My Revolutions by Hari Kunzru

I suppose that the times of our lives and the changes we witness can be a fascinating journey. Hari Kunzru was born in 1969, so his memories of the sixties would barely qualify as anything at all. It is a testament to his intense novelist powers that his tale "My Revolutions" seems to be drenched in authenticity. 

Of course, life with  my sixties were childhood in suburban Toronto, not hippie revolutionary activism in London, so I am very capable of being fooled.

I felt that "My Revolutions" suffered in many of the same ways that "The Impressionist", Kunzru's first novel did. He dazzles me when he flies from character to character, from place to place (or in "Gods without Men" from time to time) and captures so much with his writer's "eye".

"My Revolutions" has the time travel aspect, but the protagonist had authenticity aplenty and not much else.

The surrounding cast of characters never take hold. Our hero is bewitched at the start by a glimpse of his long lost love Anna. By the time he fully tracks her down the reader is more inclined to want her turned in for the reward money than see her in his arms once again.

So ends my Kunzru novels binge. I am pleased with the task completion and look forward to more Kunzru novels in the future. For now, I am happy to take a rest from him.

Perhaps it is due to Kunzru fatigue, but I award him only a single rejoice.

Transmission by Hari Kunzru

Transmission spans the globe, yet gives you glimpses into lives that resonate with the reader. This feat is enhanced  by Kunzru's unlikely cast choices of Bollywood starlet, young Indian hacker on a visa in the US, desperate English ad man and his Euro P.R. girlfriend. The great talent of Kunzru, imho, is to create these authentic characters with the scantiest of detail.  He then has them populate places that are hyper-authentic or rather his descriptions of their interactions bring both character and setting to life. Few novelists could have a fugitive stumbling around an outlet mall, ordering at Starbucks and buying sunglasses, and place these mundane moments at the height of their tale and make them legendary.

I decided to tackle the novels of Kunzru because I was so taken with "Gods without Men". "Transmission" has some of that magic, the fun a reader has when a novelist is a spell maker and is connecting together his cluttered, random elements both before your eyes or shifting magically offstage.

Should you be a fan of "Gods without Men" I strongly suggest that you will almost enjoy "Transmission" as much.

On my mystery scale I will give it a double rejoice.

The Impressionist by Hari Kunzru

It was my complete love of "Gods without Men" that lead me to explore the earlier novels of Mr. Kunzru. "The Impressionist" was interesting enough to read all the way through, but not quite satisfying. The protagonist might be meant to be a shape-shifter, but following through his adventures you feel that the connections that a person would have at their core go missing. I felt that the novel presented me with three main adventures and involved three different characters. Kunzru's strengths are prominent in this, his first novel. He is descriptive, without being flowery, and connects his characters creatively and thoughtfully to the deeper themes of the modern world. Kunzru weaves in racism, colonialism and imperialism, sexual identity and the class system. Kunzru is not a dull writer, although I felt that his main character became dull as the adventures wore on. I would think that looking back at a first novel , when your introduction to the writer was further in his development, puts the novelist at a disadvantage. If you have not read "Gods without Men", do so. This first novel is for hardcore collectors only...

I would give it a small rejoice and a small rant at the character who has a habit of forgetting his past.