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Dark, disturbing, enlightening, witty. Mumbai through opium eyes. I liked the strong characterisation (if not all the characters - I liked Lee best and sympathised most with Dimple) and how they developed (or regressed) as the narrative unfolded. No real plot, but oodles of commentary on Mumbai's history, resilience and polyglot culture.
ReplyDeleteI liked it.
I found it a fascinating book. Characters were very vivid and I rather loved Dimple. It read like an opium dream of Bombay (Mumbai - I noted he never refered to the city by its new idenity).
ReplyDeleteI did wonder while reading it as to what experiences the author had in order to write such a vivid account of drug use and addiction. A little research reveals it was written from life experience as he admits to be an addict for 20 years himself though now counts coffee as his only addiction is poetry and coffee and said in an interview: ""Coffee's much easier to get than heroin."
There was a real sense of the city - its beauty, history and decadance.
I gave up after 50 pages. Nothing to latch onto - just depressing sordidness heaped upon characters impossible for me even to consider feigning interest in.
ReplyDeleteI found this a difficult and depressing read. I was interested in Mr Lee's experiences in Mao's China. If this melancholy tale of addiction enables the writer/readers to become and remain drug free then it will not have been in vain.
ReplyDeleteNicole