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Title details for The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy - Wait list

The God of Small Things

A BBC Radio Full-Cast Dramatisation

by Arundhati Roy
Siobhan Finneran
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A full-cast BBC Radio dramatisation of Arundhati Roy's Booker Prize-winning novel - plus bonus interview with the author
Arundhati Roy's debut novel The God of Small Things took the literary world by storm, winning the Booker Prize in 1997. It went on to sell over six million copies in 40 languages, and was named as one of the BBC's 100 'Novels That Shaped Our World' in 2019.
Set in Kerala in both the present and 1969, it tells the compelling tale of fraternal twins Rahel and Estha, whose lives are shattered by the 'Love Laws' that dictate 'who should be loved, and how. And how much'. As children, they are inseparable: so close, they think of themselves as one person. But when they are just seven, everything changes. A terrible tragedy occurs, and, drawn into its devastating repercussions, they are forced apart.
Twenty-three years later, Rahel has moved to America and made a new life. But when she hears that Estha has been 're-returned', she travels to Ayemenem to be with her long-lost, broken brother. As painful memories come flooding back, the heartbreaking events of the twins' childhood gradually unfold, and through flashbacks and flash-forwards, the secrets of their desperately dysfunctional family are revealed...
A powerful story of forbidden cross-caste love and what a community will do to protect the old ways, this enthralling, atmospheric drama stars Yasmin Wilde, Richard Sumitro and Shaheen Khan, and features a haunting soundtrack by internationally-renowned musician Nitin Sawhney. Also included is a bonus episode of Radio 4's Bookclub from 2011, in which Arundhati Roy talks to James Naughtie about what was then her only work of fiction. Taking questions from the audience, she discusses the novel's themes and symbolism, and reveals how her training as an architect helped her plan its complex, multi-layered structure.
Production credits
Written by Arundhati Roy
Adapted by Tanika Gupta
Original music by Nitin Sawhney
Produced by Nadia Molinari
Cast
Rahel - Yasmin Wilde
Estha - Richard Sumitro
Young Rahel - Jatlnder Purewal
Young Estha - Shakeel Ahmed
Ammu - Thushani Weerasekera
Velutha - Paul Bhattacharjee
Sophie Mol - Poppy Rush
Chacko - Vincent Ebrahim
Baby Kochamma - Josephine Welcome
Mammachi - Shaheen Khan
Inspector - Matthew Raadrawl
Vellya - Badi Uzzaman
Kochu - Adlyn Ross
Margaret - Slobhan Finneran
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 12-23 July 2004
Bookclub: Arundhati Roy - The God of Small Things
With James Naughtie and Arundhati Roy
Produced by Dymphna Flynn
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 2 October 2011
ยฉ2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    August 4, 2022

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781529187410
      • File size: 80244 KB
      • Duration: 02:47:10

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from March 31, 1997
      With sensuous prose, a dreamlike style infused with breathtakingly beautiful images and keen insight into human nature, Roy's debut novel charts fresh territory in the genre of magical, prismatic literature. Set in Kerala, India, during the late 1960s when Communism rattled the age-old caste system, the story begins with the funeral of young Sophie Mol, the cousin of the novel's protagonists, Rahel and her fraternal twin brother, Estha. In a circuitous and suspenseful narrative, Roy reveals the family tensions that led to the twins' behavior on the fateful night that Sophie drowned. Beneath the drama of a family tragedy lies a background of local politics, social taboos and the tide of history--all of which come together in a slip of fate, after which a family is irreparably shattered. Roy captures the children's candid observations but clouded understanding of adults' complex emotional lives. Rahel notices that "at times like these, only the Small Things are ever said. The Big Things lurk unsaid inside." Plangent with a sad wisdom, the children's view is never oversimplified, and the adult characters reveal their frailties--and in one case, a repulsively evil power--in subtle and complex ways. While Roy's powers of description are formidable, she sometimes succumbs to overwriting, forcing every minute detail to symbolize something bigger, and the pace of the story slows. But these lapses are few, and her powers coalesce magnificently in the book's second half. Roy's clarity of vision is remarkable, her voice original, her story beautifully constructed and masterfully told. First serial to Granta; foreign rights sold in France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Italy, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Estonia, Holland, India, Greece, Canada and the U.K.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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