Marginal Revolution: Novel of the year

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Novel of the year

I am fairly confident in that pronouncement, even though a) it is only January 11, and b) I have read only the first hundred pages.

Here is a New York Times story, here is a New York Times review. It helps to have visited Bombay.

Posted by Tyler Cowen on January 11, 2007 at 01:35 PM in Books | Permalink

Comments

Typo - it's 'Sacred Games' not 'Secret Games'. But your links are all correct, so it doesn't matter. I don't know if you've read 'Maximum City' by Suketu Mehta. Both Suketu Mehta (New York-based) and Vikram Chandra (Berkeley-based) were in Bombay at around the same time, writing their respective books. Maximum City kicks ass too, but is non-fiction.

There are some interesting sub-plots too. Vikram Chandra's brother-in-law, the movie director Vidhu Vinod Chopra, plays a big role in Maximum City. Both Chandra and Suketu Mehta worked on a Bollywood movie script for Vidhu Vinod Chopra. The movie was called 'Mission Kashmir'. Chopra was offended by some things that Suketu Mehta wrote about him in Maximum City. So Vikram Chandra apparently does not like Suketu Mehta now.

Posted by: Samir at Jan 11, 2007 2:20:10 PM

Thanks, I corrected the title. After 300 pp. it is even better...

Posted by: Tyler Cowen at Jan 11, 2007 2:48:18 PM

yes, yes, yes! I was so looking forward to this book I got it off amazon.co.uk. best novel I read last year.

Posted by: john at Jan 11, 2007 5:30:47 PM

Whores turned Bollywood starlets?

Posted by: GVV at Jan 11, 2007 6:18:14 PM

If you like "Sacred Games" then you might want to try "Love and Longing in Bombay" which is a prequel to this story.

Posted by: SM at Jan 11, 2007 8:29:17 PM

Here is an excerpt from the novel at NPR.

Posted by: Guru at Jan 11, 2007 8:30:08 PM

What on earth is Amazon doing, running that WaPo review on the book's page?

Though the novel does have its moments and a couple of intermittently interesting central characters, mainly it just wanders aimlessly along, written in a droning monotone and peppered with Indian colloquialisms that are sure to put off all but the best-informed American readers. * * * It may sound exciting and engaging, but it isn't, and when the novel's climax finally occurs, it's the most anticlimactic climax I can recall. But it is, perhaps, a fitting climax to a book that, for all its ambition and intelligence, ends up going nowhere at all.

Of course I trust TC's judgment, but I have no clue why Amazon is doing that.

Posted by: Anderson at Jan 11, 2007 9:19:08 PM

I would just like to note that between 1:35pm and 2:48pm Tyler read 200+ pages. No wonder he is so productive ...

Posted by: Hei Lun Chan at Jan 11, 2007 11:07:23 PM

There's yet ANOTHER great book about Bombay called "Shantaram" by Gregory David Roberts, based on the true story of the author, who escaped from prison in Australia and settled in Bombay as both a doctor and a worker for organized crime. There are plans to make a movie on it starring Johnny Depp.

For those who don't know why the fuss about Bombay...first off understand that isn't heaven, it isn't the greatest place in the world for everyone there, because there are so many people in abject poverty there. However, Bombay IS the most exciting city in the world, because it is literally heaven and hell superimposed on each other at the same place. Bombay (Mumbai now!) has some of the most expensive real estate in the world, yet also some of the world's largest slums.

Posted by: J at Jan 11, 2007 11:58:16 PM

Why no comment on Mira Nayar's film "Salaam Bombay"?

Posted by: Samy at Jan 12, 2007 12:19:20 PM

I've just finished reading "Red Earth and Pouring Rain", which I greatly enjoyed. How does the new novel compare to this earlier one?

Posted by: Mark Hannam at Jan 12, 2007 3:58:33 PM

Here's the interview in which Vidhu Vinod Chopra threatened to slap Suketu if they ever crossed paths again:
http://soniafaleiro.blogspot.com/2005/06/maximum-city-should-be-banned-vidhu.html
And Viram Chandra's rebuttal:
http://soniafaleiro.blogspot.com/2006/01/greater-loneliness-is-when-you-create.html

Posted by: kp at Jan 13, 2007 12:00:32 AM

As someone noted above, the Washington Post's Jonathan Yardley didn't like this book at all. I very much want it to be terrific, so I would be most interested in a response to Yardley's piece by Prof. Cowen or another fan of the book.

Posted by: Tyrone Slothrop at Jan 13, 2007 9:50:32 PM

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Posted by: Dre Alex at Jan 17, 2007 12:00:40 PM

H i
B e s t w i s h e s。
Allow me to offer my heartiest wishes.
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