Narcopolis By Jeet Thayil Summary
Narcopolis By Jeet Thayil Summary - In this post you will get all the information about
‘Narcopolis’. The proper and easy explanation of the novel is written below, i
hope will read the summary and know everything about ' Narcopolis'.
Introduction
Narcopolis By Jeet Thayil Summary - Narcopolis is the debut novel of Indian author Jeet Thayil,
which was shortlisted for the 2012 Man Booker Prize.
It is set in 1970s Old Bombay and concerns opium and its influence. The novel's narrator arrives in
Bombay, where he becomes seduced into the opium underground. The story expands
to encompass such characters as Dimple, a hijra, Rashid, the opium house's owner, and Mr
Lee, a former Chinese officer, all of whom have stories to tell.
Narcopolis By Jeet Thayil Summary - The novel draws on
his own experiences as a drug addict, and what he calls "the lost 20 years
of my life". it took him five years to write the novel, and he called
it "the opposite of catharsis. Catharsis gets stuff out of you. But this
put bad feelings into me." Thayil decided to call the
book Narcopolis "because Bombay seemed to me a city of
intoxication, where the substances on offer were drugs and alcohol, of course,
but also god, glamour, power, money and sex".
Narcopolis by Jeet Thayil comes with weighty expectations.
A 2012 Booker Prize shortlister, set in an opium den in 1970’s Old Bombay, its
exhales a contradictory promise of a story both exotic and nostalgic.
Characters
- Dimple
- a hijra
- Rashid
- the opium house's
owner
- Mr Lee
- a former Chinese officer
Summary
Narcopolis By Jeet Thayil Summary - Women from all over India descend on Bombay, hoping
to find work and send money to their families back home. More than a few end up
on Shuklaji Street, working in one of the brothels, kept in cages, used and
abused, their earnings kept by the brothel keepers.
Also on Shuklaji
Street is Rashid’s, an opium den. Rashid’s is the centre of Narcopolis, its
diverse characters are all connected to it in some way. Like overlapping
petals, together they give broad view of Bombay’s dark underbelly.
Narcopolis By Jeet Thayil Summary - Working in Rashid’s is Dimple, who prepares the
opium pipes for Rashid’s customers when she isn’t working in the hijra’s
brothel (‘hijras’ are eunuchs, intersex and transgender peoples). But after
years of addiction the drug is taking its toll and the brothel owner is
complaining that she is little use to him anymore. Dimple was introduced to
opium by Mr Lee once she began suffering from body aches. Like Dimple, Lee, a
Chinese refugee, has a past he would rather forget and pain that he takes opium
to subside. It is a past that includes seeing his father succumb to opium
addiction after being denounced and imprisoned by the Communist Party and his
own experiences of torture, imprisonment and heartbreak at the hands of the
same regime.
Narcopolis By Jeet Thayil Summary - Rashid, whose opium den it is, began as a skinny
narcotic entrepreneur with big dreams, inspired by the glamorised image of drug
use from cinema. His success, in part due to Mr Lee’s pipes and Dimple’s skill
with them has made his den internationally known and made himself fat and
complacent. Drugs are now in easy supply in Bombay and the opium dens of old
are closing.
New competition has
arrived in the form of garad, low grade heroin smuggled into India from
Pakistan. But Rashid is reluctant to change his business model even though he
uses garad himself. Narcopolis was a difficult read for me.
Narcopolis By Jeet Thayil Summary - At times it consists of rambling, pages-long
sentences. It is sometimes narrated by one of the characters, sometimes the
perspective is omniscient and third-person. Memories, histories, vignettes and
anecdotes mingle with opium dreams. Some passages I found nonsensical, at other
times I wondered if it was all just a little pretentious. I found myself losing
interest, searching for a story, a quest, an obstacle, wondering where it was
all going with a nagging doubt that I was missing something.
Narcopolis By Jeet Thayil Summary - All this was very disappointing. With Narcopolis, I
was perhaps guilty of forming some preconceptions. Set in an opium den of
1970’s Old Bombay, it sounded like something that would inspire a sort of
misplaced romantic nostalgia in readers who know nothing about such a time and
place. It has been compared to Goya and Keats and Irvine Welsh, was shortlisted
for the 2012 Booker Prize and comes in a gorgeously designed cover.
Narcopolis By Jeet Thayil Summary - I even bought a copy for my father thinking it must
be pretty good. But it was not for me. After an indifferent beginning, I do
think it got better. The intermingling stories begin to have a nesting
doll-like structure. There were some nice passages and stories now and then,
sometimes poetic and insightful. I found myself liking it a bit better and
enjoying the writing a little more. The backstory of Mr Lee and his memories of
China during the Communist Revolution were a particularly enjoyable part.
Usually at this stage in my reviews I discuss some of the themes I found in
what I have read. In the case of Narcopolis, I have little to say.
Narcopolis By Jeet Thayil Summary - With the themes, like the plot, it is difficult to say what this book is about. There is some commentary, some insight, about comparative religion. There is some criticism of modern India – some of Narcopolis is set around the Emergency period after all. Early in the novel, mention is made of the failed experiment of Indian socialism but that description could apply to the novel as well. It is probable that this book is about a lot of things, but they don’t bite the reader. I don’t think it is written to be especially impactful. It doesn’t make the reader pause and ponder. Rather, it feels like the book’s messages can be easily overlooked and, again with that nagging doubt, you wonder if you’ve wandered past anything significant. Narcopolis begins by saying that Bombay is the hero/heroine of the story. In a strange way, I do think that by the end of Narcopolis, Bombay had come to take on an identity like a character in the novel. In this sense to novel achieves something.
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