The God of Small Things

Do you remember when you were 7 years old and felt the tall blade of grass sift between your 2nd and 3rd toes on your right foot as you strolled through a park, thinking of the droplets of cookie dough ice cream running through your fingers on that one sweltering summer day in mid-July? Well, me neither. But Arundhati Roy might.

Roy pieces together a beautiful yet sad story of two twins growing up in revolution-era India from all the tiny details and mini-stories remembered by the twins as they reunite 20 or so years after they last saw one another. But instead of the twins retelling their stories, it is more Roy taking a microscope to their lives and inspecting what little events lead up to where they are now. And in the process we get to learn a little bit about India, too. If only one of the characters could have been a contestant on Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

I really liked this book. If not for the story or Roy's unique writing style, than at least for the reminder that all the tiny, seemingly insignificant details of life maybe shouldn't be overlooked as often as they are. Everything builds on something. Right now it is 1:23 am and I am sitting on a couch writing about a book. I don't know why this is important. But for some reason, I can't shake the feeling that it is.