Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things: Critique and Commentary

by R.S. Sharma, Shashi Bala Talwar

Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things fell a prey to controversy, specially after the Booker Award. It also became amenable to journalistic modes of treatment. According to the authors of the present study, the writing issuing from these sources has not been very helpful in understanding and evaluating the novel, and it has also diverted attention from the thing that really matters. They have, therefore, concentrated their efforts on such topics as architectonics, point of view and consciousness, poetic mode, imagery, coprophilla, and feminism. In course of their discussio, they have explained the complexities of structure and thought, and suggested suitable reading strategies. When they confront the controversies towards the end of this work, their pronouncements are much more than mere opinoions: they are sound critical judgements supported by textual social and biographical facts.

123 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Ram Sharan Sharma, commonly referred to as R. S. Sharma, was a historian and academic of Ancient and early Medieval India, who advocated the Marxist method. He taught at Patna University and Delhi University and was visiting faculty at University of Toronto.

Reviews

[Kimi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the descriptions of Kerala and the way Roy plays with language.