Name: The Algebra of Infinite Justice
Author: Arundhati Roy
Genre: Non-fiction, Politics

Review:
The Algebra of Infinite Justice is a collection of political essays that deals with India's nuclear tests, the dam industry as well as 9/11 attacks and the US government's war against Terror.

Arundhati Roy's writing contains an anger, a rage that speaks for those whose voice have been silenced. She seeks out to the readers to see the truth behind the 'so called' development. Her words are clear and fearless as she point out the facts and numbers to the readers.

Arundhati Roy is one of the most empowering writers who critically analyses the political, society and economic issues in her essays. ( )

I don't disagree with anything Arundhati says here. It's not that. It's just that these essays mourn too much, grieve too much, complain too much, provide no solutions, and very little new information.

They are stuck in a limbo between sentimentalizing loss (while completely failing to make it feel tangible - because the author does all the grieving for you) and trying to do reportage (while providing little to no new information, perhaps due to how dated these essays are). I guess the goal was to make your heart ache so much you leave everything and take the next train to the Narmada Valley. If it was, it feels like one big hit-and-miss operation. ( )

Roy’s lexis dazzle through each penned composition voicing a valiant and scathing critique of falsified political institutions and the materialization of Indian fascism. ( )

Apparently, shortly after Arundhati Roy won the Booker for The God of small things, India elected a new, nationalistic government who tested a nuclear bomb. Roy used the platform given to her by her status as a national treasure to openly criticize this new flag waving policy, and thus started a new career as a writer of political essays and activist.
This volume collects some of her articles from the years around the millennium. They deal mostly with the aftermath of 9-11: The war in Afghanistan, the invasion of Iraq, the new policy of unilateral warfare by the USA, concepts like “collateral damage”, the anti-Muslim tension in India (including bloody pogroms), and the reasons for the growth of terrorism. Roy has a sharp pen and a clear analysis, and this is a book both angry and inspiring.

You can tell it’s almost ten years old though. Most of what is in here is not news to anybody who has been following America’s decade of revenge and it’s impact on the world. From a European view point at least, this is a book to nod in fierce agreement with, and perhaps to quote. But there’s not much new insight for a leftist like me here, apart from the scary glimpses into Indian domestic politics. Also, it’s obvious this is a book brought together, rather than written to be published as a single volume. There are many repetitions here, quotes used over and over for example. But as an overview of global capitalism and imperialism? It still goes a long way. ( )