Londonstani

2006 novel by Gautam Malkani

Londonstani is Gautam Malkani's debut novel 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 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 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 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 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.

The novel's action is set in Hounslow, a London neighborhood, and its main character is a young man, Jas, who joins a gang of Sikh and Hindu youngsters making a living on the side unlocking stolen cell phones. Besides being pursued by gangsters, Jas also has to deal with cultural problems after he falls in love with a Muslim girl. and "a bold and vigorous debut," Mandy Sayer, writing for the Sydney Morning Herald, praises the novel for exuding a "charming, original energy" but criticizes "the surprise ending and resolution [which] 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.

Critics in the United States were generally positive. Donald Morrison, in Time, praised the novel's language ("The novel is written in an imaginative mix of English, Punjabi, Urdu, profanity, gangsta rap and mobile phone texting" 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 published a lengthy review, which concluded by calling the book an interesting debut by a promising writer. Vrij Nederland published a lengthy interview with the author (he was in the Netherlands promoting the book). VPRO's 3VOOR12 reported on the 2006 edition (named "Londonstani," after Malkani's novel) of "Crossing Border," an annual festival in The Hague 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, 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.