Narcopolis

Some of the below could be interpreted as spoilers, although I would suggest they are elements of the story brought out within the first 20 or so pages, so are not put within spoiler tags. I always find it harder to review fiction, so have kept this relatively short.

2012 Booker long listed, this novel is contemporary in style, but I wouldn't take on board comparisons to Trainspotting. The author is a poet, so if you are not a fan of often overwritten prose, this might not suit. There is switching between first and third person narration, the narration itself is somewhat confusing (purposefully, no doubt) and the story non-linear, or at least jumbled. Chapters follow different characters, and it is not always apparent which character you are with until part way through.

Shuklaji Street, and the Bombay drug scene provides the backdrop for most of the novel, the seedy side of the city is where the characters play out their lives and where a serial murderer, Pathar Maar, the stone killer, is operating, whose victims are the nameless, invisible poor. There are of course, no shortage of victims to choose from. The eclectic characters stories all find common ground at a Bombay opium den run by Rashid and his live-in assistant Dimple.

Dimple is the character the reader interacts with the most, and is certainly the most deeply detailed character with the most interaction with the other characters. Dimple was made a eunuch at at early age, and has developed as a woman, and has survived by prostitution alone, until she becomes involved in the opium den, where she prepares pipes and assists the customers. One of the sections of the book explains her history with a previous opium den, and the backstory of its Chinese owner Mr Lee.

The biggest issue with this novel is that the author fails to make the reader care about any of the characters - perhaps that was the point, that none of them were nice enough, or had enough promise for the reader to invest. For this reason, and for the overwitten prose, this book didn't really work for me in the way I had hoped.

3 stars.