A discerning reader will understand what this means.Īrundhati Roy has literally risen from nowhere, no silver spoon and her early years were not a bed of roses.
In fact she has acknowledged and thanked a few people for having kept her out of prison, thus far. Maybe the author intended this fiery combination. That is where, in my opinion, the confusion begins. However when sentiments overtake imagination the book assumes a different form and purpose, altogether and The Ministry of Utmost Happiness starts to resemble a non-fiction half-way through. If certain incidents splashed by the media have been quoted (and they have been) it is understandable. She has even questioned the future, a bit too bold, perhaps? In a way, there is nothing wrong about that, after all this is a free country and we are entitled to our opinions, whether we express it or not. The author has unleashed her emotions on the past and current state of affairs of the country through this book. I noted with interest and scepticism the author's courage, conviction and chutzpah to come up with a novel like this. In fact, one such chapter introduces an important character and it takes several pages and patience, to even get to his name.īeing a political activist and feminist, Arundhati Roy is known to stir the hornets' nest.
My only problem was keeping up with so many of them. The author has interwoven these by creating 'larger than life' characters that simply take your breath away. In The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, Arundhati Roy has in her inimitable style gone overboard by packing a myriad of issues: political, cultural, social, ethnic, historic, archaic and contemporary all caught up in the largest democracy of the world. However this much awaited and highly speculated book before its release may have resulted in turmoil and mixed feelings after the release. Arundhati Roy is an astute story teller, the best plotter and a master in her craft. Although the author has come out with her second fiction after two decades, she has been an integral part of the literary world and her writings mostly depict the "voices of the unheard" along with hers. Is "truth stranger than fiction" or is "fiction stranger than truth?" I had to ask myself this question several times over as I read The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, by the much celebrated author Arundhati Roy. Here is my review of Arundhati Roy's book, "The Ministry of Utmost Happiness" published in the 75th Issue of Muse India.Ī remarkable exposé of sentiments in a complex tale
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