Book Review: Villainy by Upamanyu Chatterjee

 

Book: Villainy 

Author: Upamanyu Chatterjee 

Pages: 336

Read: The hardcover edition pictured above 

Read in: ~4 hours 

Plot Summary: Walkers in a Delhi neighbourhood park come upon a body on a mid-winter morning—an unidentified body, unremarkable but for an extraordinary scar right between the eyes. 

A delinquent teenager—who prefers, to the rest of living, an Ecstasy pill with a beer, and the interior of an expensive car with a gun in his pocket—leaves home one evening for a joyride in his father’s Mercedes. 

In the nineteen years separating these episodes, five killings take place—and one near-fatal battery—none of which would have happened if a school bus hadn’t been in the wrong lane. Deals are struck between masters and servants, money changes hands, assurances are given and broken. The wheels of justice turn, forward, backwards and sideways, pause and turn again. Old alliances are tested and new ones are formed in prison cells, mortuaries and court rooms. And every life is a gamble, for no one is entirely innocent. 

A meticulously crafted literary thriller, Upamanyu Chatterjee’s seventh novel is a riveting story of crime and retribution, and a meditation on the randomness of evil, death and redemption. It will keep you spellbound till the end.

Things I Liked: 

1. This is a story that is, unfortunately, so commonplace that for the first third of the book, I fought the urge to not read it. See, here is what happens, In 1996, a spoilt rich 18-year-old boy called Pukhraj, in a haze of booze and ecstasy, driven also by his own sociopathy, brutally kills two people and a dog. So, what do you think happens when something like this happens? The rich parents want to put the blame on the closest poor person they can find. In this case, it is Parmatma, the bright, hardworking, 16-year-old son of Pukhraj's driver, who happened to be present during a part of those crimes and had tried to stop Pukhraj. So, see why I didn't want to read this book after the first 1/3rd of it! However, here is what I'd beseech you to do, read on! Give this book a chance and it will surprise you! 

2. This is a very immersive novel. If you've read Chatterjee's high acclaimed debut novel English, August, you know that the man can write and he can take you right where he is and build a world so vividly that you can imagine being posted in small-town nowhere India as an IAS officer. Similarly, in Villainy, Chatterjee brings Delhi alive- from the lives of the uber-rich to the gritty prisons to the police stations to how the poor, disenfranchised and marginalised live. This is an immersive, atmospheric book and it sucks you into the Delhi of 1995-96. 

3. Each and every character in this book is well etched out and, as a reader, you get to know these people, get under their skin and truly understand them. This is one of my favourite aspects about literary thrillers. It is not just a whodunnit but also a study in the people and systems of power involved in the whole crime-and-punishment saga. 

4. Do not want to spoil things but I love the whole take on the word 'villainy' in this book. Villainy and cunning. The rich are the villains but what about the poor? Are they cunning or villainous? Can they be clever? Can they outwit the rich? I do not want to spoil the book for you, but you'll know what I mean when you read this book. 

Things I Didn't Like: 

1. This book is not fast-paced or like a typical thriller. It meanders a bit and there a lot of details that are, perhaps, not strictly necessary. It lacks a bit of a punch sometimes, but these can be forgiven because the narrative makes up for it. 

Rating: 4.5/5 

A very well written literary thriller with a nice twist.