Declare Appertaining To Books Londonstani
| Title | : | Londonstani |
| Author | : | Gautam Malkani |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | First Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 342 pages |
| Published | : | June 22nd 2006 by Penguin Press (first published 2006) |
| Categories | : | Contemporary. Novels. Fiction. Literature |
Gautam Malkani
Hardcover | Pages: 342 pages Rating: 3.34 | 1481 Users | 194 Reviews
Description In Pursuance Of Books Londonstani
Jas is in trouble. Because of who he is-an eighteen-year-old Asian living in London. Because of the gang he hangs out with. And because of the woman he fancies, Samira, who Jas shouldn't have taken a shining to because she is, as his pals point out, not one of his own. He's in trouble because his education, never mind his career, is going nowhere. And he's fallen into the schemes, games and prejudices of his friends on the streets of the big western city in which he lives. But Jas's main trouble is Jas himself, and he doesn't even know the trouble he's in, and try as hard as he does, he's failing to make sense of what it is to be young, male and what you might say is Indostani in a city that professes to be a melting pot but is a city of racial and religious exclusion zones. Without his parents' aspirations to assimilate, without the gifts of his more academically accomplished contemporaries, Jas is a young man without a survival plan to get by in the big city. He's out of touch, an anachronism posing as young man who's up-to-date, living free-style, making things up as he goes along in suburbs of West London.Gautam Malkani's extraordinary comic novel portrays the lives of young Muslim, Sikh, and Hindu men in the ethnically charged enclave of one of the biggest western cities, London. A world usually-but wrongly-portrayed as the breeding ground for Islamic militants is, in actuality, a world of money (sometimes), flash cars (usually), cell phones (all the time), rap music and MTV, as well as rivalries and feuds, and the small-time crooks who exploit them. In Malkani's hilarious depiction of multiculturalism, race is no more than a proxy for masculinity, or lack of masculinity, among young men struggling to get by in a remorseless city. Just as Martin Amis and Irving Welsh captured the mood and the ethos of the eighties and nighties, twenty-nine-year-old Gautam Malkani brilliantly evokes the life of immigrants who are not immigrants in Londonstani, bringing an entirely fresh perspective to contemporary fiction as he does so.
Mention Books Concering Londonstani
| Original Title: | Londonstani |
| ISBN: | 1594200971 (ISBN13: 9781594200977) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Setting: | United Kingdom |
| Literary Awards: | Βραβείο Λογοτεχνικής Μετάφρασης ΕΚΕΜΕΛ Nominee for Αγγλόφωνη Λογοτεχνία (2008) |
Rating Appertaining To Books Londonstani
Ratings: 3.34 From 1481 Users | 194 ReviewsWrite Up Appertaining To Books Londonstani
I thought this was complete rubbish. Five minutes into the book I already hated the arrogant bunch of thugs that are supposed to be our beloved heroes. If I don't like or connect to the characters I rarely get far in the book and this was one of those cases. Personally I was hoping that some other thugs would come up and beat the living daylights out of them and put some fun in the book!Following what the hell they were talking about was a challenge in itself and when you have to keep re-readingJas is eighteen, retaking his A-levels at the local college and hanging out as a member of Hardjit's crew, throwing off his nerdy ways to be a part of the desi (Indian, Pakistani) scene in London's desi suburb of Hounslow. Hardjit, Ravi, Amit and Jas have a racket going: they take in mobile phones and unblock them. Sometimes it's a service for family or friends who swap their phones with each other, but mostly it's so stolen mobiles can be resold.A close call with the police after Hardjit, a
Londonstani's protagonist feels like an unremarkable boy with unremarkable circumstances. As a coming-of-age story, the novel focuses in on racial tensions that exist in and outside minority groups in London. Themes like toxic masculinity, religious tolerance, and the postcolonial plight blur into one another like watercolors from chapter to chapter. The whole book feels like a whirlwind, so fast and furious, and filled with language you must sound out to understand. The ending catches you
Set among the rudeboys of Londons Asian community, this might look like a tough read its written entirely in phonetic gangster-speak (notably the word of is rendered as a throughout) and there are some long, dense paragraphs to negotiate. Its worth it though. The colloquial style reminded me of two of my favourite books, Trainspotting and Vernon God Little. It immerses the reader in the sights and sounds of the characters pseudo-gangland world. It felt like putting on a pair of spectacles and
Found this from an excerpt in Rotten English by Dohra Ahmad, a collection of fiction and poetry showcasing vernacular/dialect. This novel does such an interesting job using urban English slang and immigrant Indian and Pakistani dialect and languages. Even better it uses all of that to comment on the role of language in identity and power in society. The first part reminded me of The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton because it's about a tough gang of teen boys that leads to a big fight, but it takes an
the ending was awful! what was could have been a great exploration of working class, sikh gangsta masculinities ended in an annoying plot twist that i found incredibly distracting. also got pretty exhausted 1/2 way through with all the posturing...
Normly I sound so American at times and why do I now get a European Title for this one? Londonstani! Does it remind of all the glitterati of London shooted in Hritik starring K3G? Or the emotional siyaapa of Indian-ness through dialogues of Akki in Namastey London? And probly Vande Mataram and Ja-Na-GaNa-MaNa playing as the background score. I have scrolled through tonnes of photographs or so-called-Kodak Moments, where the undernourished Hindustanis comforting in the London Eye, getting an Bird
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