Book description
FROM THE BOOKER PRIZE WINNING AUTHOR OF THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS
LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2018
LONGLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2017
NOMINATED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FOR FICTION
LONGLISTED FOR THE CARNEGIE 2018
THE SUNDAY TIMES NUMBER ONE and THE NEW…
Why read it?
1 author picked The Ministry of Utmost Happiness as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
I love this book for the way it brings together in one place (a graveyard) a panoply of different characters from different walks of South Asian life. I find Anjum (the third gender “hijra” character who begins the narrative) most compelling. Her marginal relation to all the various mainstream cultures sets a template for how storytelling works across cultures, languages, and political perspectives.
I also love a part of the book critics found puzzling–when the novel shifts to the perspective of the former intelligence officer. It’s reminiscent of Conrad’s The Secret Agent and Under Western Eyes, Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s A…
From Christopher's list on The best books to read after Joseph Conrad.
If you love The Ministry of Utmost Happiness...
December on 5C4
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On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…
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