Category: Fiction

  • Narcopolis

     Jeet Thayil

    What a trip! Right from the single sentence prologue that lasts 7 pages which, to me, also gives a clue on how to consume this book – “Do I take a single continuous drag? You can, but then you have to recycle it inside your lungs, better to take short pulls, “How long should I hold it in?… it depends how much nasha you want” In essence, I could have read it in one shot and deconstructed it in my head, or I could consume it languorously and let the author take me through it at his own pace. I chose the latter, trying to keep up with his lucidity and fantasy. I honestly don’t know if I got it all right.

    The narrator Dom leaves us soon after the book begins – to Rashid, the owner of an opium den, Dimple, the eunuch who is his ‘kaamvali’, and to a small extent Rumi. (no, just a shortened form of Ramesh) The networks of stories are like waves, probably matching opium induced undulations of the mind. They are continuous, and have similarities – of pain, and a need for belonging and love. But they are unique too, as we watch time pass by – backward and forward – through the perspectives of different characters. The Stoneman references give us an indication of the timeframe the novel is set, but we also get a glimpse of the socio-political scene of China in the 1940s thanks to Mr.Lee. (more…)

  • The Lowland

    Jhumpa Lahiri

    The good part is that the usual characters are all present – Kolkata, Boston, melancholy, wistfulness. The better part is that Jhumpa Lahiri is in top form. I was a bit disappointed with the last book so I started this with a skeptical mindset, but am extremely glad to have been proved wrong.
    The story spans about four generations, beginning in the 1950s and ending in contemporary times. What is interesting is that, though at least a couple of the characters seem easy enough to slot into standard stereotypes – a Naxalite moved by his milieu into embracing a fiery ideology, and his brother who moves to the US and becomes the immigrant absorbed in scientific research building a new life in an alien country, the author takes them beyond that in the story arc, giving them depth and layers.

    One wonders whether it is the story of Udayan whose influence in the lives of the characters extend far beyond his death, or that of Subhash and the women in his life – a mother disappointed by his choice, a wife who never loved him as he wished she would, and a daughter whom he raised but is not his own. Or is it really the story of Gauri, and her journey which seems to be played out in a real as well as philosophical level? “Plato says that the purpose of philosophy is to teach us how to die.” Between these three, the author travels the spectrum of human nature – from its most benevolent to its most selfish. The Lowland is the stretch of land between two ponds – probably also symbolising the two brothers and Gauri. (more…)

  • The Diamond Age: or, A Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer

     Neal Stephenson

    Snow Crash remains one of my favourite books in the genre, and it would only be a slight exaggeration to say that this book does for nanotechnology what the former did for the internet – give a fantastic perspective of the possibilities. I have to confess that Stephenson’s books are not the easiest to read- as anyone who has attempted The Baroque Cycle would agree to – but what I give him the most credit for is his scope of imagination. That matter compiler, (MC) which is one of the standard technologies in this book, is probably an advanced form of 3D printing, and this book was written in 1995!

    From a plot perspective, there are at least two main protagonists. Nell, who escapes from domestic abuse with the help of her brother and gets a copy of the Primer, a book that adapts to the life conditions of the reader, and was originally made at the behest of an ‘Equity Lord’ for his granddaughter to propel her towards a more interesting life. (read subversive ideas) John Percival Hackworth, the architect of the Primer, who begins to be used by two separate forces to meet their own objectives. The story primarily focuses on Nell’s ‘evolution’ after she gets the Primer and Hackworth’s journey after he hands over the Primer. (more…)

  • Frankly Spooking

    Sriramana Muliya

    I must first confess a little bias – I have known the author virtually for around a decade now, as Phatichar, his blogger handle.
    He has tried at least two kinds of fiction genres here – sketch stories (or perhaps flash fiction) and short stories. The first kind does away with any setting or build up – they are just scenes or slices which begin and end abruptly. That’s not a problem, it’s the way it is supposed to work. 🙂 The last five stories could be categorised as short stories – lengthier, with more complex plots and a more concrete narrative flow.

    There are mainly three things I like about this book. The first is the simplicity of the language. I’m not sure if it’s a conscious effort or just a natural way of writing, but irrespective of that, it works very well. A big word or a complex sentence could have easily spoiled the gripping narratives. The second is the imagination – the sheer scale of scenarios, names, occupations, characters and their descriptions is admirable. Depending on your ‘palate’, you might consider some spooky, some scary and some as just a good story. That leads me to the last point – the structure of the book. (more…)

  • And the Mountains Echoed

    Khaled Hosseini 

    Before I write about the book, I think a disclaimer that I haven’t read the earlier books by the author is necessary. Reviews tell me that there are patterns easily discernible in Khaled Hosseini’s works, so it’s probably good that I was introduced to the author with this book.

    It’s been about five minutes since I finished the book, and my eyes are no longer moist. The thing is, I knew the ending. Pretty much everyone who reads the book and realises the intent of the story (within the story) that’s narrated by the siblings’ father at the very beginning of the novel- of a div who visits a village and takes away a child, of the father who braved odds in an attempt to win him back, and its ending, memories like ‘the tail end of a sad dream’ – can picture the frame in which the novel will end, or almost. Yet, like many other points in the novel, it did not fail to move me. That’s probably the defining character of this book – an unbearable sadness. (more…)