Londonstani
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''Londonstani'' is Gautam Malkani's
debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to pu ...
published in the United Kingdom in 2006. The book's name is derived from the setting of the novel, London, and the story's subject matter, the lives of second and third generation
South Asian South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...
immigrants. The book was highly promoted, but did not do well commercially. The novel was a "much-anticipated debut" well before its release, as a result of the book's reception at the 2005
Frankfurt Book Fair The Frankfurt Book Fair (German: , FBM) is the world's largest trade fair for books, based on the number of publishing companies represented. The five-day annual event in mid-October is held at the Frankfurt Trade Fair grounds in Frankfurt am ...
and the six-figure advance reportedly paid for the rights to the book by publishing company Fourth Estate. Publication was accompanied by an expensive promotion campaign including a tour of the United States. According to ''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' magazine, the advance for the book as the first part of a two-book deal was $675,000. Despite the attention paid to the book, sales were relatively weak and by April 2008 only 15,000 copies had been sold. ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' reported that people in the publishing industry started talking of the "Londonstani effect"—when a much-hyped novel can't sell as well as was expected.


Contents

The novel's action is set in
Hounslow Hounslow ( ) is a large suburban district of West London, England, west-southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hounslow, and is identified in the London Plan as one of the 14 metropolitan cen ...
, a London neighbourhood, and its main character is a young man, Jas, who joins a gang of
Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...
and
Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
youngsters making a living on the side unlocking stolen cell phones. When they take a phone from the wrong person, Jas and his three friends become engaged in "a shadowy scheme that leads to Terrible Consequences." Besides being pursued by gangsters, Jas also has to deal with cultural problems after he falls in love with a
Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
girl.


Critical reception

Suhayl Saadi Suhayl Saadi (born 1961, Beverley, Yorkshire) is a physician, author and dramatist based in Glasgow, Scotland. His varied literary output includes novels, short stories, anthologies of fiction, song lyrics, plays for stage and radio theatre, and ...
and Tim Martin, both writing in ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'', called the novel "a competent debut by a talented writer" and "a bold and vigorous debut," respectively. The novel's language is a mixture of different British dialects (including texting abbreviations), which critics such as Tim Martin ("The addictive exuberance of Jas's patter is also a form of literary prestidigitation") seem to approve of. Others are less convinced. Suhayl Saadi (a writer of Pakistani descent), for instance, praises "the powerful, sometimes homoerotic, depiction of violence and sexual frustration" but notes that the "good" people in the novel all tend to speak in
Received Pronunciation Received Pronunciation (RP) is the Accent (sociolinguistics), accent of British English regarded as the Standard language, standard one, carrying the highest Prestige (sociolinguistics), social prestige, since as late as the beginning of the 2 ...
accents ("Empathy is created for South Asians only if they speak with a British accent") and this linguistic stereotyping leads Saadi to conclude that ''Londonstani'' "is a shabby, 21st-century,
Orientalism In art history, literature, and cultural studies, Orientalism is the imitation or depiction of aspects of the Eastern world (or "Orient") by writers, designers, and artists from the Western world. Orientalist painting, particularly of the Middle ...
and is not dissimilar from the mentality via which the Middle East is being re-colonised." The plot, and especially the ending, was praised by some and severely criticized by others. Tim Martin praised the "shattering twist that maintains total narrative cogency while turning the entire book upside down," but Suhayl Saadi calls it "contrived and unconvincing" and complains of a "clunky" plot.
James Bridle James Bridle (born 1980) is an artist and author based in Athens, Greece. Bridle, whose work "deals with the ways in which the digital, networked world reaches into the physical, offline one," coined the New Aesthetic. Their work has explored as ...
, on ''ReadySteadyBook'', agrees, in an otherwise positive review: "The less said about the final twist, which smacks of rushed, massive-advance-mediated desperation, the better." Mandy Sayer, writing for the ''
Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper in ...
'', praises the novel for exuding a "charming, original energy" but criticizes "the surprise ending and resolution
hich Ij () is a village in Golabar Rural District of the Central District in Ijrud County, Zanjan province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq ...
is disappointing, clichéd and trite." Her overall conclusion: "As a contemporary cultural artefact, Londonstani is second to none. As a novel, it is overwritten and undercrafted. I have no doubt it will do very well." Within two years after its publication, ''Londonstani'' became the subject of a full-length academic article: "Escaping the Matrix" by Michael Mitchell studies the book for its perspective on multi-cultural England.


Reception outside the UK

Critics in the United States were generally positive. Donald Morrison, in ''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'', praised the novel's language ("The novel is written in an imaginative mix of English,
Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabis, Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a ...
,
Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...
, profanity,
gangsta rap Gangsta rap or gangster rap, initially called reality rap, is a subgenre of rap music that conveys the culture, values, and experiences of urban gangs and street hustlers, frequently discussing unpleasant realities of the world in general th ...
and mobile-phone texting") in an altogether positive article. The ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' book editors picked the novel as an "Editors' choice" in August 2006. A full-length review in ''The New York Times'' was mixed, criticizing its "teenage flaws" and "an embarrassingly sophomoric twist for a denouement"; still, Sophie Harrison praised its "extra-aural overtones." In the Netherlands, responses were positive and both novel and author received a great deal of coverage. ''
NRC Handelsblad ''NRC'', previously called ' (), is a daily morning newspaper published in the Netherlands by Mediahuis NRC. It is widely regarded as a newspaper of record in the country. History was first published on 1 October 1970 after a merger of the Amst ...
'' published a lengthy review, which concluded by calling the book an interesting debut by a promising writer. ''
Vrij Nederland ''Vrij Nederland'' (Free Netherlands) is a Dutch magazine, established during the German occupation of the Netherlands in World War II as an underground newspaper. It has since grown into a magazine. The originally weekly turned monthly magazin ...
'' published a lengthy interview with the author (he was in the Netherlands promoting the book).
VPRO The VPRO (stylized vpro; originally an acronym for ''Vrijzinnig Protestantse Radio Omroep'', lit. 'Liberal Protestant Radio Broadcaster', nowadays known as ''Omroepvereniging VPRO'') is a Netherlands, Dutch Public broadcasting, public broadca ...
's ''
3VOOR12 ''3voor12'' () is a multimedia platform for alternative pop music of the Dutch public broadcaster VPRO. ''3voor12'' had 2 digital television channels (a clip-channel and a concert-channel), different radio channels (ranging from punk and al ...
'' reported on the 2006 edition (named "Londonstani," after Malkani's novel) of "Crossing Border," an annual festival in
The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...
which combines music and literature, featured Dutch and British bands (including Panjabi Hit Squad and British Asian Ms Scandalous), and Malkani reading passages from his book. A review on a Hindu website praised the novel for its many deftly handled and relevant plotlines and its linguistic qualities, and saw Malkani's portrayal of "Londonstanis" as relevant to "Hollandistanis" also. ''
Trouw ''Trouw'' (; ) is a Dutch daily newspaper appearing in compact size. It was founded in 1943 as an orthodox Protestant underground newspaper during World War II. Since 2009, it has been owned by DPG Media (known as De Persgroep until 2019). '' ...
'', however, called the book shallow, and Dutch writer Robert Vuijsje called it the worst book of the year. ''Londonstani'' appears to have received little attention in the German or French press, and what attention it got was negative.


References

{{reflist, 2 2006 British novels Novels set in London 2006 debut novels Fourth Estate books