Reviews with content warning for Alcoholism - Zeit der Schuld

Wealthy, hedonistic people do bad things and the poor pay for it as dog-eat-dog collateral, Kapoor writes a story mostly spanning 5 years (though with generational trauma stemming from years before) from multiple perspectives: Ajay, a poor boy from the mountains who under difficult circumstances fall into service of Sunny Wadia, the richer-than-God, once-naive only son of magnate Bunty Wadia who strives to outdo his father; Neda Kapur, an upper caste journalist who becomes romantically involved with Sunny; and then, much much later on, Sunil Rastogi, the boogeyman character who is the catalyst for the last quarter of the book through abject violence.

While Kapoor is a good writer, the story is so dark that it's hard to push through without coming up for breath so if you're looking for something to get you out of a reading rut, this isn't it. Issues tackled include sexual violence, class, an excessive amount of drugs and alcohol, gentrification, land use, murder, etc. It's so dark as to be predictable - of course the worst case scenario is going to happen, especially if the character in person is destitude.

I also know you're supposed to feel some sort of sympathy for Sunny given the extensive chapters from his perspective (surprise: there's bystander trauma because of course the actual violence happens to the unnamed poor) and I just... don't (even Neda, to some extent, I get exhausted by). It's tough to when there are so few redeeming moments for these characters. It's honestly just a long way down of bearing witness to depravity. Blech.

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challenging dark funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Enthralling story with a wide array of characters and POVs. This is a multifaceted story about dirty money and the people behind it in the cities and backcountry of India in the 1990s and early 2000s. Very unique setting and a (mostly) fast-paced, insane plot filled with mind-numbing wealth, deception, violence, and forbidden love.

I loved the unpredictable story line and the family saga aspect of the tale. Though I strongly recommend glancing at the trigger warnings before starting this book (the continued rape and sodomy of a minor is very explicit and highly disturbing and I genuinely wish I had skipped reading those chapters), Kapoor also adds in details about the strengths of human bonds and the need for secure attachment to others even when raised around violence and neglect. Quite a few comedic moments as well, particularly from Sunny's assistant, Eli, towards the end.

I also liked learning about India's geography and spent a decent amount of time googling up the places so I can imagine the setting more clearly. The author was born and raised in northern India and I think brings a special expertise to capturing it as a backdrop to the story.

The reason I give this a 4 rather than 5 is the weird pacing; it'll be 100mph for dozens of pages, and then slow down into a school-zone pace for a 100 more. Particularly around the point of Book/Section 3 and 4, the story became a slog, and took willpower to push through to the end. I assume a lot of the seemling unnecessary backstory will become important in the second and third book of this trilogy, so keeping my eyes peeled for that!

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