The God of Small Things
posted by Lori O. @ 4:07 PM
Pass the Line
The web presence of a book club/co-op sort of setup
About Me
- Name: Lori O.
I read, write, teach, and live in Chicago. Clearly, I'm also a fan of the Oxford Comma.
Details, Details
Become a Pass the Liner
- Who are all these people, anyway?
- Allie Harris
- Debbie Harris
- Lori Harris
- Rita Homuth
- Tyler Nguyen
- Anna P
- Caroline Seitmann
- Kasia Vetter
Current Pass the Liners
- General Discussion
- The Ghost Writer by Philip Roth
- The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
- The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
- Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
- One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
- Plainsong by Kent Haruf
- Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Talk to Your Fellow Pass the Liners
1 Comments:
Here's my start of the discussion. It's long and some of my comments do reveal later parts of the book. I also made a list of things to think about at the beginning of the book, sans plot spoilers. I didn't write much in the book, other than to underline some really good sentences. The reason I loved this book so much is those sentences. The language is amazing. I started reading more slowly just to savor it. I also liked how it didn't move linearly, and, though we ultimately know the ending, is still suspenseful. Anyway, here are my comments, in no particular order.
KIDS: I loved how Roy portrayed what the twins were thinking. What is important to them is so not important to adults. And vice versa. The kids' world is totally absurd to adults. Reading backwards? That was awesome, but the adults hated it. Only Velutha seems to understand them. Maybe Chacko does, but he has other priorities. Namely, his own daughter. I found myself missing the twins when the book shifted to stories of the adults. My favorite line of the book comes from Rahel and Estha, last 2 paragraphs on page 201. Oh, oh, and "Bow"? Brilliant. Oh, oh, and the physical way they're described. Puff, Fountain with a Love-in-Tokyo. Ambassadors E. Pelvis and S. Insect. Brilliant.
HOLES IN THE UNIVERSE: History and the universe are set things that cannot be changed. They always were and always will be. People are just parts of it, actors. Think Sophie Mol arrival play. When people are gone, there are just holes. But the world goes on without them. Nothing changes. History seems to just give people up, and carry on as before. And when people do try and change history, bad, worse, things happen.
LOVE: What the book is all about, so I don't have too much to say. Other than ask how love can possibly have rules? How can it conflict with class, as in this book? I was blown away by the line about Velutha being loved to death. Literally. At first I was disappointed that the book ended the way it did. I would've liked it to end with the children. But, ending it with Ammu and Velutha was somewhat triumphant, in spite of what actually happened next in the story. But, um, did Rahel and Estha have sex? Did they break the rules, too?
CLASS: It's more important than anything. Even love. Even party, as when Comrade Pillai doesn't defend Velutha.
BABY KOCHAMMA: I wanted to like her and wanted to chalk her behavior up to being an old woman or an anglophile or something. But she is pure evil. Manipulative evil. And I really have no sympathy for her. She's so concerned with the love laws, yet she loved a priest. And sees no contradiction in that! Evil, I tell you. And she made the twins "save" Ammu. She made them think Ammu wouldn't love them anymore if they didn't. Evil!
CUPBOARDS AND CABINETS: many references. Pretty self-explanatory. I liked the "cabinet with a bedroom inside" image.
RULES: More about the rules of love. Chacko, on page 112, says there are no rules, but it's a given that parents love their children most of all. Also, Rahel distributes her love in a list. And reorders it. Even she, who should, in my eyes, be immune to the so-called laws of love, is sucked into them.
PAGE 180: See my underlined line. It's a good one.
FEAR: Think about fear as a rose.
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