it excite, outrage, drive you to drink or euphoria, agitate, or thrill. It simply sits there, like wallpaper.

The subject matter of the stories becomes repetitive very quickly. Indian person arrives in New York/New England. Finds it odd. Feels dislocated. The end. Okay - one or two stories might conceivably cover that concept with something fresh or insightful. Five or six just gets tedious. I can't vouch for the authenticity of the tales set in India, but to this reader it read like a collection of clichés, and could have been compiled by anyone, using Wikipedia and some pictures on Google. Where are the Indian middle classes? Where is the sense of a subcontinent exploding outwards, taking on the world? No, we have the poor women living on the roof.

Ultimately, Lahiri appears to be writing the same basic story over and over. As a result, the stories have no resonance or impact. When you finish one you merely think "oh yeah, that was just like the last one." For the past few years, it has been the fashion to laud just about any book about India, China or Islam that was written by a photogenic woman. This is clearly just another in that sad trend. Lahiri will have to write a fine novel to raise her level up from this mediocrity.


Over-Rated and Over-Feted Lahiri, 29 Mar 2007
Unlike most readers and reviewers, I am not gaga over this collection. In fact, I am amazed that several of the stories even saw the light of day. I'm going to puke if I read one thing more about "exotic" Indians, with their fish and meat curries, and mustard. And the urban characters she writes about seem like cardboard cutouts (like the guy in the first story who is depressed because his wife has bought him a sweater as a gift) and somewhat snooty. From the literary perspective, it seems that Lahiri has neither had enough experience of real pain or sorrow, nor does she possess the empathy needed for imagining it.

And she should stick to writing about people in America - she simply has no depth to write about India, a country she knows little about (not that I would fault her for that - she is an American).

The last story in the book is the only story that moved me and that is the only one that makes me think Lahiri has genuine glimmers of talent. But the collection, was by no means, deserving of any major award.

Discerning readers should keep in mind that something need not be good simply because it got an award. Especially in the case of the Pulitzer. Please, ...if Thomas Friedman, the Emperor of hacks and jerks, can get one, then why not anyone else?

Interpreting maladies., 24 Aug 2006
An Interpreter of Maladies is not, as Mrs. Das thinks (and as the reader of Jhumpa Lahiri's stories may initially be thinking, too), a medical doctor or a psychologist; someone who interprets the origin and meaning of his patients' various illnesses and malaises and then prescribes the adequate treatment. No: an Interpreter of Maladies is someone who helps them communicate, who speaks the patients' language and is therefore able to translate their personal representation of their feelings to the listener who then, in turn, must come up with his own interpretation of those representations.

And like Mr. Kapasi, the improbable hero of this collection's title story, Ms. Lahiri merely gives an account of her characters' feelings and situation in life at one particular moment - she rarely judges them, nor does she strive to tell the entire story of their lives; even where, as in "The Third and Final Continent," the narrative covers several decades, it is truly only one brief but crucial period which is important. No sledgehammer is being wielded; Lahiri's tone is subtle, subdued - like any good interpreter, she talks in a low voice, just loud enough for her listener/reader to understand; and you have to want to listen to her. If you expect her to shout, to force her account on you in bullet points and bold strikes, you will miss the many finer nuances in between.

Jhumpa Lahiris heroes are Asian and American, they live in India, Pakistan, London and the U.S., and they eat (and painstakingly slowly prepare) delicious, spicy and flavorful food. Many of the stories deal with emotions and life situations which, although they happen to be experienced by Indians and Asian Americans here, are truly universal - the slow and unspoken death of a marriage ("A Temporary Matter"), prejudice against the unknown, particularly when it comes in the form of an illness ("The Treatment of Bibi Haldar"), the frustrations of a life of unfulfilled promises ("Interpreter of Maladies"), and the multilateral deceptions of marital infidelity ("Sexy"), blunted by the trappings of middle class materialism (again, the title story).

Most of Lahiri's Asian American protagonists belong to the "intellectual" upper middle class suburbian population of Boston and other East Coast cities. While on the one hand this is a plus, because that is the author's own background, too, and therefore a segment of society she can describe from personal experience - which also allows her to make these characters particularly accessible - it on the other hand provides for the story collection's one deficiency; in that it renders her portrayal of Asian Americans (whether recent immigrants or second- and third-generation U.S. citizens) unnecessarily unilateral, to the point of bordering on stereotype - more precisely, the Indian version of the stereotypes generally associated with this part of society. Nevertheless, most of Jhumpa Lahiri's often unlikely heroes are portrayed in great depth, and many of them with a lot of sympathy for their humanness and shortcomings. In the best sense of her adopted role as an interpreter of her protagonists' maladies, it is this delicate understanding and empathy which ultimately carries the tone in Lahiri's writing and which makes her reader want to listen, and to come up with his or her own interpretation of each of these stories.

Over-rated, unbelievable and trite, 29 Jul 2006
Sorry, I disagree with all the reviews (and the Pulitzer prize panel!) - I found these stories dull and just not credible. The dialogue, the things people did, the things they thought - just none of it worked for me. I also found the writing passionless and forced, with oddly jarring words and images that made me think of the author at her computer rather than drawing me further into the story.

There's an odd sense of dislocated time that I don't think was deliberate, for example a girl in present day New York having an affair with an Indian had never heard of Bengal and thought India was somewhere myserious that didn't really exist, like Atlantis. Really?

I also have a major problem with a writer who describes someone as 'polishing off' their drink. How this won the Pulitzer is beyond me and a sad indictment on the state of literature today.

Kind and sensitive, 20 Jun 2006
Jhumpa Lahiri's writing is exquisitely simple and elegant. The stories convey immense kindness and the characters are shown in such sensitive and compassionate light that they feel like friends or neighbours rather than fictional types. The best book that I have read in many, many years.

A double affair, 06 Jun 2003
This book is enjoyable on all sorts of levels and deals with many issues facing India today.

It has as its central theme women. Women and marriage and love and politics and sexuallity and religion. A heady brew which could very easily boil over into a messy novel. The fact that Kapur manages to control her plot is a tribute to the skill of an emerging talent.

I also learnt a lolt from the book. On the factual side I gained a deeper understanding of what was going on in the 1980's and 1990's when the Hindu fundamentalist BJP were the main challenge to the corrupt Congress I party.

But this book is more than facts, it is about emotions and sexuality. About how much a woman has the right to expect and about how women are controlled and manipulated. Most of all it is about fear. Fear of going against social convention by marrying for love. Fear about breaking social convention by leaving your husband and his family for the love of another woman. And the fear of the society which imposes those social conventions. Yes society is very affraid.

This book has all of that and more. And it's thoroughly enjoyable as well

A book with a message., 21 May 2003
I have just finished reading "A Married Women" and are very sorry that there are no more. Every page was a pleasure - very straight-forward language, always right to the point. No unnecessary explanations or words. Just pure action. The novel is about the loves and life of a contemporary Indian women. A women that asks a bit more of life, than tradition will automatically give her. It also gives a very interesting and profound describtion of India today, and the everyday life of Indian women. The special touch of female love gives the novel even more value and describes feelings and senses that can be transfered to any society of the world. A very relevant book, indeed!

An engrossing epic!, 08 May 2007
I have read all of Amulya Malladi's novels and this, by far, is the best. The story is gripping; the characters are believable and their relationships are fascinating. In short,it's a rollercoaster read of a brilliantly constructed tale of the lives of a group of so-called outcast women in southern India, from the 1960s-2000s. Definitely a recommended read for anyone who likes that sort of thing!

scenes of empire, 19 Mar 2008
This starts out as a particularly grim book, with the outcast antihero
finding himself in different types of sexual slavery. In different guises,
he then finds himself in England and Africa, where the writer allows himself
more scope for seeing the funny side of life. Starting out in the Raj and
finishing in Africa, the effects of empire are reflected in this readable story.

A remarkable first novel, 19 Aug 2007
Ronald Forrester is an English forester in Simla, India, where he came to see what life was like in, ironically, a country without trees. In 1918 during a violent storm which floods the country, this difficult and taciturn man encounters a young woman called Armrita in a cave. After an expert and violent sex scene, the Englishman is killed by the flood and Armrita is taken to Agra to be married to Razdan, a distinguished court pleader who belongs to one of the highest and most distinguished castes in all Hindustan. Some months later, Armrita gives birth to a son, Pran Nath, who is actually Ronald Forrester's child, and dies after delivering the baby. A few years later, when Razdan learns that is son is the "bastard child of a casteless, filth eating, left-and-right-hand-confusing Englishman", he dies of shock. Now an orphan, Pran Nath is thrown out of the house by the chowkidar and becomes one of the many homeless of Agra.
So begins the epic life of a young boy of six in India. His odyssey-like journey will take him from Agra to the red light district of Bombay, then to the brick cloisters of the University of Oxford and finally to Fotseland, in Africa. It is the sad story of a man never understanding who he really is, neither really Indian nor really English, despite all his efforts. Mr Kunzru meditates on the construction of identity, self deprecation, miscegenation and racism in an ambitious and remarkable first novel.


Derivative and ultimately as confused as its protagonist, 01 Aug 2007
The Impressionist is OK, but nothing more than that. It deals with issues of identity, but does not match Philip Roth's The Human Stain.

It is full of Indian colour, but cannot compare to "A Suitable Boy" for its veracity, although there is more sex (and less romance) in The Impressionist.

It has something to say about colonialism, but unfortunately deals so much in caricatures, with its sex-crazed, spendaholic Nawabs, ascetic Sabus, and drunken, repressed English Commissioners that you never quite believe any of it. If the writing had the verve and style of PG Wodehouse, or Evelyn Waugh, one might forgive Kunzru his eccentric panapoply of characters, but the funny bits are not that funny, and sentimental parts lack an emotional heart.

The writing is OK, but not much more. This was fine for a holiday read, but I would not recommend it.

interesting perspective, 19 Feb 2006
Interesting book to read due to the main characters wild adventures set with back-drops that come to life vividly in the mind. The author continues to skilfuly paint landscapes and lives layer upon layer. fascinating subjects covered too.

Dazzingly clever, deceptively complex., 06 Jan 2006
The most wonderful aspect of this book is the reader's slowly growing awareness that this is not "just" another plot-driven novel with exotic locations and an unusual protagonist facing life-changing decisions, however fascinating they may be. It is also a deeply engrossing and carefully constructed tour de force which uses an exciting plot and a good deal of humor to make statements about the essence of selfhood, the importance of national and cultural identity, and, ultimately, our definitions of civilization and civilized behavior.

In a daring move, Kunzru throws the conventions of characterization to the winds. Instead of bringing his main character alive by showcasing his uniqueness and highlighting his different personal perspective on the world and its history, Kunzru does the opposite. In Pran/Rukhsana/Chandra/Pretty Bobby/Jonathan Bridgeman, he gives us a character who becomes, during the novel, less unique, more stereotypical--a man who sees life "in general" and from the perspective of whatever society he inhabits, a man who accepts the judgments and morality imposed upon him, acting, ultimately, "For God and England and the Empire and Civilization and Progress and Uplift and Morality and Honor."

Set primarily in the latter years of World War I and in the turbulent 1920's of the British Raj in India, the novel introduces Pran Nath Razdan, the beautiful, spoiled, and arrogant son of a wealthy court pleader in Agra. Banished from his home when his true status as a half Anglo is discovered, he must adapt to changed circumstances to stay alive. As the chief hijra of Fatehpur tells him when he assumes the role of Rukhsana and enters the harem of the Sultan, "We are all as mutable as the air! Just release...your body and you can be a myriad! An army!"

In successive roles in other locations, he learns to create impressions, to become stereotypical of the cultures in which he finds himself, to be whatever someone wants him to be, from a male prostitute and procurer in India to a student at Oxford and an assistant to an anthropologist in Africa. Along the way, he learns that it pays to be British--while the reader sees the extent to which British colonialism and arrogance have indelibly changed the world for the worse.

Satirical touches (not the least of which are some of the characters' names), broad humor, and irony make reading this story a continual delight, despite the author's occasional lapses into irrelevant background material for some of the characters. The descriptions are vibrant, the observations of human nature are incisive, the message is important, and the conclusion is wonderfully appropriate. This is a book which escapes the bounds of its plot to make an important anticolonial statement and promote respect for other, non-western cultures. Mary Whipple

Very instructive, but not like his other stories, 25 Jun 2008
I am a great fan of Julian Rathbone's novels, not least because I know I will come away from them having learned a great deal about the period of history in which the novel is based. This one is different, at times I felt almost bogged down in the historical facts, the troop movements etc, it was as though the characters were secondary to the tale at times, instead of the characters themselves drawing the story on. Another aspect which was missing from this story, which I enjoyed very much in the other books, was the element of gentle leg-pulling on the part of the author. On the whole, a well written account of one of history's darkest hours.