Arresting God in Kathmandu

A short collection of nine fiction stories by a Nepalese author who lives in the USA.

While there is one which crosses from the USA to Nepal, the stories are are primarily all set in Nepal (but not all Kathmandu). They offer an often intimate view of the Nepalese characters, but how accurately they portray Nepalese people is questionable. Certainly written such that most of the characters are flawed, making most unlikeable - or at least the reader struggles to find sympathy with many of them) the book does, as the blurb suggests explore ‘the nature of desire and spirituality in a changing society'.

The stories are interesting, and are written from various perspectives, about Nepalese people from different social strata - from the wealthy elite a house servant, male and female characters. Somehow with every story there is a lack of resolution that I am not thrilled by. In a collection like this I don't mind one story with an ambiguous ending, but these felt largely unsatisfying. The struggle or issue that the protagonist dealt with throughout the story didn't really resolve itself by the end.

Published in 2001 I don't think it has dated badly, but then I sometimes struggle with the concept that the early 2000s are over twenty years ago!

Interesting how the reviews of this book are such a mixed bag, many at 5 who loved it; many at 1 who detested it, with a majority at 3 stars, to which I add. I wasn't polarised either way, but would have liked less ambiguity and more resolution of outcomes, as it was obvious after the first few stories that we were getting neither!

3 stars