Austinist Reviews Londonstani by Gautam Malkani

Hardjit, in addition to being the fittest and flyest in his crew, is never hesitant to dish out a beatdown. And that's how you're introduced to Londonstani: Some white kid is graphically getting the snot beat out of him for uttering the word "Paki." Whether the kid said the racially charged word is debatable, but Jas just watches, carefully choosing words of encouragement for his crew's leader. Ravi and Amit are there, too, but they've been rolling with Hardjit longer and know what to say.

Jas later boasts: "You know how the people a Gotham City've got that Bat signal for whenever they need to call Batman? The homeboys a Hounslow an Southall should have two signals for Hardjit: an Om for when Hindus needed him an a Khanda for when Sikhs needed him." Hardjit is just one of the few characters that occupy Jas's pantheon of manhood.

Gautam Malkani's debut novel is, at face value, an entertaining study of the new rudeboy culture in London. The sights, sounds, and smells of the city are presented in slang, phonetically, a language that's at times difficult to read, but ultimately inviting. More important, Malkani, through his severely awkward teenage narrator, Jas, explores universal themes of personal identity, group identity, tradition, and the pain of reconciling those concepts while being severely awkward.

After the boys encounter some snags in their "gray market" phone business, they're introduced to Sanjay, a posh Londoner and Hounslow success story. He heralds "[t]he fall of Communism… [and] the rise of bling" and introduces the boys to "bling bling economics" by contracting them to supply him with handsets for outrageous sums of cash. Sanjay takes a shine to Jas, giving him pointers on "chirpsin" girls and even lending Jas his Porsche for nights out on the town.

The world of exclusive nightclubs, fusion cuisine, and Hugh Grant sightings proves ephemeral. Londonstani really rocks when things start to unravel. The action hits a pitch as bad goes to worse and worse to worst with the turn of a few pages. The story seemingly concludes on a mundane cliff, when Malkani proffers a small, outrageously significant twist that will have you rummaging back through the book, regardless of what time you've finished reading.

Londonstani's surprise ending creates an unexpected layer of irony for the reader to contemplate long after the book has finished. The book really is a pleasure to read and to have read. It's a thoughtful, poignant meditation on race, identity, and conflicted relationships. The book is seasoned with Anglo-Indo-Pakistani expressions that are defined in a glossary, which you'd do well to peruse before embarking on the 333 pages of action. It's more fun than a debut novel should be. Well done, Mr. Malkani.

Bonus:

Gautam Malkani presents Londonstani
Thursday, July 13 (tonight!)
7 p.m.
BookPeople
6th & Lamar

Londonstani
by Gautam Malkani
(Penguin, $24.95)

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