Such vivid description of the rain like “Slanting silver ropes ploughing the mud like gunfire” can only be a product of a
mind which is fully integrated with nature. Arundhati Roy comes up with a brilliant description of a sad story extra-ordinarily told. Her unconventional narration of the story is one of the most praiseworthy aspects of this book. The story flashes back and forth, compelling you to read further. The plot only gets more mystical as you keep on reading. In the end, everything is understood completely as if all the missing pieces of a jigsaw puzzle are assembled to form the full picture.
Arundhati Roy’s description of the village of Aymenem in Kerala is so detailed that it makes you smell the Paradise Pickles and the rain shot mud. The sad incident of Sophie Mol’s death would develop a lump in your gut for sure, if it does not make you cry. The author’s mastery over the pen is felt in her use of metaphors like the comparison of dead “Sophie Mol’s face in the coffin was as wrinkled as a dhobi’s thumb after washing clothes”. The chemistry between dizygotic twins Estha and Rahel is depicted wonderfully.
Along with all this, there are the usual elements which would make this book good enough to be made into a film. There are issues like untouchability, generation gap, domestic violence, etc. which make this book a story well worth reading beyond the constraints of country or religion. The winning of The Booker Prize by this author who is a first timer only furthers this claim.
All in all, a nice sad story which is strong enough to make the reader remember the characters long after one has finished reading this book.