On Sacred Games…

I’d shared my first impression of Sacred Games, Vikram Chandra’s latest opus while I was just a few hundred pages into the book. I finished the book in one go, and that was over 2-months ago, and found myself unable to ‘review’ the book…. possible some kind of paralysis in the face of a magnificent piece of work.

If you’re interested, here’s a crisp review by Uma. Possibly another reason for my not being able to review the book - trying to get onto such a big-league platform, including Vir Sanghavi (you’ll find the link to his review on Uma’s blog)…. but more seriously, these are good reviews that capture the smells and flavors of the book.

For myself, just a few footnotes: the book is brilliant - immense in its scope (can a book on Bombay be anything but!) and almost orgiastic in its detailing (which is something I adore). Being a long-time resident of the city, I found long-forgotten memories as the book sparked neurons that I thought had winked out of existence ages ago….. gritty, gritty, gritty - the language is gritty, the settings are gritty, the people and their lives are gritty. A book to be savored, is the best I can put it - smells, textures, flavors, all seem to climb out of the pages.

On a personal note, I was untouched by the portions on the partition and the spymaster’s dreams….. others have commented favorably on these portions, and how they give a pan-India reach to the book. In my humble opinion, the book didn’t need a pan-India view…. but hey, 7-years, 900+ pages, and a novel that ought to become a classic.

Definitely read the book……. Sartaj Singh, Ganesh Gaitonde and the surrounding characters some of who are stars of their own right, will absorb you into their world!