: ‘Age of Vice’: Nothing good happens in this novel of power and corruption, and that’s a good thing #IndiaNEWS There is a certain subgenre of books within literary fiction wherein nothing good

‘Age of Vice’: Nothing good happens in this novel of power and corruption, and that’s a good thing #IndiaNEWS
There is a certain subgenre of books within literary fiction wherein nothing good is allowed to happen, because the author has convinced themselves that that’s what Serious Literature looks like. When I saw the title of Deepti Kapoor’s Age of Vice (aka Kaliyuga), I was immediately apprehensive that this was one of those. Yes, it already had a few rave reviews from across the Atlantic, but there’s a certain kind of consumer – let’s call them Slumdog Millionaire enthusiasts – in the West (and elsewhere) who goes crazy for the kind of grim, dark tragedy porn I’m talking about, because they’ve convinced themselves that’s what authenticity looks like. Now, myself being the self-appointed arbiter of what serious and authentic fiction actually looks like – it’s my book review – I entered this one with one eyebrow raised.A novel where nothing good happensYou could certainly argue that Age of Vice is exactly that kind of book, but it’s not actually so clear-cut. Age of Vice follows a wide range of characters, all from different walks of life, all flies caught in a political spiderweb. At the centre of this web is the immensely powerful, obscenely wealthy, mystery-shrouded Wadia family, every member of whom is treated by the rest of the cast with...Read more

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