They both hope to win the British to their point of view and they plan to do it by catching Major Privett-Clampe literally with his pants down and Pran Nath on his knees. But as we all know that British Imperialism symbolised converting their colonies into civilised little English schoolboys and then ruling them. And soon the Major decides to teach Pran what it is to be English. But his fate gets him involved into a weird cocktail of politics, sex, laxatives and a shikar expedition sets our little boy on the road to Amritsar and then to Bombay. He is forced to start his life anew, and begins creating new identities for himself as and when it is deemed fit for him in the same way one would change his wardrobe. In other words, every step and every change leads him a step closer to what he thinks he wants to be. He is called Pran Nath at birth, becomes Jonathan Bridgeman and ends the book with no name, and then the author christens him as The Impressionist 

Pran finds a new home; he is adopted by a Scottish Missionary and is given a new name, Robert. Robert can find you the best brothel, the right bar, and is the prince of Falkland market. He learns the right mannerisms, the right accents and starts pretending to be one of them. And then one day he gets a chance to become one of them. Fate brings him face to face with Bridgeman. Bridgeman is off to London to collect his inheritance and Robert is his guide to his last night of fun in Bombay. Unfortunately both of them get caught in a riot where Bridgeman gets killed and Robert who has learnt to turn tragedy in to an opportunity dons the garb of Bridgeman. And from here begins his journey through school, Cambridge, love and heartbreak, anthropology…spectacularly ending in the heart of Africa. The story keeps the reader in its grips and he urges to know what will happen next. In spite of the fact that Kunzru gives his central character a magical-realist boom of a conception, the amazing blend, some times is a little cold as though the emotional impact is not there; the character seems unreal in the sense that nothing seems to touch him as if he were a robot. 

Each character is defined by his or her madness. And yet there is an undeniable humanity about them. Amar Nath Razdan, cautious nationalist, conservative Hindu, is devoted to the prevention of pollution both physical and spiritual. Major Privett-Clampe caught in a sexless marriage, trapped in a land that he does not really understand and finally defeated by his passion for little boys.Firoz, the Nawab’s younger brother who embodies modernity by installing a private cinema and who several times a week shepherds Brazilain gamblers, American actresses, racing drivers into a darkened room to watch Mack Sennet comedies. Pran Nath’s (or Robert or Jonathan Bridgeman whatever you would want him to be referred as) passion in England is a butterfly that hops from one exotic flower to the next. Finally, Professor Chapel, authority on Fotseland and the Fo, an imaginary African tribe whose complex society is based on barter. 

This is the story of The Impressionist. This is the piece that travels through three continents and innumerable lives. This is the song about forced exile and the need to belong. This is the heir to the legacy of Rushdie where history and fantasy intermingle so freely that one wants the tale so fantastic to be true. This is a novel of not only what we are but also of what we become, of the different identities that we don in multicultural societies. This is something so weird and funny that one can only believe if one reads it and that’s what entertainment is. And it is no surprise that Hari Kunzru’s debut novel manages to be so many things at the same time. The Impressionist is no effort at the Nobel Prize. It’s a literary trip; it’s a hallucinogenic journey through lives, times and places. When you start the book there might be an initial disappointment, because you want to be in the presence of a great book, you want to believe that have just finished the next Passage to India. But once you leave these pretensions and just sit, read to laugh, to shake your head in utter disbelief, to turn back to the page you just read because you really can’t believe the author said that then The Impressionist is for you.
  
Review: Nilanjana Kar
Design: Suparna Sengupta