Sacred Games: A Novel (P.S.)
by Vikram Chandra
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Book Reviews of Sacred Games: A Novel (P.S.)
Book Review: Facts and Fictions of Modern Mumbai
Summary: 5 Stars
Much has already been written on Vikram Chandra's "Sacred Games", so my review will not deal with the plot but only underline some aspects of the book and why it is so enjoyable and appealing. V.Chandra, who descends from a family that is part of Mumbai's intellectual Gotha (mother screen writer for Bollywood films, sister journalist of Bollywood film world, brother in law Bollywood director) wrote this book in English with abundant untranslated Hindi words and references, with the intention of communicating to the western readers the nature of his country, its stories and its modern day reality through the description of two important systems, the Indian police force and the Indian criminal underworld. Through over 900 pages almost every modern aspect and character of the most modern and international city of India, Mumbai, comes to life and extends its arms towards us. A detailed sociological analysis consents the interpretation of this upcoming and outgoing country. Fortunately, V.Chandra even in the attempt to communicate Indian reality stays inside its boundaries, differently from what recently has happened with Danny Boyle' "Slumdog millionaire", that with its Oscar winning story has given a fairytale and unrealistic reading of modern Indian society. Remember also the success of "Shantaram" that is in great part based on an outsider's reading of the Mumbai reality.
If you have the time and the curiosity, look up the movies and the songs mentioned in the book, from Ram Gopal Varma's "Satya" and "Company" to filmi lyrics from old Hindi movies, as to really get the feel of popular Indian culture today and surrender to the shear beauty with which Hindustani read their complex reality.
And also, if you want to better understand the impact and importance of the Indian criminal underworld read the companion book to this novel, Sukethu Metha's non fiction "Maximun City".
Now a brief immersion into the joy and entertainment this novel can give, which is similar to Vikram Seth's "A Suitable Boy". Stories are built on stories, every character has a world of his or her own, that comes from the past and goes into the future. Not one is abandoned along the way. When the book is finished you feel as though you lost some friends and going home you don't have anything to look forward to.
Another brief digression into the psychology of the characters. Each one has the same fear, of not being able to understand the surrounding reality and the people he deals with. The archi-criminal Gainesh wants a leader because he can't resign himself to his brutal existence and gives up when his leader dumps him, the honest/dishonest policeman Sartaj Singh is terrorized of not understanding what is going on until he finds his reason of being in a simple and loving woman and in his own moral solidity even if it implies his chief's treason.
A beautiful realistic contemporary fiction. Read and enjoy.
Book Review: Thriller and social study in one
Summary: 4 Stars
Vikram Chandra's Sacred Games combines the attractions of genre literature with a meticulous social portrayal of that most fascinating of countries: modern India.
The novel's chosen format is that of a detective story, with ex-playboy, philosophically inclined Sikh police inspector Sartaj Singh chasing the tail of Bombay's most notorious gangster boss. We are also given the gory and satisfyingly prurient tale of the gangster's rise to chiefdom. But it is best never to betray too much of a thriller's plot. Suffice it to mention that the storyline takes on nationally and even internationally threatening dimensions, as well as going through the Bombay mob and the police's more modest, everyday battles.
The pace never flags through the book's massive 900 pages. No doubt Chandra is a capital storyteller, but this also owes something to the author's evident knowledge of his subject and acquaintance with the travails of the Bombay police force; one can feel the author has sweated and put in the hours for his reader. And beyond this, whole swathes of Indian society are put under the microscope. This is no set-piece version of sacred, historical India. What we have is an equally brutal and endearing, and invariably contradictory picture of a country in full transformation. Sacred Games ranges from the Bollywood scene to Bengali slums, from Naxalite battlegrounds to new-rich condominiums and from the Singhs' family farm in Maharashtra to the corridors of power in Delhi. It even manages to make the inevitable expository piece about the partition tragedy realistic and appealing.
The writing is elegant without - surprisingly for such a tome - being wordy, granting a large place to dialogue. It contains a number of English Indian words, but while this leaves the non-native curious, it isn't detrimental to his or her comprehension or enjoyment. I was warming up to my own imagined ending, to be disappointed that the author chose another direction. On reflection, though, Chandra's moralistic but not moralising denouement is much better than mine.
Book Review: Near Miss At Greatness
Summary: 4 Stars
Even at close to 1,000 pages, this book pulls you in and keeps your interest. It never drags, with each of the intertwined stories carrying its own weight, and each deserving of presentation. Each character has a purpose--so in that sense, the book is well-crafted and well thought out.
I also enjoyed the presentation of Indian culture, from the competing religious factions in Indian society--Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, to the love of "filmi", to the way that things get done administratively (through bribes, and assertion of power). etc.
While a thoroughly enjoyable read, this book was a 4 star for me, rather than a 5, as I never really felt myself truly connect with any character--as I do in great literature. The closest I came was Sartaj, the detective, in his search for love, honor and fulfillment. The interior life of the characters seemed to be less important to the author than moving the story along. While that probably limited my ability to love this book, I must admit it made it a much easier and breezier read (to the extent a book of this length can ever be called breezy).
My other objection related to the use of Bombay slang. While I understand the author's desire to create a vivid portrait of Bombay life, I found that flipping back and forth to the glossary multiple times per page got tiresome really quickly. Moreover, I was really surprised to find that many, many words (some of which were repeatedly used) never even made it to the glossary. Forcing your audience to stop reading and start searching is bad enough; but then failing to reward their patience by omitting many apparently important words is really unforgivable. For example, an important plot point deals with Sartaj's searching for three sadhus. That the publisher elected to omit the word "sadhu" from the glossary is really puzzling--they probably never read the book!!!!!
In conclusion, a VERY GOOD BOOK, not a great one; but definitely worth a read.
Ken
Book Review: Superficial, overrated and ultimately a waste of time
Summary: 2 Stars
I was pretty disappointed with this novel, mainly because of Chandra's writing style. I've read a fair amount of contemporary South Asian lit., and Chandra falls well below writers such as Rushdie or Ghose. I've been to Bombay, and somewhat familiar with the city and language, and Chandra does a fair job of creating local verisimilitude. But his writing style is facile, in the best and worst sense of the word. He has a great ease with language, and he lets it get away from him because of this ease. His use of adjectives, for example, seems to be the same for almost all people and things. In a very typical Post Modern way he is always stressing shimmering surfaces, superficial aspects, and the "interconnectedness_ of things. He is a typical PoMo author in that he is always stressing the playfulness of things - while attempting to write a crime novel. His register just isn't suitable for the topic at hand - he renders his own subject trite.
The inserts are a waste of time, and again, critiquing his register, all the characters sound approximately the same. There are some good passages, but there are some very badly written ones. I got the feeling after 200 pages or so that he had a number of hopppers, like the ones used for Powerball, Lotto, whatever state you're in (I'm in Kathmandu Nepal), and gave 'em a twirl whenever he needed to described something, and then just plucked out adjectives. Like Vikram Seth, Chandra is a talented writer. Unlike Seth, he seems to have little to say. So he likes telling stories. He could use a good editor. I have nothing against long novels - I've waded through Proust's tome twice now, and read Joyce, Tolstoy, Rushdie, many long novels. This one is just beach reading.
If you want a good book on Bombay, pick up Sukhetu Mehta's non-fiction work "Bombaby Maximum City." And give this one a pass.
Book Review: Garbled Games
Summary: 3 Stars
As an American who enjoys Bollywood movies, and who is studying Hindi as a hobby, I delved enthusiastically into this book. I am a relative initiate into Indian culture who has never been to India, so the book did indeed have some exotic charm. Even for me however, the overwhelming amount of Hindi in the book (*most* of which is *not* in the glossary) was very distracting. Some of the writing is beautiful and startling, but, as has been noted, it is very uneven.
My main problems with this book are as follows. Editing might have helped.
1) The plot is too rambling and disjointed. The insets are interesting on their own but do not significantly contribute to an understanding of the characters. The resolution of the various plotlines is anticlimactic.
2) The characters are uneven too. Gaitonde (the gangster) is probably the best drawn, the Guru the least. I liked Sartaj and believed most of the characters, but something left me very empty at the end. That emptiness is my most lasting impression. For all the lush action and intrigue, there is something ultimately cynical and purposeless in this book's tone.
What I liked best were the stories within stories. As a group they don't have a lot of cohesion though. The Canterbury Tales this ain't.
I heard Vikram Chandra talk about this book and he spoke mostly about the inspiration of following Bombay gangsters like Dawood Ibrahim. When I approached him and asked about the overwhelming amount of foreign language in the book, he said that it was Hindi (and not Marathi) and that whatever I couldn't find in the back of the book could be found on his website's online glossary. I enjoyed parts of the experience of reading this book, but I don't think I'll be reading any more of Chandra's books soon.