The Last Jet-Engine Laugh
Published on 2. April 2002
Book
Paperback/Softback
400 pages
978-0-00-655187-4 (ISBN)
Description
The most arresting Indian novel since Arundhati Roy's 'The God of Small Things'.
Thirty years from now, old Paresh Bhatt settles down to drink an espresso (made, somewhat ostentatiously, with real water), and reflects on the key moments of his life. But even as Paresh recalls his parents' courtship during the freedom movement of the 1930s, his daughter, Para, is in the air - a crack fighter pilot in the belligerent Indian airforce, mounting raids against the Pak-Saudi alliance...
Sharp, modern, fluent and varied, this is a debut novel from India of an utterly original kind. Joshi has found a style and a form in which to say new things about the Indian experience in a new manner.
Thirty years from now, old Paresh Bhatt settles down to drink an espresso (made, somewhat ostentatiously, with real water), and reflects on the key moments of his life. But even as Paresh recalls his parents' courtship during the freedom movement of the 1930s, his daughter, Para, is in the air - a crack fighter pilot in the belligerent Indian airforce, mounting raids against the Pak-Saudi alliance...
Sharp, modern, fluent and varied, this is a debut novel from India of an utterly original kind. Joshi has found a style and a form in which to say new things about the Indian experience in a new manner.
Reviews / Votes
'The brand new experience after Rushdie: a megashow, Russian in size, Indian in soul.' India Today'Written in the joyous tradition of Tristram Shandy, Joshi has Sterne's gift for digressions [and] the master's eye for his surroundings. This is surely a great moment for Indian literature. "The Last Jet-Engine Laugh" debates whether the story of a nation can be the story of a self.' Tom Payne, Daily Telegraph
'Exhilarating...Joshi's narrative jump-cuts with a surreal invention reminiscent of the work of Vonnegut.' The Times
'Proof positive that it's possible for Indian writers to be wickedly cynical, funny and bitter without the scathing edge blunting the Indianness or vice versa...Put simply, "The Last Jet-Engine Laugh" is a family saga across three generations. It's also (as most really good books are) a love story. But before you yawn and reach for the remote saying, "Yaar, saala, it's been done before," it ain't quite been done like this. Joshi is a most unsuitable boy, and if there were a glass palace about, he'd be the one throwing stones.' Anita Roy, Biblio
'Stylish, suggestive, musical...a great moment for Indian literature.' Daily Telegraph
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
HarperCollins Publishers
Product notice
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Paperback (UK-B)
Illustrations
20 b/w illus
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
280 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-00-655187-4 (9780006551874)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Ruchir Joshi is a trained and practising filmmaker in India. Born and raised in Calcutta, he now lives in Delhi.