Thayil was back home in india but he no longer had a monthly salary and was working on a novel that would take five years to complete. The poet should be read in bulk rather than for a few anthology pieces. Performance poet, librettist, and novelist jeet thayil was born in kerala, india. And then he remembered that the stars were dead, long dead, and the light they shed was not to be trusted, was false, if not an outright lie, and in any case was inadequate, unequal to its task, which was to. Discover delightful childrens books with prime book box, a subscription that delivers new books every 1, 2, or 3 months new customers receive 15% off your. His first novel, narcopolis, was awarded the dsc prize for south asian literature and was shortlisted for the man booker prize. The clicketyclack from the typewriter of acclaimed writerjournalist t. Jeet thayils debut novel nacropolis jeet thayils 2012 man booker prize nominated debut novel, nacropolis, is a book that centers on bombay city, drugs and a set of interesting characters. The book of chocolate saints jeet thayils second novel, following his successful debut, narcopolis begins with a poet on the verge of flight. Jeet thayil booker nominated novel nacropolis and profile. Book excerpt jeet thayils new novel is fiction on the life of a painterpoet. Basso cannarsa a performer poet, guitarist, journalist and now novelist, jeet thayil has seen a new dawn. Lefteris pitarakisap it was an unlikely development in the life of. His four poetry collections include english and these errors are correct, which won the 20 sahitya akademi award for poetry in english.
I have a liver condition, im reckless and im very aware. Jeet thayil, the book of chocolate saints tls nothing. Jeet thayil was born in kerala, india in 1959 and educated in hong kong, new york and bombay. Musician and poet jeet thayil drew on his own experiences as an addict in bombay to write his first novel, narcopolis, a flashy, chaotic look at a smalltime drug dealer and his customers. Jeet thayil s narcopolis was profoundly beautiful and disturbing and continues to haunt me.
He was educated at jesuit schools in bombay, hongkong, and. Known for his poetry, jeet thayil rose to prominence in 1992 with his stunning debut novel narcopolis, which deals with opium in 70s mumbai. Jeet thayils latest book the book of chocolate saints was released in november. How writer jeet thayil was inspired by soothing sound of. Jeet thayil was born in mamalasserie, kerala, and educated in bombay, hongkong and new york. I met jeet thayil on a wonderfully nippy, december evening in bangalore.
Jeet thayil has 17 books on goodreads with 19274 ratings. April 8, 2012 a former addict, jeet thayil spent decades in mumbais seedy, drugridden underworld. He is a songwriter and guitarist, and has published four collections of poetry. Narcopolis is the debut novel of indian author jeet thayil. Get live stock prices from bse and nse and latest nav, portfolio of mutual. Poet vijay seshadri noted that thayil is contemporary precisely because he has such command of the poetic and historical past, and because his invented. If you were to write a story set in bombay, as the poet jeet thayil prefers to call the city now known as mumbai in his outstanding debut novel, you dont have to work too hard. I, melachi ibn amillar, being of unsound mind and body, did read jeet thayil s novel narcopolis 2012, finishing it on the train to bangalore. Narcopolis by jeet thayil presents a vivid picture of the bombay drug scene, and the life of the people associated with it. Shortlisted for the man booker prize written in poetic and affecting prose, jeet thayils luminous debut novel charts the evolution of a great and broken metropolis. His four poetry collections include these errors are correct and english, and he is the editor of the bloodaxe book of contemporary indian poets. Some of these poems remain unchanged, while some are discarded and rewritten. Jeet thayil on his novel, the book of chocolate saints. Poetwriter jeet thayil talks about his writing, life as a writer and what writers need to do in the times we live in.
Jeet thayil was inspired by soothing sound of his father. Jeet thayil born october 1959 is an indian poet, novelist, librettist and musician. Thayils latest book has been termed as a celebration of misogyny of. He worked as a journalist for 23 years before writing his first novel. The novels narrator arrives in bombay, where he becomes seduced into the opium underground. I wished that this book, like some long and delicious opiuminduced daydream, would.
Here, he paints indira gandhi the man booker shortlisted writers second novel has just been published. Wikimedia commons the clicketyclack from the typewriter of acclaimed writerjournalist tjs george night after night was so soothing that it would lull. Thayil is quoted as saying that he lost almost 20 years of his life to addiction, but on this showing the experience did not go to waste. He worked as a journalist for 23 years in bombay, bangalore, hong kong and new york.
It describes the challenge pakistani powder posed in the 70s to the notorious bombay opium dens, which are, consequently, now a challenge for even the most dodgy of local guides to track down. Awardwinning indian author jeet thayil will make up a fivemember judging panel for the 2020 international booker prize, the worlds leading literary award for translated fiction announced in. A recovering addict himself, a ghost of mumbais shuklaji street the capital of the book, jeet thayil has produced genuine passages with the beauty of fiction. It is a book about drugs, sex, death, perversion, addiction, love, and god and has more in common in its subject matter with the work of william s. Book of the day the book of chocolate saints by jeet thayil portrait of a doomed genius. These errors are correct tranquebar, 2008, english 2004, penguin india, rattapallax press, new york, 2004, apocalypso ark, 1997 and gemini viking penguin, 1992.
I remember jeet thayils and vijay nambisans gemini. Its only 292 pages, but this feels like a great big beast of a novel, full of poetry and poverty, squalor and sex, death and drugs and bombay, which is both the first and last word of the book. Indian author jeet thayil on international booker prize. Jeet thayil with other shortlisted authors for the man booker prize 2012 photograph. George night after night was so soothing that it would lull his young son jeet thayil to sleep in the next room. As guitarist and vocalist in such musical projects as sridharthayil, and still dirty, as well as in his poetry, spoken word and fiction, thayil seeks to provoke chosen exposure from edenic contentment. The book reads like a collection of stories, with the narrative consistently jumping in the past to cover a characters history for instance. He is best known as a poet and is the author of four collections.
Indeed, the spirit of the enfant terrible lives in thayils creations. Exclusive excerpt from jeet thayils the book of chocolate saints. Francis xavier newton is about to abandon his wife in bombay. He is the editor of the bloodaxe book of contemporary indian poets 2008. A nominee for the booker and the winner of the dsc prize for south asian literature, the book is a promising read. Jeet thayil on narcopolis and poetry bangalore writers. He is a performance poet, songwriter and guitarist as well as a writer, and has published four collections of poetry. Jeet thayil was born in 1959 in kerala at his mothers ancestral tharavad on the banks of the muhattupuzha river.
Jeet thayil on his new novel, the book of chocolate saints. Narcopolis jeet thayil first published in 2012 by faber and faber ltd bloomsbury house 7477 great russell street london wc1b 3da this ebook edition first published in. Jeet thayil was born in kerala, india in 1959 and educated in hong kong, new york and mumbai. And they had this closed citadel, into which nobody was allowed. These errors are correct tranquebar, 2008, english 2004, penguin india, rattapallax press, new york, 2004, apocalypso.
Thayils in extremis terrain the hindu businessline. Buy narcopolis books online at best prices in india by jeet thayil from. Jeet thayils new book after 18 years, he will finally leave his wife. When he first finished the draft of narcopolis, it was an 800page book, from which he carved out the 300page version. Buy narcopolis online of indias largest online book store, only genuine products. Narcopolis is a novel of drugs and crime that follows a cast of characters over the course of 30some years in their bombay slum. Open library is an initiative of the internet archive, a 501c3 nonprofit, building a digital library of internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. Jeet thayil was born in 1959 in mamalasserie, kerala, and educated at jesuit schools in mumbai, hong kong and new york. It is set in 1970s old bombay and concerns opium and its influence. Its a vital time to be a writer, says author jeet thayil.
Its not a book, i said, its a magazine and this is a story about an indian painter who lives in london. He was educated in hong kong, new york, and bombay, cities where his father worked as an editor and writer. Jeet thayil discusses his man booker prizeshortlisted novel narcopolis with writer and journalist stuart evers a rich novel that delves into the opium dens and sprawling underworld of 1970s. Jeet thayils new novel is fiction on the life of a. Jeet thayils narcopolis makes it to booker shortlist. He is being drawn west again, a lure ever since his childhood in goa, where he grew up precocious and. The following version of this book was used to create this study guide.
He is the editor of 60 indian poets and the bloodaxe book of contemporary indian poets, and is a visiting professor of poetry at the university of goa. Dom moraes, who gave the young thayil drink and shelter in that order, was right about his first book. His five poetry collections include these errors are correct, which won the. Buy a cheap copy of narcopolis book by jeet thayil. Jeet thayil born 1959 in kerala is an indian poet, novelist, librettist and musician. He was educated in hong kong, new york city, and bombay, and his work across genres is noted for its innovative lyricism and use of farranging influences. Nacropolis the book starts in bombay of 1970s and ends in the bombay or mumbai of the mid 2000s.
The book of chocolate saints by jeet thayil portrait of a doomed genius. Just 50 pages into jeet thayils absorbing, determined the book of chocolate saints, one of the recurring voices in the novel part of which is depicted as a series of interviews, the poet and. I had read narcopolis a month back and was desperately hoping he would win the booker because it had been long since a book had thrilled me so much that i didnt want to leave its world. Mehr waheed rated it it was amazing oct 22, his idiom is the result of a cosmopolitan blend of styles, and is yet, quite clearly, his own. Burroughs to chronicle the sick thrill of drugs, but uses the structural eye of a journalist to depict with scary clarity how. Shortlisted for the man booker prize written in poetic and affecting prose, jeet thayil s luminous debut novel charts the evolution of a great and brok. The story expands to encompass such characters as dimple, a hijra, rashid, the opium houses owner, and mr lee, a former chinese officer, all of whom have stories to tell. Jeet thayil was born into a syrian christian family in kerala in 1959. Introduced by nilanjana roy, he reads some excerpts. Narcopolis imports the rhythms and emphasis of charles bukowski and william s. Poet and writer jeet thayils second novel, the book of chocolate saints, catapults you straight into the gloriously bacchanal universe of newton francis xavier, blocked poet, serial seducer. The indian author and poet whose debut novel narcopolis was shortlisted for the man booker prize talks about his love for music, flawed characters and. We can celebrate that he emerged intact and gave us this book. Its hard to imagine two books less similar than necropolis and angelmaker, but the common thread, i realize, is that both writers are willing to take considerable risks.