Author: Prashant Bhawalkar
Publisher: Rupa
Year: 2009
Language: English
Pages: 209
ISBN/UPC (if available): 9788129114631
Description
Unruly Times is a satire on the Indian novel in English. Its main pre-occupation is the exploitation of identity politics by post-colonial writers. The main character, Dushyant, is an advertising copywriter in New York, who wants to publish a novel. He is told by people in the industry that he won’t be marketable unless he writers a novel about something Indian. There is a double narrative running through the novel – Dushyant’s struggle to write as well as the plot of the novel itself. Every time Dushyant thinks he has written something good, he is told that it isn’t Indian enough. And every time he writes something ‘India’, he feels that is not good enough.
The novel’s secondary themes are the role of the writer in an age of instant gratification and the writer subject relationship. It uses the technique of dual plot – Dushyant’s struggle to find his voice alongside the story of Advaita, the hero of his novel.
Contents
Part I
Part II
Part III