The Association of Small Bombs
-
-
3.5 • 4 Ratings
-
-
- $15.99
-
- $15.99
Publisher Description
A GRANTA BEST YOUNG AMERICAN NOVELIST 2017
When the Khurana boys and their friend Mansoor set out for one of Delhi's markets, disaster strikes without warning. A 'small' bomb detonates, killing the brothers instantly. Mansoor is one of the few survivors.
From India to America, the lives of victims and bystanders, mothers and fathers, comrades and adversaries are changed forever. Even the young bomb maker cannot escape the heat of the blast.
'I can't remember the last time I read a book which conjured a world so rich and so convincing'
MARK HADDON
'Brilliant... Masterful'
KEVIN POWERS
'Unusually wise, tender and generous'
JIM CRACE
'Breathtaking... Unforgettable'
ADELLE WALDMAN
'Packed with small wonders of beauty and heartbreak that are impossible to resist'
DINAW MENGESTU
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The disintegration of the lives of both Hindus and Muslims affected by a bomb blast at Lajpat Market in Delhi in 1996 is the subject of Mahajan's second novel (after Family Planning). In the aftermath of the violence we follow not only a Muslim boy who survives, Mansoor Ahmed, but his parents; the Hindu parents of Mansoor's two friends killed in the blast; the bomb maker, named "Shockie"; and several activists who seek justice after the tragedy. The lives of Mansoor's parents and the dead brothers' mother and father unravel, their careers and marriages frayed by grief and anxiety. Mansoor tries to concentrate on his studies in the States, but returns to India and falls in with a charismatic activist called Ayub, soon to be unhinged by a breakup with his upper-class girlfriend. Mahajan's talent is in conveying the sense that the world is gray, not black-and-white, and he accomplishes this by weaving together the evolving motives and passions of his characters so intricately that in the end we see each as culpable, and human. In his searing story, lives (and life itself) are subjected to close inspection and at times discombobulation.
Customer Reviews
Guilt by association
Author
Indian. Born and grew up in Delhi then studied in the US (Stanford, Michener Writer's Center). Now lives in Texas. His first novel was a finalist in the Dylan Thomas Prize. This, his second, was a 2016 US National Book Award finalist. His writing has also appeared in the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Paris Review, The New Yorker etc. Not surprisingly then, the Times waxed lyrical about 'The Association of Small Bombs' naming it one of its ten best books for the year.
Precis
Two young Hindu brothers and their Muslim mate Mansoor, out and about in their native Delhi on a minor errand for their parents, are in the wrong place when a terrorist bomb blows. The brothers die; Mansoor survives with an arm injury and plenty of psychological scars. The dead boys' parents battle grief while Mansoor's family places him in cotton wool. He also feels increasingly threatened by being part of a tiny Muslim minority in his hometown. In his late teens, Mansoor escapes to the US where he hopes to become a computer programmer. Unfortunately, persisting carpal tunnel syndrome resulting from the blast severely impairs his capability with a keyboard and cruels his plans. Back home again and at a loose end, Mansoor falls in with similarly disaffected young man, Ayub, who wants to change the world. They meet a Pakistani bomb maker and things go boom, sort of.
Writing
The first chapter describing the bomb blast and aftermath is gripping. The rest of the book is very slow. It meanders, apparently at random it seemed to me, between various times and points of view. The inconsistencies and paradoxes of terrorism in the post-9/11 world are well illustrated, although no potential solutions are entertained. The author throws in little bursts of humour too. These are enjoyable but felt out of place in the rest of the story. I never felt warmth for any of the characters either, although that might have been Mr Mahajan's intention, and the ending fizzled out quickly.
Bottom line
Undoubtedly, there is finely crafted prose on display here, not dissimilar from a number of the excellent Indian writers going around at present. Sadly, there wasn't enough of it to keep me interested. Even if, like @realDonaldTrump, we disregard the opinion of the NY Times, there are plenty of five-star reader reviews out there for this one. My liberal intelligentsia credentials lie in tatters, because I really couldn't understand what all the fuss was about.