Is Hollywood Listening? Bollywood? Anywood?

When Aravind Adiga’s first novel, The White Tiger, won the Booker Prize in 2008 I read it with high expectations, and for the most part I was not disappointed. It’s high energy fiction that is both serious and dark.  So his second novel, Last Man in Tower, has been on my list for a while. Having just finished the latest Lahiri I decided to stay in India for a bit longer and see what Adiga has been up to.

One aspect of Mumbai

Again, it’s high energy.  The hustle and bustle of modern Mumbai jostle the reader along on every page.  And that aspect I did enjoy. Economic development against the backdrop of colonialism, extreme poverty, diverse religious traditions, and deep-seated corruption are jarring, but both the voltage and the financial stakes are high.  Nonetheless this book is not nearly as dark as his first. I didn’t feel the same power of potential violence around every corner nor did I ever feel threatened in any way. It’s a modern tale that weaves together historical forces, individual idiosyncrasies, historical baggage, and old-fashioned storytelling. We do sense the outcome from the outset.

Another

Here, the real protagonist is modernization. It has its own momentum, and all characters pale alongside its brilliance.  It’s an unstoppable force, and the real interest is in how various individuals react. Some accommodate, some resist, some abdicate, some flourish. But it is unstoppable, and the inevitability is the only scary part here. It will happen, like it or not.  You can laugh (there are many funny passages); you can cry. Choose your stance in reaction; place your bet. But the country will careen forward even without a carefully charted course. That momentum is the one truth that cannot be questioned; it is today’s faith in India.

In essence the story and the narrative technique are very traditional.  The characters are not especially memorable, mostly because the writing is not unexceptional and fairly shallow. But I do think this book could make a very good movie.  With the right director and good casting this would be fabulous cinema.  The high energy would push the movie along from scene to scene, and the quirky characters could provide lots of foreground interest. This Is more Slumdog Millionaire than The Lowland. 

I hope Adiga feels empowered to move towards a more serious literary approach in his next book. There were plenty of signs in the first book that indicate he’s fully capable of it. This book is a bit of a step back.  A good read, but not the forward progress I had hoped for.