Audiobook Review: Age of Vice (2023) by Deepti Kapoor

Audiobook Review

Age of Vice (2023)

by Deepti Kapoor

   Age of Vice by Indian author Deepti Kapoor was on my radar as soon as I read this lede from the New York Times, which appeared on January 5th of this year:

Deepti Kapoor’s second novel, “Age of Vice,” is a luxe thriller, set in New Delhi, that rides the line between commercial and literary fiction so adroitly that it will almost certainly move a lot of units, as I’ve heard publishers say about their best sellers.

    The line between commercial and literary fiction is an obsession of this blog, and I love literary fiction that comes from south Asia- be it Pakistani, Indian, Sri Lankan or Bangladeshi, so Age of Vice appealed to me all the way around.  I considered buying a hardback version but based on the length it seemed like a bit much.  I've observed that subcontinental fiction that makes it to publication in the United States tends towards the Dickensian in a sense that all locales for fiction have a 19th century vibe, even when the book, like Age of Vice is set mostly in India in the first decade of the 21st century.

   There is a ton I could write about this book and contemporary subcontinental fiction that "crosses over" to achieve an impact in the United States, where the native interest in stories FROM south asia (vs. stories written by the American descendants of immigrants who are writing about their experience in America) is roughly zero.    The bottom line is that Kapoor has done something very impressive here as a writer who is actually FROM India:  She has written a book with characters and a plot which appeals to American readers of literary and commercial fiction.  BRAVO.

  I waited to get the Audiobook from the library because of the sprawling, polyphonic nature of the plot which starts out written from the perspective of Aja, a low caste/dalit from Utter Pradesh who is sold into slavery by her mother after his father is murdered by some local goons for a minor property crime (letting his goat graze the fields of a higher caste neighbor).

   Aja is working in a Himalayan mountain cafe when he gloms onto Sonny, who is the scion of a Godfather-esque figure operating out of Delhi with roots in the wilds of Uttar Pradesh which has a population north of 200 million in addition to the metro area of Delhi.  In a certain, very Hindu centric sense Uttar Pradesh IS India proper, but at the same time Delhi has a very cosmopolitan air thanks to the permissive Muslim rulers, the Mughal Emperors, who controlled the Indian heartland before the arrival of the British.  

    The length of Age of Vice works against it's impact and overall merit as a work of literature, but it also probably plays a large part in why FX optioned it for a limited television series- 500 pages- several distinct voices, Age of Vice works better as prestige television adaptation then it does as a work of serious literary fiction.  However, as a work of commercial fiction, it is an absolute 100% banger.  Hit city baby.