Showing results by author "Arundhati Roy" in All Categories

Set against a background of political turbulence in Kerala, Southern India, The God of Small Things tells the story of twins Esthappen and Rahel. Amongst the vats of banana jam and heaps of peppercorns in their grandmother's factory, they try to craft a childhood for themselves amidst what constitutes their family - their lonely, lovely mother; their beloved uncle Chacko (pickle baron, radical Marxist and bottom pincher); and their avowed enemy, Baby Kochamma (ex-nun and incumbent grand-aunt).

In a city graveyard, a resident unrolls a threadbare Persian carpet between two graves. On a concrete sidewalk, a baby appears quite suddenly, a little after midnight, in a crib of litter. In a snowy valley, a father writes to his five-year-old daughter about the number of people who attended her funeral. And in the Jannat Guest House, two people who've known each other all their lives sleep with their arms wrapped around one another as though they have only just met.

My Seditious Heart collects the work of a two-decade period when Arundhati Roy devoted herself to the political essay as a way of opening up space for justice, rights and freedoms in an increasingly hostile environment. Taken together, the essays speak in a uniquely spirited voice, marked by compassion, clarity and courage.  

The chant of 'Azadi!' - Urdu for 'Freedom!' - is the slogan of the freedom struggle in Kashmir against what Kashmiris see as the Indian Occupation. Ironically, it also became the chant of millions on the streets of India against the project of Hindu Nationalism. Even as Arundhati Roy began to ask what lay between these two calls for freedom - a chasm or a bridge? - the streets fell silent. Not only in India, but all over the world.

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. 

Arundhati Roy examines the persistent inequality in India through an extensive critique of Gandhi's views on race, caste and imperialism.

‘I try to create links, to join the dots, to tell politics like a story, to make it real…’ Over a lifetime spent at the frontline of solidarity and resistance, Arundhati Roy’s words have lit a clear way through the darkness that surrounds us. Combining the skills of the architect she trained to be and the writer she became, she illuminates the hidden structures of modern empire like no one else, revealing their workings so that we can resist.

Die kleinen Dinge, das sind der Streifen auf einem Wespenflügel, roter Nagellack auf den Fingern eines Schreiners, die geballte Faust auf einer Motorhaube. Die großen Dinge dagegen lauern unausgesprochen im Innern. Das wissen die siebenjährigen Zwillinge Rahel und Estha, und sie wissen auch, dass sich alles an einem einzigen Tag verändern kann. Und sie werden recht behalten. Als Rahel nach vielen Jahren zurückkehrt in ihr Heimatdorf im südindischen Kerala, ist nichts mehr, wie es einst war. Die Konservenfabrik der Familie verfallen, die geliebte Mutter tot, der Zwillingsbruder verstummt.

Part memoir, part manifesto, Chamorro climate activist Julian Aguon's No Country for Eight-Spot Butterflies is a coming-of-age story and a call for justice—for everyone, but in particular, for Indigenous peoples. Aguon weaves together stories from his childhood in the villages of Guam with searing political commentary about matters ranging from nuclear weapons to global warming. Bearing witness and reckoning with the challenges of truth-telling in an era of rampant obfuscation, he culls from his own life experiences to illuminate a collective path out of the darkness.

Tyve år efter De små tings gud, hendes brag af en debutroman, er Arundhati Roy tilbage med en kraftpræstation af en roman. En storslået, gribende og uendelig smuk roman, der favner hele Indiens nyere historie og endnu en gang bekræfter Arundhati Roys mageløse evner som historiefortæller.

På en kirkegård midt i Delhi ruller en kvinde et tyndslidt persisk tæppe ud mellem to gravsten. På et asfalteret fortov dukker et nyfødt spædbarn pludselig op ud af det blå. I en tilsneet dal skriver en sørgende far et brev til sin femårige datter og fortæller om alle de mennesker, der deltog i hendes begravelse. I en lejlighed i en boligblok sidder en kvinde alene og ryger og læser i sine gamle notesbøger. Og i et nedslidt pensionat sover to mennesker, som har elsket hinanden hele livet, tæt omslynget, som havde de lige mødt hinanden.

"Ministeriet for den højeste lykke" er en roman om kærlighed. Kærlighed, der hvor man mindst forventer den, under de mest usandsynlige omstændigheder. Den kærlighed, man vil gøre alt for. Den kærlighed, man går under af.

Auf einem Friedhof in der Altstadt von Delhi wird ein handgeknüpfter Teppich ausgerollt. Auf einem Bürgersteig taucht plötzlich ein Baby auf. In einem verschneiten Tal schreibt ein Vater einen Brief an seine fünfjährige Tochter über die vielen Menschen, die zu ihrer Beerdigung kamen. Im Jannat Guest House umarmen sich im Schlaf zwei Menschen, als ob sie sich eben erst getroffen hätten - aber sie kennen sich schon ein Leben lang.