Minutes July book: The In-Between World of Vikram Lall

The In-Between World of Vikram Lall

by M.G. Vassanji

(chosen by JP)

Theme: "Power does not corrupt, fear corrupts. Perhaps fear of the loss of power."


JP researched the theme for her book choice, and realised that it was a John Steinbeck quote from the novel, The Short Reign of Pippin IV, a political satire. She decided that any book she chose should focus on the WHY of power and corruption. Some initial options she examined were: The Betrayal by YA Erskine,  No Fear: A Whistlebowers Triumph over Corruption and Retaliation at the EPA by Marsha Coleman-Abedayo and The Story of My Assassins: a Novel by Tarun J Teijpal. In each of those cases, the story was told by a victim or an observer of corruption. JP wanted to choose one told through the eyes of the perpetrator - so eventually she found The In-Between World of Vikram Lall.

About the author:

M.G. Vassanji was born in Kenya, and raised in Tanzania. He took a doctorate in physics at M.I.T. and came to Canada in 1978. While working as a research associate and lecturer at the University of Toronto in the 1980s he began to dedicate himself seriously to a longstanding passion: writing. His first novel, The Gunny Sack, won a regional Commonwealth Writers Prize, and he was invited to be writer-in-residence at the University of Iowa. The novel’s success was a spur, Vassanji has commented: “It was translated into several languages. I was confident that this was what I could do, that writing was not just wishful thinking. In 1989 I quit my full-time job and began researching The Book of Secrets.” That celebrated, bestselling novel won the inaugural Giller Prize, in 1994. Vassanji’s other books include the acclaimed novels No New Land (1991) and Amriika (1999), and Uhuru Street (1991), a collection of stories. His unique place in Canadian literature comes from his elegant, classical style, his narrative reach, and his interest in characters trying to reconcile different worlds within themselves. The subtle relations of the past and present are also constants in his writing: “When someone asks you where you are from or who you are, there is a whole resume of who you are. I know very few people who do not have a past to explain. That awareness is part of my work.” M.G. Vassanji was awarded the Harbourfront Festival Prize in 1994 in recognition of his achievement in and contribution to the world of letters, and was in the same year chosen as one of twelve Canadians on Maclean’s Honour Roll. He lives in Toronto with his wife and two sons.

(general biographical detail from the publisher's website)

What the publisher says about the book:

Double Giller Prize winner M.G. Vassanji’s The In-Between World of Vikram Lall is a haunting novel of corruption and regret that brings to life the complexity and turbulence of Kenyan society in the last five decades. Rich in sensuous detail and historical insight, this is a powerful story of passionate betrayals and political violence, racial tension and the strictures of tradition, told in elegant, assured prose. The novel begins in 1953, with eight-year-old Vikram Lall a witness to the celebrations around the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, just as the Mau Mau guerilla war for independence from Britain begins to gain strength. In a land torn apart by idealism, doubt, political upheaval and terrible acts of violence, Vic and his sister Deepa must find their place among a new generation. Neither colonists nor African, neither white nor black, the Indian brother and sister find themselves somewhere in between in their band of playmates: Bill and Annie, British children, and Njoroge, an African boy. These are the relationships that will shape the rest of their lives. We follow Vikram through the changes in East African society, the immense promise of the fifties and sixties. But when that hope is betrayed by the corruption and violence of the following decades, Vic is drawn into the Kenyatta government’s orbit of graft and power-broking. Njoroge, his childhood friend, can abandon neither the idealism of his youth nor his love for Vic’s sister Deepa. But neither the idealism of the one nor the passive cynicism of the other can avert the tragedies that await them.

What we discussed about the book:

• The idea of incremental corruption: "Total corruption occurs in inches and travels through many veils of ambiguity."
• The role of colonial Kenya to this story - how the British society remained a background rather than a key feature.
• The loose ends that remain unresolved in the reader's mind - e.g. what role did Kenyatta play in Njoroge's death?
• The idea of identity. Is it possible to be 'African' when your ethnicity is Indian (or British?) How has that issue played out in out societies around the world?
• How ideas of racism are portrayed in the book - between and within various groups.
• The roles of the land and the love of the land. How does that affect choices various characters make?
• What changed within Vic's parents relationship? Where these changes caused by external events?
• What were the different responses to Deepa's relationship with Njorge? What influenced each response? Particularly, why was her mother so against it?
• What did we learn of the history of Kenya through the telling of this story?
• What was the true nature of  the Kenyatta character, particularly with relation to the dichotomy between 'my father'/'your excellency' forms of address?
• Was Kenyatta motivated by a a fear of a loss of power?
• What motivated Vic? Was it money, personal safety, opportunism?
• The different life choices and pathways Njorge, Deepa and Vikram followed.
• What is the 'in-between' of Vic's world? 
• What was the point of Joseph's character?
• Our favorite quotes: e.g. " It was the night that curdled the blood..."(p.46), "Mother left behind a broken and disoriented Papa..." (p.401)
• What happened in the ending? Is it left to interpretation?

And then we were sidetracked
 into:

• How does the process of corruption progress - inch by inch, or by grand plan?
• Is it okay to accept a small amount of corruption to create a large amount of good difference?
• In what ways can people effect change in a generally corrupt society?
• The history of Kenya from 1AD to date.
• Did colonial governments provide a better day-to-day life for the people (i.e. more ordered, predictable)? This this ever a preferable option to self-rule?

In other news, we discussed:

• How JP's dog literally ate her homework, but that didn't stop her doing a stellar job at research for this month's bookclub.
• Sex education for teenagers
• The ethics of charities accepting donations from gambling-related companies 
• Dan Brown's Inferno and its theme of world over-population, plus the idea that doing nothing when witnessing a transgression is the worst possible crime.

Ratings:
Range: 7.5 to 9.5
Average:  8.79

Next book: The Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard (chosen by Fairlie)