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Narcopolis
Narcopolis | Jeet Thayil
11 posts | 14 read | 13 to read
Wait now, light me up so we do this right, yes, hold me steady to the lamp, hold it, hold, good, a slow pull to start with, to draw the smoke low into the lungs, yes, oh my... Shuklaji Street, in Old Bombay. In Rashid's opium room the air is thick with voices and ghosts: Hindu, Muslim, Christian. A young woman holds a long-stemmed pipe over a flame, her hair falling across her eyes. Men sprawl and mutter in the gloom. Here, they say you introduce only your worst enemy to opium. There is an underworld whisper of a new terror: the Pathar Maar, the stone killer, whose victims are the nameless, invisible poor. In the broken city, there are too many to count. Stretching across three decades, with an interlude in Mao's China, it portrays a city in collision with itself. With a cast of pimps, pushers, poets, gangsters and eunuchs, it is a journey into a sprawling underworld written in electric and utterly original prose.
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review
BarbaraBB
Narcopolis | Jeet Thayil
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Mehso-so

This is a difficult book it‘s about opium dens in Bombay and sometimes I felt like the author was writing this book while visiting one. I had a hard time keeping up with him and was not sure if I had to follow the main characters or just let it come over me, this portrait of Bombay. I‘m still not sure about what I read, but I appreciate what the author did. Not necessarily recommended though. #booker

Cinfhen I love a Bombay setting but I think I‘m passing on this one 10mo
BarbaraBB @Cinfhen I was thinking of your current India love ❤️ but I think you‘re right to pass. 10mo
Cinfhen 💕💕💕💕 10mo
79 likes3 comments
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BarbaraBB
Narcopolis | Jeet Thayil
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#WeeklyForecast 22/23

I have already started my #GuiltyPleasure read for #TitlesAndTunes… couldn‘t wait any longer! Next will be Narcopolis and The Scapegoat for #Roll100!

Tamra I‘ve not heard of The Scapegoat! Must investigate. 🧐 10mo
BarbaraBB @Tamra It‘s supposed to be good. And it‘s DuMaurier of course 🩶 10mo
Tamra @BarbaraBB I‘m very tempted to watch the film. 10mo
See All 11 Comments
squirrelbrain Have a great week! 😘 10mo
Cinfhen Ohhh, I haven‘t seen that DuMaurier title before either @Tamra 10mo
Vansa I LOVE The scapegoat. Excellent book. Btw, I would recommend throwing Narcopolis into the bin😂Jeet Thayil is unreadable and completely full of himself 😂 10mo
Tamra @Cinfhen I confess, I‘m watching the film now while multitasking! 🤭 10mo
Cinfhen Haha, how awesome is that @Tamra 10mo
BarbaraBB @Tamra Really? That is awesome! I hope it‘s good! Let me know If you want! 10mo
BarbaraBB @Vansa I have heard that more often about Narcopolis. I‘ll give it a try but won‘t try too much if I don‘t like it! 10mo
sarahbarnes This looks like a fun reading week! 10mo
55 likes11 comments
review
Kelly_the_Bookish_Sidekick
Narcopolis | Jeet Thayil
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Bailedbailed

Well my efforts to #JumpStart2023 aren't going so well. My first audiobook is a bust.

Since I didn't get to read the India Overview in November for #foodandlit I thought I'd read it this month along with this, since it has been on my shelves since I won it in a giveaway 10 years ago. I'm at 38% and I just don't care about these people, I'm not eager to keep listening, and the narrator's voice makes this seem like a stodgy non-fiction. BAIL.

Texreader 😂🤣 1y
Catsandbooks 😂😂 life's too short to read boring books!! 1y
57 likes4 comments
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vivastory
Narcopolis | Jeet Thayil
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#AlphabetGame
Title that begins with the letter N
I have posted frequently about a couple of favorite N titles: Gresham's story of ruthless ambition & deception Nightmare Alley & Ishiguro's incredibly moving story of a group of friends that is more than the reader expects Never Let Me Go. I am going to focus on Thayil's Man Booker shortlisted debut which follows a group of characters living on the fringe of society across 3 decades in Bombay.👇

vivastory The Guardian review said of it “Narcopolis is a blistering debut that can indeed stand proudly on the shelf next to Burroughs and De Quincey.“ While reading Narcopolis it reminded me of those books, as well as another drug fueled debut about a cast of misfits-Welsh's Trainspotting. Yet, Thayil was both an established published poet prior to pub. Narcopolis as well as an editor (editing anthologies for both Bloodaxe Books & Penguin: no small feat) 2y
vivastory & these poetic sensibilities, along with his love of music infuses the pages of Narcopolis to make it wholly distinct. 2y
BarbaraBB Good to know! I have owned a copy for years, and might give it a go now. I mostly don‘t like “drug fueled” books though… (edited) 2y
See All 7 Comments
vivastory @BarbaraBB If you don't like those kind of books I would maybe skip it, or give it 50 pages & see what you think! 2y
Vansa I wouldn't recommend Narcopolis to anyone!It's badly, clunkily written, for one,and it's just...over the top and ridiculous.Jeet Thayil isn't as good or as celebrated a writer as he thinks he is! 2y
vivastory @Vansa I read it several years ago. My opinion of it might change today if I was to revisit it. I do think it is noteworthy & interesting that he edited two major anthologies for two separate publishers. 2y
Vansa @vivastory he was a young poet when the Bombay poets and the Bombay Progressive Artists were sort of on their decline,and he gets these gigs because of his association with them -theyre usually anthologies that collect their poems.He's not particularly insightful about them,though, despite having had such close contact with pioneers in an Indian artistic expression trying to figure itself out 2y
45 likes7 comments
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Kelly_the_Bookish_Sidekick
Narcopolis | Jeet Thayil
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Thanks @Blackink_WhitePaper for the tag!
1. Tagging book I started years ago before my move. I liked the 50 pages I read but got sidetracked. Need to find it in storage.
2. I don't think I've read any yet, but I have a few on my list.
3. I have. I use a skillet sauce for homemade Chicken Tikka Masala regularly & look forward to the beef samosas at my company conference.

@vlwelser @squirrelbrain Care to play?
#indianindependenceday

vlwelser Fun! 4y
Blackink_WhitePaper 💐💐💐 thanks for playing 😊 4y
33 likes2 comments
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rachaich
Narcopolis | Jeet Thayil
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Such a fab cover!
I'm hoping this isn't too hallucnagenic... a bit of craziness is fine!

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shawnmooney
Narcopolis | Jeet Thayil
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Vishal07
Narcopolis | Jeet Thayil
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Picked up this gem again yesterday and couldn't resist but tinker with the enigmatic cover using #Litsy filters. This is cool stuff.

Can we have More exquisite covers please ?

#Narcopolis #JeetThayil

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Weaponxgirl
Narcopolis | Jeet Thayil
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#bookhaul this is why I need to be supervised in charity shops. All this for only Qe total. Self restraint be damned!

Lacythebookworm Great haul! 🙌 7y
Weaponxgirl @Lacythebookworm I don't know what to start first!! 7y
JoeStalksBeck ❤❤❤❤📚 7y
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Lacythebookworm Maybe write all the titles on slips of paper, put them in a jar, and draw on out?! 🤗 7y
Weaponxgirl @Lacythebookworm good idea ☺️ I can also ram a few into my #diverseathon coming up 7y
vivastory I love Narcopolis. Look forward to your thoughts 7y
Weaponxgirl @vivastory glad to hear it's a good one. The cover is so beautiful! 7y
Aquedita Dude, what a bargain! "Women travelers" and "Wedlock" seem particularly interesting. 7y
Weaponxgirl @Aquedita omg I know I literally couldn't resist them! Viragos, feminist classics and #ownvoices books. I stopped before I'd explored the whole street of charity shops! 7y
54 likes9 comments
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AdityaDesai
Narcopolis | Jeet Thayil
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review
Yossarian
Narcopolis | Jeet Thayil
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Mehso-so

When you write a book with very long sentences grouped into very long paragraphs, readers will either read very slowly and carefully, or else really quickly, glossing over everything and missing details. When the POV character is nominally an opium pipe, I'm going to pick the latter approach.

ramyasbookshelf That's disappointing. I had this on my TBR pile after seeing it on the Booker Prize page.. Wasn't it on the short list one time? 8y
Yossarian @ramyasbookshelf Yes, but for me being on the Booker Prize list is starting to be a negative indicator. If you generally like Booker Prize winners, you might like this one too. I was unimpressed. 8y
ramyasbookshelf I have like three books by Indian authors that won the Booker Prize - midnight's children, inheritance of loss and white tiger.. Haven't read any other. Have you read any of these?? 8y
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Yossarian @ramyasbookshelf I loved God of Small Things, but then there was a run of winners about ten years ago (Banville, Enright, Mantel, etc) when I decided, "Enough with the literary books where the deep family secret is that a child died or was molested and nothing has ever been the same since." 8y
Yossarian Narcopolis was for a book group and I didn't realize until after that it was Booker shortlisted. 8y
GuiltyFeat @Yossarian I thought the languorous tone of Narcopolis was kind of a piece with its opium den setting. Other India-set Booker books like The Inheritance of Loss and White Tiger left me cold. Midnight's Children is genius but I would also recommend The Siege of Krishnapur and Staying On. 8y
GuiltyFeat @ramyasbookshelf see my answer above for other India-set Booker winners/nominees. You might also try Heat and Dust and A Fine Balance, both of which are great, or Jhumpa Lahiri's The Lowland which is simply outstanding. 8y
Jaki Fantastic cover though 8y
57 likes4 stack adds8 comments