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Chaos Theory
From playwright, author, screenwriter, stand-up comic and columnist, an unusual romance between two middle-aged professors.
Sunita and Mukesh are friends. He’s cynical, from Calcutta, cocky and well-read. She’s clever, curious and amused by him.
It’s the 1960s, Delhi University. Fashionable movies play at the art deco cinemas, Nehruvian poshness is stylish, The Beatles are the rage. They meet over a quotation game involving William Shakespeare and whisky. They both realize there’s something special here. They have burning questions, as young people do, about things literary, philosophical, existential, romantic. The answers lie in an endless set of conversations with Sunita over Scotch, Mukesh imagines.
Till she thinks America will be the answer, and leaves for a PhD in her search. He follows her. What happens, over the next forty years, is a journey – to carry on that conversation. Across continents, campuses, decades, marriages and life. To find what it is they really want to say.
Sunita and Mukesh are friends. He’s cynical, from Calcutta, cocky and well-read. She’s clever, curious and amused by him.
It’s the 1960s, Delhi University. Fashionable movies play at the art deco cinemas, Nehruvian poshness is stylish, The Beatles are the rage. They meet over a quotation game involving William Shakespeare and whisky. They both realize there’s something special here. They have burning questions, as young people do, about things literary, philosophical, existential, romantic. The answers lie in an endless set of conversations with Sunita over Scotch, Mukesh imagines.
Till she thinks America will be the answer, and leaves for a PhD in her search. He follows her. What happens, over the next forty years, is a journey – to carry on that conversation. Across continents, campuses, decades, marriages and life. To find what it is they really want to say.
360 pages, Hardcover
First published November 28, 2012
2 people are currently reading
57 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 12, 2013
I'll deliver the good news first. After a not insignificant amount of patience and perseverance, I managed to read this book in its entirety, and came away thinking that it somewhat redeemed itself toward the end. It ended up being poignant and leaving the reader with a delicate set of experiences to ponder. But now for the not-so-good-news, which is that the book was poorly written and poorly edited. Dialogues and scenes lacked credibility, the author's various biases entered into the characters' world views, and the language of the text itself was awkward and amateurish. I can't quite recommend this book very strongly, but at the same time I don't regret reading it. This author may have something in the future where he is able to write in a more authentic and credible voice.
December 17, 2014
If we talk about it's language, it's casual. If we talk about it's storytelling, it's compelling! An engrossing read and something I could very well connect to. The protagonists are sharp and their conversations are impeccable. The end of the book leaves you with such a sweet bitter pain. Read it to know it.
February 2, 2013
By Anuvab Pal. Grade: B+
Chaos Theory is my second novel by the stand-up comedian, playwright and author Anuvab Pal. However, this is his first novel, adapted from a play by him by the same name.
Sunita and Mukesh are friends. He’s cynical, from Calcutta, cocky and well-read.
She’s clever, curious and amused by him.
It’s the 1960s, Delhi University. Fashionable movies play at the art deco cinemas, Nehruvian poshness is stylish, The Beatles are the rage.
They meet over a quotation game involving William Shakespeare and whisky. They both realize there’s something special here. They have burning questions, as young people do, about things literary, philosophical, existential, romantic. The answers lie in an endless set of conversations with Sunita over Scotch, Mukesh imagines.
Till she thinks America will be the answer, and leaves for a PhD in her search. He follows her. What happens, over the next forty years, is a journey – to carry on that conversation. Across continents, campuses, decades, marriages and life. To find what it is they really want to say.
Chaos Theory by Anuvb Pal
Chaos Theory, as loosely defined in particle physics, talks of two particles that circle around each other but never connect, which exactly describes Sunita and Mukesh’s situation. Their uncertainties translate into an immigrants’ story of intellectual survival. In this exploration of missed connections between the abstract theories of modern physics with the equally abstract emotions of an aging pair of irreverent professors, comic and tragic mix in a search for comfort which remains, at best, ephemeral and fragile.
This is the story of Sunita and Mukesh, two academics who meet in Delhi University in the 60s and are immediately attracted to each other. They have little idea that their turbulent relationship is going to last a lifetime, and span all the way from India to Oxford, and then Boston, New York.
The blurb says, 'Chaos Theory, as loosely defined in particle physics, talks of two particles that circle around each other but never connect, which exactly describes Sunita and Mukesh’s situation.' It's an apt title, because while both Sunita and Mukesh are firmly enmeshed into each other lives, even while living continents apart in an age without internet. Theirs is a story of near hit-and-misses, where neither is unable to admit to the other - or himself - their true feelings about the relationship.
It is quite apparent in the beginning that this book is going nowhere. So you decide to jump in just for the fun of it. Anuvab Pal pens a slapstick comedy - even though half of the dialogues have been borrowed from dead writers - and maintains the humour right till the end. Mukesh comes across as grumpy and careless, even when you know he is a tenured professor at Harvard, teaching the Romantics, while Sunita teaches Tagore right next door. You urge them to confess, even as you watch Sunita get married to the punctilious Amit, and later have a baby. Near the end, Mukesh does realize that nothing was wrong with them. After all, they did end up spending their lives together, supporting the other every time the going went tough. A marriage certificate could not have added much.
“Then I said something very melodramatic and haughty and tacky, even for the 1970s.”
The narration is lively and fast-paced, with frequent laugh-out-loud moments. While the utter lack of conflict makes the read a little dry, and their convoluted conversations are hard to follow, Chaos Theory still comes up as a winner due to its entirely refreshing theme and writing.
Originally reviewed at www.vaultofbooks.com
Chaos Theory is my second novel by the stand-up comedian, playwright and author Anuvab Pal. However, this is his first novel, adapted from a play by him by the same name.
Sunita and Mukesh are friends. He’s cynical, from Calcutta, cocky and well-read.
She’s clever, curious and amused by him.
It’s the 1960s, Delhi University. Fashionable movies play at the art deco cinemas, Nehruvian poshness is stylish, The Beatles are the rage.
They meet over a quotation game involving William Shakespeare and whisky. They both realize there’s something special here. They have burning questions, as young people do, about things literary, philosophical, existential, romantic. The answers lie in an endless set of conversations with Sunita over Scotch, Mukesh imagines.
Till she thinks America will be the answer, and leaves for a PhD in her search. He follows her. What happens, over the next forty years, is a journey – to carry on that conversation. Across continents, campuses, decades, marriages and life. To find what it is they really want to say.
Chaos Theory by Anuvb Pal
Chaos Theory, as loosely defined in particle physics, talks of two particles that circle around each other but never connect, which exactly describes Sunita and Mukesh’s situation. Their uncertainties translate into an immigrants’ story of intellectual survival. In this exploration of missed connections between the abstract theories of modern physics with the equally abstract emotions of an aging pair of irreverent professors, comic and tragic mix in a search for comfort which remains, at best, ephemeral and fragile.
This is the story of Sunita and Mukesh, two academics who meet in Delhi University in the 60s and are immediately attracted to each other. They have little idea that their turbulent relationship is going to last a lifetime, and span all the way from India to Oxford, and then Boston, New York.
The blurb says, 'Chaos Theory, as loosely defined in particle physics, talks of two particles that circle around each other but never connect, which exactly describes Sunita and Mukesh’s situation.' It's an apt title, because while both Sunita and Mukesh are firmly enmeshed into each other lives, even while living continents apart in an age without internet. Theirs is a story of near hit-and-misses, where neither is unable to admit to the other - or himself - their true feelings about the relationship.
It is quite apparent in the beginning that this book is going nowhere. So you decide to jump in just for the fun of it. Anuvab Pal pens a slapstick comedy - even though half of the dialogues have been borrowed from dead writers - and maintains the humour right till the end. Mukesh comes across as grumpy and careless, even when you know he is a tenured professor at Harvard, teaching the Romantics, while Sunita teaches Tagore right next door. You urge them to confess, even as you watch Sunita get married to the punctilious Amit, and later have a baby. Near the end, Mukesh does realize that nothing was wrong with them. After all, they did end up spending their lives together, supporting the other every time the going went tough. A marriage certificate could not have added much.
“Then I said something very melodramatic and haughty and tacky, even for the 1970s.”
The narration is lively and fast-paced, with frequent laugh-out-loud moments. While the utter lack of conflict makes the read a little dry, and their convoluted conversations are hard to follow, Chaos Theory still comes up as a winner due to its entirely refreshing theme and writing.
Originally reviewed at www.vaultofbooks.com
February 24, 2013
A screenplay converted into a book, traces the journey of two characters over decades: http://www.anureviews.com/chaos-theor...
October 20, 2015
eccentric,hilarious & preposterous...worth it.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews