I read this new Theroux over the last couple of weeks. I've been a fan ever since The Mosquito Coast was made as a movie. I thought the film was fantastic and I knew the book would be good. It sure was.
Theroux is a strange one. There's no telling what kind of novel he'll write next. A Dead Hand is a mystery of sorts. But nothing about Theroux's fiction is typical in any way, shape, or form.
A travel writer is idling time in Calcutta when he receives a bizarre note. It's from a woman who says she admires his work. She says that a young Indian boy is in trouble and needs help. He woke up in a cheap hotel to find a dead boy in his room. Terrified, he flees the room. The woman, who is a noted philanthropist, wants the writer to help solve the puzzle.
Many of Theroux's novels deal with obsession and A Dead Hand is no exception. The writer becomes involved with the woman, who is beautiful and enigmatic. She introduces him to Tantric sex and strange Indian rituals and the case of the dead boy is nearly forgotten. The subtitle of A Dead Hand is A Crime in Calcutta. A crime is indeed committed, but what is it? A murdered boy? Or something stranger?
Paul Theroux's books are almost always disturbing. Horror writers could learn a trick or two from him. And no one paints such intimate detail in fiction quite like he does. You can practically see, feel, smell the exotic places his fiction takes the reader to. He not only describes how people live in foreign countries, but how travelers from other areas behave when they are abroad.
In an amusing chapter of A Dead Hand, Theroux introduces himself as a minor character. One in which the protagonist does not particularly like or trust.
I'm not sure I'd recommend A Dead Hand to the Paul Theroux uninitiated. It's a dense novel without a lot of action. Most of it takes place in the writers own mind. If it had been the first book I had started by him, I might have put it down. But I know that Theroux always delivers a startling, rewarding experience with his novels. A Dead Hand is one of his best. Despite what most of the critics are saying.
Theroux is a strange one. There's no telling what kind of novel he'll write next. A Dead Hand is a mystery of sorts. But nothing about Theroux's fiction is typical in any way, shape, or form.
A travel writer is idling time in Calcutta when he receives a bizarre note. It's from a woman who says she admires his work. She says that a young Indian boy is in trouble and needs help. He woke up in a cheap hotel to find a dead boy in his room. Terrified, he flees the room. The woman, who is a noted philanthropist, wants the writer to help solve the puzzle. Many of Theroux's novels deal with obsession and A Dead Hand is no exception. The writer becomes involved with the woman, who is beautiful and enigmatic. She introduces him to Tantric sex and strange Indian rituals and the case of the dead boy is nearly forgotten. The subtitle of A Dead Hand is A Crime in Calcutta. A crime is indeed committed, but what is it? A murdered boy? Or something stranger?
Paul Theroux's books are almost always disturbing. Horror writers could learn a trick or two from him. And no one paints such intimate detail in fiction quite like he does. You can practically see, feel, smell the exotic places his fiction takes the reader to. He not only describes how people live in foreign countries, but how travelers from other areas behave when they are abroad.
In an amusing chapter of A Dead Hand, Theroux introduces himself as a minor character. One in which the protagonist does not particularly like or trust.
I'm not sure I'd recommend A Dead Hand to the Paul Theroux uninitiated. It's a dense novel without a lot of action. Most of it takes place in the writers own mind. If it had been the first book I had started by him, I might have put it down. But I know that Theroux always delivers a startling, rewarding experience with his novels. A Dead Hand is one of his best. Despite what most of the critics are saying.
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