I decided to push to get 2 books read this week-end, as I am now rushed for time:
Narcopolis by Jeet Thayil
Narcopolis is set in an opium den in 1970’s Bombay and spans the next few decades, as well as going back in time to China. The main strength of the book are the four central characters who keep the story zipping along. At times it feels as if it is Trainspotting, but set in India – there is excessive amounts of drug-taking and violence and at times I lost concentration but overall this is a really written book and very believable.
The Lighthouse by Alison Moore
A man who is newly-separated from his wife but middle-aged, embarks on a walking trip in Germany. At one of the B n B’s that he is staying at the landlady is also contemplating her life and marriage. You could be so easily fooled into thinking that this book is mundane and just captures the hum-drum of their every-day lives, but the author, without writing what happens, is telling you really what is going on! You also have to make up your mind as to what outcomes there are at the end. I can’t tell you how brilliantly stunning this book is and I think it’s a credit to Booker that this has come from a small publishing company, yet packs one hell of a punch.
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