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A Big Novel with even Bigger Impact: Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra 

8 Sep

I love this blurb excerpted from the New York Times Book Review in the front of my copy of Vikram Chandra’s novel: “Sacred Games [is] as hard to put down as it is to pick up.”  The paperback edition I read runs to 947 pages and weighs in at 1 3/4 pounds. If the sheer size of the book is a deal breaker for you, consider the ebook; you won’t be sorry.

The story involves a Sikh policeman working in Mumbai, Sartaj Singh, and his quarry, a mafia-like crime boss Ganesh Gaitonde. It is told in alternating chapters by those two, with a few insets to fill in some back story. There is also a heavy dose of religion, and the tensions between Hindu, Muslim, and Sikh faiths is a running theme throughout. The search for a Hindu guru is also a significant plot point.

The demise of Ganesh is apparent toward the beginning of the book. But the question as to how he met his end provides the suspense. What a wild tale it is to reach that point, as the story unfolds in a largely chronological manner. You can imagine the narrative playing out like a Bollywood movie. The characters are all conversant in the classics of Bollywood and frequently quote the lyrics of the songs, refer to actresses and actors, and plot lines. Not to worry if you’re not up on them. There is an extensive glossary at the back of the book that translates the Hindi/Urdu/Punjabi words and phrases, including the Bollywood lyrics. Ganesh is involved in bankrolling a movie at one point. And characters make comparisons of movies to real life. If something is too “filmi” it could only happen in the movies.

The glossary also has translations of what I would consider four letter words in English.  If you are easily offended by coarse language, you may want to skip this one. But definitely don’t overlook the glossary if you are reading the ebook version. You may also want to avail yourself of translate.google.com or quick google searches. While the glossary is extensive, you will still find a lot of the foreign words aren’t included.

If you are going to read in ebook format, I suggest checking out the ebook version available from Hoopla (hoopladigital.com). Did you know that you can renew several times without having to worry about availability? That’s a most welcome feature in a book of this length. Hoopla also has an album of Bollywood tunes available, as well as an ebook titled Bollywood Kitchen, a cookbook that pairs some Bollywood movies with dishes to make for “Dinner and a Movie” enjoyment.  You can work off the extra calories with Hoboken Public Library’s Bollywood fitness program, you can check out on Hoboken Public Library Health and Wellness YouTube channel.

Written by:
Victoria Turk
Reference Librarian

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Not Just a Classic Murder Mystery: The Outsider

26 Aug

The Outsider, by Stephen King, opens up as a classic murder mystery. Except the stakes are so much higher. The victim is an 11-year-old boy, Frank Peterson, who has been raped, killed and partially cannibalized. Based on eyewitness testimony, all signs point to his straight-as-an-arrow Little League coach, Terry Maitland, as the killer.

Maitland denies his involvement, attorneys up, and puts forth his verifiable alibi, also involving some rock-solid witnesses. Well, a person can’t be in two places at the same time, can they?

Detective Ralph Anderson has doubts about Maitland, since he knows him personally. Maitland coached Anderson’s son, and previous to this accusal has proved to be an upstanding and honorable member of the community.

The reader doesn’t know what to believe, this being a Stephen King novel where supernatural occurrences are a bit of a given. There are inconsistencies in the eyewitness testimony that are problematic, but not deal killers.

Trouble ensues. (no spoilers!) Further “double” homicides occur that may have a connection to the Frank Peterson incident. The authorities begin looking beyond their own backyard, so to speak.

The supernatural element gets more pronounced. A young woman, Holly Gibney, becomes involved in the investigation. Holly, a character in King’s Bill Hodges trilogy (Mr. Mercedes, Finder’s Keepers, and End of Watch) takes over the second half of the book as she tries to unravel what happened.

As with all the Stephen King books I’ve read, King manages to engage the reader. Maybe you’ve dismissed Stephen King by labelling him as a genre writer, maybe too “pop culture” for your tastes. It’s true King likes to add elements of popular culture that will resonate with readers – Little League, Pop Warner football, Jitterbug phones, and more. He almost uses those as a kind of shorthand to say he’s hip to American life. Part of the appeal of King is that he does resonate. And he does make you turn the pages at a clip.

I admit some of the supernatural elements in this particular book are a bit much. The considerable appeal of Stephen King is that he can make you suspend your natural aversion to the inexplicable and construct a fictional world that is believable within the confines of its own universe.

If you are ready to escape into a fictional world that can take your mind to a scary place that you know ultimately is not real, I recommend you give Stephen King a try. You can read another post about King’s work, The Gunslinger, here.

Written by:
Victoria Turk
Information and Digital Services Librarian

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