areesastock704's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
aanikaa's review
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
tossied's review
challenging
dark
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
chaotic17's review
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
ajayasranna's review
4.0
First things first, this is a book you judge by the cover. An exquisitely designed cover which looks and feels like a tombstone, you already are losing out if you are reading a kindle version.
What lies between the covers is even more beautiful. Reading Arundhati Roy fills you with a sense of wonder on how the written word can be crafted to exude such pain and longing. Roy evocatively and bravely bats for minorities of myriad hues- Muslim transgenders, lower caste Hindus, Kashmiri Muslims, headstrong tomboyish women..... The writing is ferocious, razor sharp and stings one's conscience long after you have let go of the characters. It does meander- especially towards the end, but it worked for me nevertheless. She has a subtle sense of ironic humour which is evident in clever turns of phrase and seemingly superfluous details. Like how she wouldn't call a 'juice carton' simply that but instead calls it ' Mango fruity (fresh and juicy) carton'. The narrative appears to be clunky at times, rudely shifting between characters and across timelines. But it holds together as a whole, a poignant tale weaved into India's political landscape, speaking up for the apparent losers of a morally ambiguous struggle.
If you are looking for something similar to 'God of small things' and more importantly, if you are not conversant or in line with her political outlook, you could be disappointed. Roy is less interested here in narrating a compact, coherent story with a limited perspective. Her canvas is broad, the story is merely an agent to drive home her perspective on a wide range of politically charged issues. If you have closely followed her writing through 'Listening to grasshoppers' 'The algebra of infinite justice' etc., you could see a natural evolution; the novel as an extension of her non fiction writing. Ultimately, Roy has written a shattering story as the blurb suggests, with such heart and beauty that only she is capable of. For that we are infinitely thankful.
What lies between the covers is even more beautiful. Reading Arundhati Roy fills you with a sense of wonder on how the written word can be crafted to exude such pain and longing. Roy evocatively and bravely bats for minorities of myriad hues- Muslim transgenders, lower caste Hindus, Kashmiri Muslims, headstrong tomboyish women..... The writing is ferocious, razor sharp and stings one's conscience long after you have let go of the characters. It does meander- especially towards the end, but it worked for me nevertheless. She has a subtle sense of ironic humour which is evident in clever turns of phrase and seemingly superfluous details. Like how she wouldn't call a 'juice carton' simply that but instead calls it ' Mango fruity (fresh and juicy) carton'. The narrative appears to be clunky at times, rudely shifting between characters and across timelines. But it holds together as a whole, a poignant tale weaved into India's political landscape, speaking up for the apparent losers of a morally ambiguous struggle.
If you are looking for something similar to 'God of small things' and more importantly, if you are not conversant or in line with her political outlook, you could be disappointed. Roy is less interested here in narrating a compact, coherent story with a limited perspective. Her canvas is broad, the story is merely an agent to drive home her perspective on a wide range of politically charged issues. If you have closely followed her writing through 'Listening to grasshoppers' 'The algebra of infinite justice' etc., you could see a natural evolution; the novel as an extension of her non fiction writing. Ultimately, Roy has written a shattering story as the blurb suggests, with such heart and beauty that only she is capable of. For that we are infinitely thankful.
jmatkinson1's review
4.0
When Aftab was born he was a hermaphrodite and on adulthood morphed into Anjum. After living with other Hijra, Anjum finally sets up home in a cemetery and builds a community of waifs and strays like her. Woven around this tale is the bigger story of pot-partition India and particularly the politics of Kashmir, that northern province and Islamic homeland disputed by India and Pakistan.
This is a huge novel which, in similar vein to Roy's debut 'The God of Small Things', manages to be both detailed in meticulous storytelling and vast in scope. This is book which demands time spending on it and I think I will also need to re-read it to take in everything. However Roy is a great writer and she is able to tell a magical tale yet get across those huge political statements that are so close to her heart and which have been her focus for the last twenty years.
This is a huge novel which, in similar vein to Roy's debut 'The God of Small Things', manages to be both detailed in meticulous storytelling and vast in scope. This is book which demands time spending on it and I think I will also need to re-read it to take in everything. However Roy is a great writer and she is able to tell a magical tale yet get across those huge political statements that are so close to her heart and which have been her focus for the last twenty years.
divyasudhakar's review
5.0
The Ministry of Utmost Happiness tells the stories of a collection of misfits and how they come together to make their own family. Along the way, it tells the story of every one they cross paths with. Where God of Small Things zoomed in to one family, this book zooms out and tries to capture a zeitgeist of pain of an entire country.
I'm a huge fan girl of Roy so it'd have been a massive surprise if I didn't like this book but no surprises here. I loved this book and found it hauntingly beautiful. Parts of it were very hard to read mostly because it was hard to stomach that we, collectively, have let these events, some of which I could recognize and others that I couldn't, happen.
I'm a huge fan girl of Roy so it'd have been a massive surprise if I didn't like this book but no surprises here. I loved this book and found it hauntingly beautiful. Parts of it were very hard to read mostly because it was hard to stomach that we, collectively, have let these events, some of which I could recognize and others that I couldn't, happen.
meredith_gayle's review
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
flor_de_luna's review
dark
informative
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
This book is a good reason why you should read the reviews before buying a book you haven't heard much of before. I judged Arundhati Roy as an author based on her previous the Man-Booker Prize winner and critically acclaimed 'The God of Small Things'.
I couldn't begin to tell you how I skimmed through the book like most modern poetry books (oops!). Compared to the small quantity of diaogues and overall development of the characters, there is an extreme amount of seemingly useless descriptions. No, I do not need to know a bird crossed the sky while Anjum was crossing the street! I understand somewhere it might have been my own failure to not be able to understand her apparently deep and violent nationalistic book(s).
But so far, it was hellish trying to understand what is the actual plot of the story. I have concluded that there is simply no plot, just a weapon for Arundhati to use spread her views. I don't know, I am not into politics, and the book was entirely political. Every page was filled with long descriptions of the most arbitrary things and her opinions on political happenings of history.
As much as I appreciate her strong remarks, the book had barely any depth to it, nothing that would as much as leave a mark on you or prompt you to think! It was just a series of incidents that were joined together by the string of time, a coincidence, followed by Arundhati's own lengthy speeches. No wonder the 'story' was written from a third person POV. To me, it felt it was not about the characters at all, it was about her author.
Regardless, 'The Ministry of Utmost Happiness' wasn't a total disappointment. Arundhati's love- or rather, hatred, for the topics spurned certain moments that hit the spot right. She isn't a bad writer. Or maybe I misjudged her. Either way, I think we can all agree it was a little better than Colleen Hoover's books at least, thereby earning a minimum of 2 stars.
I couldn't begin to tell you how I skimmed through the book like most modern poetry books (oops!). Compared to the small quantity of diaogues and overall development of the characters, there is an extreme amount of seemingly useless descriptions. No, I do not need to know a bird crossed the sky while Anjum was crossing the street! I understand somewhere it might have been my own failure to not be able to understand her apparently deep and violent nationalistic book(s).
But so far, it was hellish trying to understand what is the actual plot of the story. I have concluded that there is simply no plot, just a weapon for Arundhati to use spread her views. I don't know, I am not into politics, and the book was entirely political. Every page was filled with long descriptions of the most arbitrary things and her opinions on political happenings of history.
As much as I appreciate her strong remarks, the book had barely any depth to it, nothing that would as much as leave a mark on you or prompt you to think! It was just a series of incidents that were joined together by the string of time, a coincidence, followed by Arundhati's own lengthy speeches. No wonder the 'story' was written from a third person POV. To me, it felt it was not about the characters at all, it was about her author.
Regardless, 'The Ministry of Utmost Happiness' wasn't a total disappointment. Arundhati's love- or rather, hatred, for the topics spurned certain moments that hit the spot right. She isn't a bad writer. Or maybe I misjudged her. Either way, I think we can all agree it was a little better than Colleen Hoover's books at least, thereby earning a minimum of 2 stars.