The Ministry of Utmost Happiness – Arundhati Roy

Rating: 4.5 stars

I really hadn’t done my research prior to getting myself involved with this book, and I don’t know if it would’ve been good to do so or not. It would’ve prepared me a bit for the unconventional storytelling style of the book (for fiction), but it probably would’ve made me hesitant to read it. I am very grateful that I did, though.

The book is mostly a description of Indian atrocities in the Kashmiri region and the corruption in the country. It has some characters that live in these events, but they pretty much act as witnesses like the reader to the history.

The good: A beautiful story that lets you get to know a variety of perspectives with great examination of each of the main characters.

The bad: The style, though it’s full of information, didn’t really make me go further to read it. It’s sort of a non-fiction style most of the time, and the parts where it was the story, it felt a bit like facts. This isn’t really a negative, just that it’s not what I’d expect from the style. Also the some characters don’t seem to react much, and sometimes they do. It kinda felt like reading the bible at times, where events happens, people do what they do, and there’s no justification or thought about it. Also the end felt a little slapped on. I found it a little bit like the Kite Runner in that most of the story was great, but the last bit felt a little tacked on and too happy.

I know one of these paragraphs seems much longer than the other, but it really was a great read, just very disheartening.

Addendum: I wonder what the author thinks of the current state of politics in India.