The Light at the End of the World
Deb’s latest novel, his first in over a decade, is not for the faint-of-heart reader. It is an edgy, kaleidoscopic whirlwind of history, politics, culture, and mythology set in 19th– and 20th– century India. The novel is divided into five sections, each of which could be read as a discrete story. It begins in a future in which India, like the rest of the world, is suffering the catastrophic effects of unchecked climate change. Former journalist Bibi finds herself caught up in a bizarre conspiracy of alien wrecks, laboratory-mutated creatures, and a host of other incredible occurrences as she tries to find a colleague who has disappeared. The novel then shifts to three other narratives: one about the Indian Rebellion of 1857, another about the 1947 Partition of India, and the third about the Bhopal chemical disaster in 1984, before concluding with Bibi in a post-apocalyptic world. Throughout the novel Deb repeatedly weaves characters and events from India’s past into the tales—a Gandhi look-alike, a shapeshifting “Monkey Man,” a Vedic flying machine, among others.
The result is a visionary dreamlike panorama of India, but one that readers unfamiliar with Indian history and culture may find confusing. Still, for the adventurous reader, The Light at the End of the World is a fascinating read.
