They all broke the rules. They all crossed into forbidden territory. They all tampered with the laws that lay down who should be loved, and how. And how much.’
This is the story of Rahel and Estha, twins growing up among the banana vats and peppercorns of their blind grandmother’s factory, and amid scenes of political turbulence in Kerala. Armed only with the innocence of youth, they fashion a childhood in the shade of the wreck that is their family: their lonely, lovely mother, their beloved Uncle Chacko (pickle baron, radical Marxist, bottom-pincher) and their sworn enemy, Baby Kochamma (ex-nun, incumbent grand-aunt).
Arundhati Roy’s Booker Prize-winning novel was the literary sensation of the 1990s: a story anchored to anguish but fuelled by wit and magic.
My thoughts:
Roy's 1997 Booker prize winning masterpiece is a heart wrenching accounts of twins Rahel and Esrha's childhood in 1960's communist Kerala and its decaying but relevant caste system .
Tragic events ,beginning with the accidental death of their visiting British cousin Sophie Mol ,cruelly crush the protagonist's innocence and upturn their young lives.
Roy;s inventive and original writing style - broken narrative and tactile imagery redolent with symbolism and made up words- is divisive ;irritating to some, ingenious to others,but it constructs with almost painfully vivid clarity the thoughts ,hopes and fears that inhabit the minds of children .At its heart is an eloquent tribute to love- the one thing that endures despite anything .Evocative ,passionate and dripping with imagery ,if you make it to the final twist ,this is sort of book that will haunt you for weeks.
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