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A review by rkkmistry
Temporary People by Deepak Unnikrishnan
5.0
dang!! this makes me so nostalgic for Abu Dhabi !! I really miss that place...
really tho this book had me thinking a lot about the the idea of the "novel" vs a collection of short stories. like this book is billed as a novel even though it's filled with quite heterogenous content (i mean they almost all sort of speak to an indian-origin experience in the the UAE, but beyond that there really aren't recurring characters and many of the stories feel like they happen in different worlds). That being said, it really does work and it does feel like there are these conceptual or place-based concerns that really tie everything together. really tho I almost want to say that perhaps this is the only way to represent AD given that it is a place that is filled with such a diversity of experiences...obviously that's true of every city, but in AD I feel like it is truly different worlds depending on where you're coming from. the result is that the author's really diverse use of style ends up sort of mimicking that dislocation as you move between different types of experiences. very dope
really tho this book had me thinking a lot about the the idea of the "novel" vs a collection of short stories. like this book is billed as a novel even though it's filled with quite heterogenous content (i mean they almost all sort of speak to an indian-origin experience in the the UAE, but beyond that there really aren't recurring characters and many of the stories feel like they happen in different worlds). That being said, it really does work and it does feel like there are these conceptual or place-based concerns that really tie everything together. really tho I almost want to say that perhaps this is the only way to represent AD given that it is a place that is filled with such a diversity of experiences...obviously that's true of every city, but in AD I feel like it is truly different worlds depending on where you're coming from. the result is that the author's really diverse use of style ends up sort of mimicking that dislocation as you move between different types of experiences. very dope