Low

by Jeet Thayil

Ullis went to the bathroom and carefully unfolded the business card and placed it on the sink. Then he rolled up a note and snorted the last of his wife’s ashes.

When Ullis discovers that his wife Aki has committed suicide, he escapes to Bombay with a bag of drugs for one final party. On the plane, he finds himself sitting by a glamorous society lady called Payal, and a friendship of sorts blooms into life. Over the coming days they embark on a whirlwind of self-destructive misadventures as Ullis attempts to mask his grief through excessive narcotics, resulting in episodes of increasing dysfunctionality that flirt with total self-obliteration - and perhaps a kind of resolution.

Genres: Fiction, India, Contemporary, Mental Health, Dark, Adult, Drugs

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 23, 2020

About the author

Jeet Thayil (born 1959 in Kerala) is an Indian poet, novelist, librettist and musician. He is best known as a poet and is the author of four collections: These Errors Are Correct (Tranquebar, 2008), English (2004, Penguin India, Rattapallax Press, New York, 2004), Apocalypso (Ark, 1997) and Gemini (Viking Penguin, 1992). His first novel, Narcopolis, (Faber & Faber, 2012), was shortlisted for the 2012 Man Booker Prize and the Hindu Literary Prize 2013.

Reviews

[Blair · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm pretty sure Low is the druggiest grief narrative I've ever encountered. It follows the misadventures of its flailing protagonist, Dominic Ullis, as he wanders Mumbai (which he almost always refers to as Bombay) in the wake of his wife Aki's suicide. He's ostensibly looking for somewhere to immerse Aki's ashes in flowing water, this being a Hindu funeral rite. But almost instantly he's drawn into a quite different chain of events in which he alternates between heroin, coke and other miscellaneous drugs, attends parties with strangers, and dives in and out of his torturous memories of Aki. These rambling sequences, infused with black humour, brought me back to the brilliance of Thayil's writing in his debut novel Narcopolis. Here, he offers a portrait of a bereaved man which never loses sight of the inherent absurdity of life, especially a life lived according to one's (and others') whims. It's a pleasure to read.

TinyLetter

[Taruna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well, well, well. I decided to write an actual review after so long and somehow ended up deleting it by error. So here I am rewriting it because that is how much I disliked this book.

Basic plot: Dominic Ullis's wife, Aki, commits suicide. He flies to Bombay to immerse her ashes and mourns snorting heroin, cocaine and a new drug called Meow meow.

Things I didn't like about this book:

1. We don't know who Dominic Ullis is. How and why did he become an addict? What kind of person is he? What is his background? We practically don't know anything about our protagonist other than the fact that he is an addict. On the contrary, we know more about Aki, which I actually liked. Her character is written better. But come to think of it, if I didn't in a way associate with her psyche, I probably would've been lost. The very reason I had picked up this book was that I had read a few quotes previously about how his wife Aki, talks about her depression as if it was a place. She calls it "the low" as if she can visit it. This idea hit home so hard I was really excited to read more about it: about this low, this feeling of being in the low. I wish it was explored more both with respect to Aki's character and Ullis's.

2. The entire idea of presenting Mumbai as a "kaleidoscopic city" fails terribly. It was an attempt made half-heartedly, only coming through at certain points in the book, with the help of characters that seemed made-up.

3. Most characters seemed unnecessary and added no depth to the story or idea of the book, which I thought had potential but wasn't executed well. Plus, it seemed unnatural to me that he would just encounter these random people who also turned out to be drug-consuming and somehow didn't mind him being around. They felt stereotypical, there only to show the city in a certain light, with no significance of their own, metaphorically or otherwise. I could not understand Payal, the only other character who we encounter almost throughout the book. I didn't understand why there was a dedicated chapter to her background and her life when it meant nothing symbolically, metaphorically or otherwise.

4. The political commentary was so forced it made me want to barf. Honestly, it felt like the author was just using all these made-up characters to make the book sound more holistic, when in fact the subject of the book had nothing to gain from these generic insights.

5. The dialogues, which were present in an umpteen amount, while I actually wished there was more prose, were unnatural. Nobody speaks in so many expressions and with such apathy. Well, maybe with that apathy, but certainly not those expressions and unusual remarks.

6. The writing was mundane, bland and uninteresting. I could only think of how beautiful and lyrical and visual the prose for a subject like this could've been! My attention wandered off several times, and often I did not even bother to read the part I had missed because it was just that meaningless and banal.

I really, really wish we had gotten to know Ullis better. I also wish there was more about the past, more about the present too - instead of just Ullis hopping aimlessly from one group of people to another. Most of the book seemed unnatural to me. Perhaps because I don't know what being an addict is like? Perhaps because I don't have enough experience of the city? Maybe. However, when it comes to reading a book, if it isn't fantastical in nature, I prefer to be as real and raw as possible, which it just did not feel.

[Radiantflux · Rating 3 out of 5]

22nd book for 2020.

Thayil's latest book, follows its main protagonist, Dominic Ullis—grieving the recent death of his wife— though a drugged-fueled journey through the Bombay underworld. While Thayil's use of language is as always wonderful, I found the looseness of the plot—particularly in the second half of the novel—irritating.

3-stars.

[Fatimah Manaf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe because I recently lost my mom, that's I find this novel quite calming and full of understanding. It's about a husband journey to buried her wife ashes to other city. How guilty kept eats his brain and soul.He tried to escape reality through consuming different kind of drugs(he used to being and addict long time ago!). The story keep jumping from flash back of his memory, hallucination and real time.

I love #JeetThayil for his writing style, always descriptive, deep and natural. He's really good in decribing feeling, thought and surrounding without make up it into convincing, it's just the way it is. Simple but complex.He always had the skill to soothing mind through his sentences and choice of words. Yes, I always worshipped him since his book Narcopolis.

Even this journey show me how well times will mend everything, its really interesting about how the writer 'give a lesson' to protagonist through his meeting with friend and strangers a long it. Patiently, he showed reader the true nature of protagonist relationship with his dead wife. Relationship always confusing and full of misunderstanding, but love will always find a way to compromised it even its too late,and the person is no longer around. The point is, you will learn from losing to move yourself to another phase of life.

This book also give a thoughful view of social system, background and different kind of problem that keep weaken people in India. How poverty drive people into drug addiction, class bias and selfishness.Overall, beside existential philosophy, this novel had the brilliantly criticism of social and political issue in India. Salute😎#fatimahmanaf #timahbacaapa #malaysiamembaca

[Abinash · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is pale in comparison to Narcopolis, especially since I read Narcopolis only a week back. The prose is less poetic, the turn of phrases more smartass than intelligent. The story is feeble and since it happens over the course of a weekend, it all seems to be flimsy.
Aki is not fully sketched, even though the book had enough time to work flesh out why she was depressed. Some people will outrage over its overtly liberal take on the world - Climate Change, constant reference to Trump, and the Hindu Nationalism; however, all that talk is a lame attempt to add a 'woke' vibe to an otherwise drab novel.
Nonetheless, there are some 'high points' in the novel. The grief is sad because it's so commonplace. It can happen to anyone and there's nothing you can do about it.

[Mukesh Kumar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Soars higher and higher

My first foray into Jeet Thayil and wow! This is easily the most romantization of melancholy and grief i have come across since Meena Kumari! I could not put the book down, every passage breathed of agony, of sadness, so consuming you didn't want Uliss' weekend to end.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recently read Narcopolis which I loved, so I jumped at this, a follow up of sorts, not quite as good, not quite as dense, but covering much of the same drug soaked ground. The mechanics of buying drugs, an oversharing dealer, wandering around Bombay (as the writer/narrator still calls it) this time looking for a suitable stretch of running water in which to immerse the ashes of his dead wife who has committed suicide. He meets politicians, corrupt policemen, joins addicts on the streets and attends parties with the rich. His wife appears as a ghost in the plasterwork of various hotels when he is on heroin. It is a varied and beautifully written account, full of jostling characters and serene interludes. Loved it as well but not quite as much as Narcopolis.

[Sayantan Ghosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of Drugs and Other Loves

Dominic Ullis, poet and addict, lover and loser, our drug-addled, desolate protagonist, burns in anguish throughout this hypnotic book after his wife hangs herself in the New Delhi apartment which they used to share – her lifeless swinging body waiting for him to come back home and find her. This is a perfect companion piece to Thayil’s earlier novel, Narcopolis, a Booker-shortlisted modern masterpiece that’s fueled with fury unlike Low, which simmers and stings with care.

Ullis leaves behind his life and travels to the only city he understands and the only city that has sometimes tried to understand him – Bombay. Not Mumbai, remember. With no luggage or belongings except an urn containing his wife’s ashes, he vagabonds through the city in search of pure water in which he can immerse his beloved’s final remains. As he meets more drifters and wanderers like him on the streets of Bombay, we get to see a side of the city that’s well within our reach but doesn’t always come out of the shadows. He drowns, in both his addiction and suffering, as we, the reader, desperately try to give him our hand while turning the pages.

Dominic is our Devdas with a metropolitan wardrobe. “He would adopt a bit of practical advice from the handbook of Jean Rhys: drink, drink, drink. As soon as you sober up, you start again. This was his new mission, and he pursued it devotedly.”

In Afterlife, one of the most moving shows written for the screen in many years, Ricky Gervais’ character Tony loses his wife to cancer and is unable to cope with his grief – “I’d rather be nowhere with her than somewhere without her,” he proclaims.

Dominic doesn’t even know how to be nowhere; all he manages to do is come apart “in slow motion”. Low takes place over a single weekend, but if you let it, really allow it, it’ll tenderly settle in you for many years. How rarely does that happen with a book anyway? And when it does, like it did with me with Low, it’s a different kind of high.

[David Norris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jeet Thayil might be my favourite novelist. He writes like an unpretentious poet, with a dark and often witty prose that is disturbing and brilliant. It is not difficult to read his books, the pages turn, and frequently I am saying words of praise out loud as I read.

He feels like he is writing for you. That is, if you are a lost soul, a slightly broken, unhinged person who wants something more and sees it in the shadows of a hidden horizon late at night. It is philosophical, nihilistic, beautiful and touching in odd and unusual ways that both surprise and delight.

I like the fact he is somewhat undiscovered, somewhat unpalatable to the average person who wants structure and predictions to become apparent. Thayil does none of this. He writes without lucidity, more like a fever dream, but one featuring you. That outsider who doesn't feature in anything excepts books like these. The poet is a seer. Thayil refuses to shy away from what stands before him, inside him, inside all of us.

“The raw smell of sewerage and marigolds,” illuminates the paradoxes of life and the limitations of language to try to capture its illusive meaning.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a quote in here I can't find now, about how sooner or later everything goes back to the sea.

This was a novel about grief and drugs, among other things. Dominic Ullis stumbles around Mumbai (which he always refers to as Bombay) with a backpack containing a bottle of Jim Beam and a box of his wife's ashes. His wife, Aki, is dead, and now he is here, nodding and floating from one heroin trip to another, scoring, snorting and otherwise trying to figure out what to do. A bit of Naked Lunch tossed with a little Leaving Las Vegas. And there's some hazy nods to James Joyce I'd pick up on if I were a more seasoned reader. BUT, I think it brought new light to a much-discussed and much maligned topic. Grief and addiction and sickness and moving on, all bound up together in one fantastic mess.

[Jayasri Prasanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am fascinated by death. The charm and allure of death are too tempting to not ignore. I wanted to know what happens after a person dies. Of course, I know what happens to the body. But my curiosity was on the journey that the soul makes after death. Does the soul cease to exist as the body expires? Or does it lodges into another life to start anew? What happens? When nobody gave me answers, I turned towards the literature. I have read quite a few books (fiction and nonfiction) to quench the curiosity but none touched the par of excellence like Low.





Low is about drugs, depression, death, guilt, and finding hope. We follow Dominic Ullis, in his drug-induced journey of grief following the death of his wife Aki (who is enamoured with death from a tender age) on a weekend in Mumbai. On his way, Dominic meets quite a lot of people. But he is indifferent to them. He shoots up drug after drug just to cope with the grief. In one of his drug-induced hallucinations, he meets his wife who regrets committing suicide at all, stating that it isn't what she expected. Oh, the irony!





I can sense the dark, murky thing ready to pounce in me. When the gloom starts to appear, I panic. I want to hurt people with my words. Then I wallow in the guilt for wanting to hurt my loved ones. After a good amount of wallowing comes the phase of self-hate. I hate myself for being ungrateful for all the things I have been given. This phase of Self-hate is finally followed by the thoughts of death. I want to feel how it feels when you take your final breath. I want to know what happens when you close your eyes for the last time knowing I won't open it again. I want to know what my loved ones will feel when I am not here. And on and on it goes.





But these days, I am at peace with this dark, murky thing. Like Thayil's Aki who calls her depression as Low and senses the arrival of it, I learned to recognize the signs of being consumed by the dark. In the futile attempt to break this cycle, I try to hold on to whatever little things I can find. Books, movies, music, the stupid crow, rain, and memes. There's a saying Tamil that roughly translates as 'Known ghost is better than the unknown God.' Sometimes my fascination with death does resemble this quote. I have lived with whatever horrors life threw at me. But the unknown after death, however alluring it may be, scares me. So, I find comfort in the things that I can afford and I am forever grateful for them. I am not a victim. I have never been. But this dark phase makes me feel like one and I hate it. I hate that I have the privilege to feel like a victim when I am not.





I read Low when I was at the lowest point of my existence. I connected with his book on a deeper level and the feelings revolved around it. I can't criticize Dominic or Aki for how they deal with their grief and depression. Is there even a right way to grieve? You grieve and figure out life as you go. Looking for things that provide you with even a sliver of hope. I finished this book with the hope, breaking that dark phase and I am forever grateful for it.

[Barbara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had I realised that 'Low' was written by the author of 'Narcopolis', a horrible rambling book that I couldn't get into at all, I probably wouldn't have picked 'Low' from my Borrowbox account. Had I realised that the mysterious Dom Ullis, the central character of 'Low' was also in 'Narcopolis', it might have meant some things made more sense than they did. But, having given 'Narcopolis' a go before I abandoned it, I rather doubt that anything would have helped make more sense of this rather rambling mess of a book.

Dom Ullis is frequently called Ulysees by other characters in the book. Take an already drugged-to -the-eyeballs narrative and throw in hints of the ancient hero or the not-so-ancient Irishman wandering the streets of Dublin for a day, and you're pretty much guaranteed zero chance of making much sense of what's going on. There's an opportunity here for the exploitation of one or other or even both the Ulyseeses (is that the plural? I'm not sure) but nothing quite so subtle seems to be going on here.

I found the character impossible to get to grips with. He's referred to a few times as an Englishman but the story - and synopses of 'Narcopolis' - don't seem to support that. He alludes to time spent 25 years earlier in Mumbai's drug dens and to time in New York where he met his late wife Aki in a library. He has Hep C from intravenous drug use but is supposed to be clean before he sets out on a bender to end all benders. Or maybe, given the Mumbai setting, it's a bender on the bunder. He seems to have picked up most of the author's own back-story but the race thing remains a mystery along with his age and occupation. Somehow this guy has dragged himself through rehab, through a short marriage and some sort of career and, grief-stricken, is about the blow everything good in his life for a weekend of extreme drug use.

He meets a wealthy lady on the flight to Mumbai - one who steals the first-class cutlery on the plane - and she has problems of her own. He's still in his funeral suit and unsuitable brown suede loafers (I have to agree with Aki, they were definitely a bad choice) holding a box of Aki's ashes and not much more. Over the weekend he gets through enough drugs to flatten an elephant, hangs out in Mumbai's party underworld and spends time between the high thread-count cotton sheets of a wealthy woman's home and 0n the hard pavements of street-dwellers.

Perhaps the most positive thing about the story is that nothing horrible happens to Ullis other than by his own hand. Perhaps there's a hidden reminder of the fundamental 'goodness' of the people of Mumbai when nobody takes advantage of his drug-induced vulnerability. Maybe the drugs help him to communicate with his dead wife, maybe they don't. Maybe this weekend of excess can be punctuation in a complex life, or maybe a week later he'll be dead in a ditch. We don't know. He just heads back to the airport and back to Delhi.

[Arun · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's not a book l would have ever bought myself, but l am glad l got it as a Secret Santa gift from a stranger in the writers group l am part of. I rather enjoyed this primarily because Jeet Thayil writes brilliantly. Here and there, he makes some perceptive observations that elevate the book above the run of the mill. There isn't much of a story - simply put, the book is about a man who having tragically lost his wife seeks escape and consolation over a drug fuelled weekend in Bombay. It appears it is loosely based on Thayil's own life, though l presume he has at least somewhat fictionalized it. The main character is a bit of a loser as are most of the other characters in the book. I found it hard to sympathize but then there is really no effort made to evoke sympathy. The parts l enjoyed the most were when he talks about the city itself - rather beautifully and viscerally described - both the past as he remembers a different Bombay and the nightmarish present, and then, the memories/flashbacks of key events from the years together with his wife. On the other hand, the writerly license taken to generate distasteful provocation in the form of certain grotesque happenings during the weekend appear needless and overdone for what is essentially a deeply personal story. This makes it hard (for me, at least) not to be judgmental in a negative way.

I read this rather quickly by my current standards, largely because of the quality of the writing and because there is an urgency to the story that keeps you hooked despite there being not much of a story.

[Manish]

Your better half is gone..for good. How do you take on the remainder of your life henceforth?
Would you gather their left behind belongings and soak them in your tears?
Would you seek spiritual consolation?
Would you seek commiseration of your friends and family?
Would you succumb to your misery? Probably deriving pleasure from it?

This book is not exactly a favorite. I wouldn't place it amongst the best ones that deal with the human emotions. It's crazy, conspicuous, and a little
baloney. No, a lot baloney. But oh, well. I like to believe that every book is born with an innate ability to teach us something- and that lesson(s)
is not necessarily the same for each of us. I strongly feel that this novel is akin to a drunk finding the way to his house at 2 am, when the streetlight
sometimes flickers, and the dogs bark the loudest. Regardless, it offers a fine perspective of coming to terms with personal loss. I am not exactly a huge fan of books that prerequisites the innocent reader to have a taste for the utmost atrocious imagination to the point of placing the reader into a gut wrenching version of themselves.

[Mansha Poddar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Low by Jeet Thayil 📚

This is one book you will not pick up by yourself. Jeet Thayil's writing is brilliant, no doubt, but the story development is what I have an issue with in this book.

Low follows a grieving protagonist, Dominic Ullis, as he lands in Mumbai (Bombay) after his wife Aki's suicide. He tries to escape from the turmoil through a weekend with drugs.

Though the characters were well-written and had layers, it was difficult to sympathize or relate to them.

The parts which kept me hooked were where Thayil's observation and perspective is described and where he shares memories and flashbacks with his wife.

It is not a long book but took me longer than usual to read it.
While reading, there is a constant urge to find more story or grip to the plot.

It did take me 'Low' but it lacked conviction. Full of promises, when I picked it up, but fell short.

Some say, this is classic Jeet Thayil book and that he builds a tense, gripping world. Well, something couldn't connect with this one, I will wait to read Narcopolis.

[Alok · Rating 4 out of 5]

The simplicity of the theme about a weekend spent in mumbai by the protagonist travelling from delhi to immerse the ashes of his wife in the sea has been profoundly made interesting by description of various situations, encounter with interesting characters , drugs, alcohol etc. some of the situation like snorting his wife’s ashes as drug by him and one Payal an upscale page 3 riches is effortlessly described. It also describes his life in new York , marriage, suicide committed by his wife, various locations in mumbai including taj hotel, gateway of india , Alibag, dance bar etc. Particularly interesting is the author’s capability in characterisation, clarity in describing a situation. One of the few great Indian writers , Jeet Thyall is a treat to read. Would definitely read his 2nd novel.This book is a one sitting book and difficult to put down. Some of the unimaginable situation like snorting his wife’s ashes by him and one Payal as drug is described effortlessly.

[PhattandyPDX · Rating 4 out of 5]

A blend of Ask the Dust, Requiem for a Dream & Tropic of Cancer. 👍🏻


“When you’re high, time dissolves like powder in a spoon. It melts and bends to your will. When the high is gone, time returns in the company of boredom to punish you with the time you killed.”

“She hadn’t seen the sky in weeks. She had forgotten there were stars above them. It was as if an impenetrable veil had fallen between her and the heavens. She couldn’t imagine why people lived like this. For what reason did they submit to it? Surely there were alternatives? Unrelievedly ugly men and women surrounded by unrelieved ugliness. This was the truth of the city. All around her the mean minds idle in their pollution machines. There was not a face she could like. In the midst of it all, she and her husband, fighting, wretched, undistinguished.”

[Perez Selvakumar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Typically, before I read a book, I would usually do a quick background search to find out more about an author, and they type of material they churn out. Jeet Thayil, seemed to primarily be a poet. This piqued my interest, and I was not disappointed. I found the entire read very linguistically pleasing, a very refreshing read that was full of descriptive uncommon words which I had not encountered in a long time.

The story follows Ullises, as he copes with the grief of losing his wife unexpectedly with the only way he knows how, through a constant cocktail of drugs.
Loss, Grief, and Guilt are the central themes of the book as readers are navigated through the grimy underbelly of Bombay, as a man attempts to process his loss and find a sense of meaning and hope. Although alone, Ullises meets a bunch of zany characters from different backgrounds that provide a lot of comic relief. There would be times throughout the read that I’d be processing the raw emotions shared, while at the next line I’d be breaking out into chuckles.

What I enjoyed about this book, is that it was very well written and engaging. Once you pick it up, it can be hard to stop. I would definitely recommend this book if the topic of grief and personal reconciliation appeal to you. This is a very well written and enjoyable book.

[Bhavin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Imagine that you want to rant about everything in India and the world and are aware that if you do so in a blog, most people will give up after some time.

But if you create a story about a man who has lost his wife and everything and he is then transported to Mumbai and meets old friends and ghosts...you can use that construct to rail against everything that you want to get off your chest.

The writing is terrific. Jeet is an amazing writer...there is no question about that. The story and its contents though are a different matter entirely.

Again as with so many Indian authors, non Indians would probably love the book, if they don't have the insight that comes from living in the country.

[Keshav · Rating 1 out of 5]

Incredibly pretentious claptrap book peopled by a cast of characters for whom the ultimate sign of wealth and privilege is to narcissistically cast aside all the benefits of being wealthy and educated, living their lives on the pity pot, destroying their health and well-being, all the while, looking down on less well-to-do characters in the book. Thayil carries this thread though this book and Chocolate Saints. That he believes readers should find this fascinating, is beyond belief. As an ex-addict myself, who loves a good war-story, this and Chocolate Saints are really thin books. The entire gist of the book is the rich and privileged suffer in great style. Really, who cares?

[B91 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am surprised that goodreads has rated this book shy of even 3.5 stars. This is most definitely my favorite book of all time with jeet being my favorite novelist. The prose is definitely outstanding.

There's something for everyone on each page of the book. Inspired from his own life, this story of grief and the chase of pleasure conflate and conflict to bring forth an extraordinary text whose plot is rather simple but there's political commentary, lots of dark humor, comments on the indian state and the lending of a very cathartic voice to his grief which is painful but leaves a sweet after taste.

I can't describe how this book is.

[Sarthak Dev · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tense, gripping, and visceral. Basically, trademark Jeet Thayil.

Jeet makes you root for Dom Ullis from the first page itself, but never allows you to figure him out completely. The climax of this story is the only true point of closure between the reader and the protagonist. The payoff, as in every Jeet story, is worth your time.

And as always, Jeet leaves enough for writers and fans of good prose. He pushes and pulls at you with his use of punctuation.

Well worth a read. Might even make for a great movie.

[Peter Ngila Njeri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hi reader friends. This is not a review but a request for assistance. I loved Narcopolis by Jeet Thatil very much. I bought my copy of Low today from a bookshop here in Nairobi, Kenya. It's 221 pages long. I realize Goodreads says the novel should be 320 pages. My copy's edition was published in Faber & Faber in 2020. Just wandering if I have the whole book or rather the correct edition. Anyone else with a copy similar to mine? Thank you.
Peter.

[Adele Dmello · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jeet has quickly grown to be one of my favourite authors. Low has beautiful prose that borders on poetry, but without once being onerous. Similar to Narcopolis, the writing is designed to make you feel like you're on substances, and Low accomplishes just that, and does it very well. The plot again is just a device for the author's gift of writing and isn't really "material" per se. Some of the characters could've used some more fleshing out, which is my chief complaint.

[Jane Fudger · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the story of a man who reverts to his drug taking habits after his wife committed suicide. The novel is reminiscent of Thayil's debut book Narcopolis and although this is not a sequel it did have a far superior plot and overall was more entertaining
Nevertheless I did enjoy this book but I found myself continually comparing this to Nacropolis

[Nilay · Rating 3 out of 5]

When they don't write for the laurels, then they write for therapy. Grieving isn't easy and it definitely isn't finite and there's certainly no closure. Sometimes you don't admire a story for its literary strength but for the honesty and courage it takes to write it.
I understand why many people would not like this book but I have a feeling Jeet didn't write it for the people in the first place.

[r_nandwani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jeet Thayil and his story's protagonist is just spot on. There are many who have tried to write on grief but here how Ullis and how he reconciles is just human. Third of my Jeet Thayil's writings and the way every time he mentions about Bombay is to fall in love with the city even to its darkest aspects.

[Manish · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's hard to describe in words why I liked this book. It had a very visceral impact on me, for some reason. Maybe because I know intimately the parts of both Bombay and Delhi, spatial and social, that it refers to.

I don't often say this, but I'd love to see the Bollywood adaptation of this book. Who to cast as Dom though?

[shwetha · Rating 4 out of 5]

To summarise - A man tries to grieve his wife, by running away from her at first, then drugs, with friends, strangers and other days that life springs upon him until he stops, then he grieves, we grieve with him.

Jeet's writing is easy to read as always. One sentence running into another, smooth, as though chiffon sarees in the wind. A lovely read and an ode to mourning whilst high in mumbai.

[Simon Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it

Part Gonzo journalism, part meditation on death. Philosophical dialogue on the meaning of grief. The book Hunter S Thompson should have wrote