The God of Small Things, Part I: (Chapter I. Paradise Pickles & Preserves - IV. Abhilash Talkies)

[Jay]

Please discuss the first part of The God of Small Things in this folder , putting spoiler alerts in, when necessary.

[Kamil]

Hi Guys

It’s Kamil here. I was the one who nominated this book. I’m only starting reading now so I thought I'll mention a few facts/things that could make us more excited for reading this one:

1. The God of Small Things, which Roy wrote between 1992 and 1996, has sold over 6 million copies and has been translated into 40 languages

2. This is the biggest-selling book by a non-expatriate Indian author.

3. Roy is first Indian woman and non-expatriate to win the Booker Prize

4. Here you can see how rad she is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VP-1-...

5. Guardian’s article about Roy’s political believes: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2009...


Ok, so it’s more about Roy’s but this book is part of her manifesto, as I believe. Looking forward to the discussion.

[Kamil]

I guess I'm the only one that has already started reading this book. I just finished the 5th chapter. Starting God of small things I was a bit cautious being told by so many people that the non sequential narrative is confusing. It doesn't bother me at all, makes me stay alert while sorting out the story. I like this aspect of the book very much.

I'm very eager to read other chapters to understand the process of drifting the members of the family apart from each other, due to the death of Sophie Mal.

[Elizabeth]

I read this book as my first book in my first book club some years ago. It's a beautiful story to unravel. The non-sequential narrative builds that suspense I think. I always remember the "illegal banana jelly" lol

[Irene]

I am about 25% into the novel, first two chapters. Yes, I am curious about the death of Sophie. The mother's visit to the police station immediately after the funeral and the dismissal by the police indicates that this death has some story.

For some reason, I expected a story about impoverished Indians broken by the weight of their financial burden. But, the crippling forces on this family is not generational poverty. This is a middle class family. If they lose their money, it is because of the brother's arrogance and incompetence in managing the thriving pickle preserves cottage industry, his disregard of his mother's and sister's abilities. There is a feeling of hopelessness from the opening pages. But, it is not the hopelessness of the slums, but of rigid social structures that refuse people permission to dream or imagine any change

[Kamil]

Irene wrote: "I am about 25% into the novel, first two chapters. Yes, I am curious about the death of Sophie. The mother's visit to the police station immediately after the funeral and the dismissal by the pol..."

I'm in love with you:) This is exactly what this book is about. I'm almost done, and it's such a sad while interesting story of hopelessness of women situation in India, of certain casts situation, the social boundaries that almost literary put shackles on ones feet and drag one slowly down.

[Irene]

I am struck by the total lack of empathy. Other than the young twins, no one in the novel seems to be able to understand what anyone else might be feeling. The adult Estha and chacko are as repressed and constricted as the women, only by different forces. Chocka's and Ammu's marriage are equally heart-breaking.

[[deleted user]]

The God of Small Things
- Deconstructed -
Chapter I. Paradise Pickles & Preserves
What i understood by reading the first chapter:
- The author sets this story, a beautiful 3rd person narration enhanced by the lack of dialog, in Ayemenem, India, through a series of lush descriptions of the lively, bright-colored nature of the city
- She introduces the 2 main protagonist by placing the at the funeral of Sophie Mol (whose death circumstances are yet to be revealed), death being a recurrent theme all throughout the action
- We also see that after this funeral Rahel and Estha are separated which i predict is the reason for their antisocial, quiet behavior (i have to admit i do relate to that and i have to wonder : did they become like that or was it by choice because they were separated?)
- Another theme that wasn’t so obvious is religion: i saw a bit of a parallel between Christianity and Hinduism and i do like a good comparison between religions (sorry not sorry) and another thing that caught my attention saw all that talk about communists &co (I’m ashamed to admit that i didn't know Marxism and Communism had such impact on India)
I have to tell you guys that i started this book without knowing what it is about but i already love it especially the fact that the narrator is so detached and that is filled with valuable information that i find captivating. Any observation?

[Kamil]

I agree Irene, the lack of empathy and selfishness of almost every character apart from the twins and Ammu's is very dominating. Almost every character is unlikable, and there's almost kaleidoscopic range of people.

Guys, I wonder what The God of Small Things refers to? Is it everyday little emotions, deeds, lies, secrets that build up our life, and does it represent the contrast to Big Things, like politics, society norms and it caste system? What do you think?

[[deleted user]]

my theory is: it refers to the fact that common people play such a small role in big political (and not only)decisions but at the same time those same events can totally alter their life.

[Irene]

There was an explanation of that phrase, I think in chapter 2. But, I don't have the book in front of me any more. Anyway, the narrator spoke about the seemingly meaninglessness of the individual losses and fears, dreams and hopes of ordinary people before the tide of major social and political events. People in India, according to the narrator, learned not to allow such things to show, to realize how insignificant it all was and the god of small things laughed and danced. I am not quoting it exactly, but that is the sense that stuck with me.

[[deleted user]]

is it weird how sad that made me? i think people were so wrong to accuse the author of hating her country because to me she only hated politic games and höw those affected the citizens.

[Kamil]

Daniel wrote: "is it weird how sad that made me? i think people were so wrong to accuse the author of hating her country because to me she only hated politic games and höw those affected the citizens."

Daniel, in the link I've pasted above in the first post there's a panel at some Uni with Roy and exactly this is what she was accused for, it's really interesting how she answers back.

[Kamil]

Daniel wrote: "my theory is: it refers to the fact that common people play such a small role in big political (and not only)decisions but at the same time those same events can totally alter their life."

Yes I remember now, thank you Irene. What I find interesting that all the Big Things that influence life of characters are rotten or broken (even marriages, none of them works) while Small Things that bring joy are too dependent on Big Things interference that they cannot last long.

[Michelle]

Wasn't it sad that every marriage in this book was a disaster (I guess Margaret and Joe's was perhaps good, but we didn't really see that relationship. Actually, why is the only marriage that seemed to have been successful the one between two English people far away?) This book's worldview was so very discouraging and sad.

[Irene]

There seemed to be something aspirational in the way these characters related to anythig western. Estha models himself after Elvis. They drink cheep immitations of European soda pop and seem to prefer the Sound of Music to indigenous music and theatrical performances. And, in the shadow of this European fairy tale, surrounded with western style sweets, Estha is molested by an old Indian man. On some level, I expected the colonial powers to symbolically molest the Indian characters. But, the Europeans did not need to; they did a good enough job of beating their own wives, brutalizing their own poor, destroying the innocence of their own youth.

[Katy]

Just joined the group today -- in a way that was silly of me as I'm leaving for vacation tomorrow. But I will get a copy of the book and get reading soon. Hope to join in the discussion.

[Rick]

Michelle wrote: "Wasn't it sad that every marriage in this book was a disaster (I guess Margaret and Joe's was perhaps good, but we didn't really see that relationship. Actually, why is the only marriage that seem..."

Interesting that marital relations become somewhat synonymous with worldview. Perhaps that is Roy's intention, to some degree?
As someone once observed, the personal is the political. In this novel, personal relationships are always sadly contingent on how the people behave. One of the saddest lines in the novel is when Rahel's mother tells her that she loves her a little less because of some minor misbehavior.

[Cat]

Wow, what interesting comments! My only complaint about the book so far is that I'm getting sick of the foreshadowing...(i.e., they didn't know it, but they were on the brink of disaster, etc) and feel a little manipulated by the author. I would continue reading even if she revealed on page 1 the circumstances surrounding Sophie Mol's death. I am so intrigued with these characters and their backstory that I don't need this narrative carrot to keep me reading and it feels inauthentic. Other than that, I'm enjoying the way she takes the reader onto tangents that reveal just a little more about each character. The scene in the cinema house made me feel physically sick and so empathatic for Estha.

[Rick]

Cat wrote: "Wow, what interesting comments! My only complaint about the book so far is that I'm getting sick of the foreshadowing...(i.e., they didn't know it, but they were on the brink of disaster, etc) and ..."

The ironic juxtaposition of "Talkies" with Estha's subsequent loss of speech is one of the only slightly funny moments of that excruciating chapter. I agree that we feel with Estha as he undergoes that very traumatic experience, but remember that this whole thing is recalled through Rahel's memories, so even though it's still terribly poignant, it's also filtered to some extent anyway.

[Jay]

I really enjoyed the "authentic" feel of the Indian dialect in the writing style when the characters spoke or thought in english. (Has Anyone read Life of Pi and if so, does it have a similar feel?) I Especially enjoyed when Rahel would put two words or phrases together...so there I sit with golf in the background on the tv and Film Ickleson pops in my head...Hmmm.