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Londonstani

door Gautam Malkani

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'Londonstani', Gautam Malkani's electrifying debut, reveals a Britain that has never before been explored in the novel: a country of young Asians and white boys (desis and goras) trying to work out a place for themselves in the shadow of the divergent cultures of their parents' generation. Set close to the Heathrow feed roads of Hounslow, Malkani shows us the lives of a gang of four young men: Hardjit the ring leader, a Sikh, violent, determined his caste stay pure; Ravi, determinedly tactless, a sheep following the herd; Amit, whose brother Arun is struggling to win the approval of his mother for the Hindu girl he has chosen to marry; and Jas who tells us of his journey with these three, desperate to win their approval, desperate too for Samira, a Muslim girl, which in this story can only have bad consequences. Together they cruise the streets in Amit's enhanced Beemer, making a little money changing the electronic fingerprints on stolen mobile phones, a scam that leads them into more dangerous waters. Funny, crude, disturbing, written in the vibrant language of its protagonists - a mix of slang, Bollywood, texting, Hindu and bastardised gangsta rap - 'Londonstani' is about many things: tribalism, aggressive masculinity, integration, cross-cultural chirpsing techniques, the urban scene seeping into the mainstream, bling bling economics, 'complicated family-related shit'. It is one of the most surprising British novels of recent years.… (meer)

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It's an interesting look at thuggish second and third generation South Asian teens in the suburbs of London. The author's going for a Clockwork Orange feel, the boys speak a mix of English, Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu, you'll need that glossary at the back of the book.

The author's laughing at them all along, and he sets up a cultural scene in which the boys rebel against the multiculturalism and "tolerance" of their parents by being atavistically fundamentalist and protective of old community dividing lines.

Anyway, I enjoyed it. (

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RekhainBC | Feb 15, 2019 |

Set among the ‘rudeboys’ of London’s Asian community, this might look like a tough read – it’s written entirely in phonetic gangster-speak (notably the word ‘of’ is rendered as ‘a’ throughout) and there are some long, dense paragraphs to negotiate. It’s worth it though. The colloquial style reminded me of two of my favourite books, ‘Trainspotting’ and ‘Vernon God Little’. It immerses the reader in the sights and sounds of the characters’ pseudo-gangland world. It felt like putting on a pair of spectacles and seeing directly through the eyes of the narrator, Jas, and yet skilful writing ensured there were gaps around the edges of the lenses through which it was possible to glimpse his life before he got involved with his new, tough-guy mates.

I loved the humour – lots of acute observations, in-depth discussions on such matters as what constitutes a ‘ho’ as well as shedloads of ‘Complicated Family-Related Shit’. But it has its serious side as well, and I will remember it as a book that likes to spring surprises, ultimately challenging the reader’s assumptions. A great read, or as the rudeboys might have it: ‘Safe piece a writin, innit’. (

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jayne_charles | Apr 17, 2012 |

An interesting look into London's dark side, sort of on the lines of Martin Amis. But I did not like the ending of the novel. I thought the ending was contrived - the descent into big city mafia type shenanigans was too much to believe, and I didn;t know what to make of the final confession. It is a good piece of writing, but one must question how authentic the portrayal of the rudeboy really is coming from a clean-cut, well-to-do London professional such as Malkani, who is allegedly the epitome of everything he mocks in the novel. (

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milti | Dec 14, 2011 |

http://happyantipodean.blogspot.com/2010/11/review-londonstani-gautam-malkani-20...

Antipodean | Nov 3, 2010 |

Revise your Hinglish before diving into the everyday life of a "rudeboy" member of a small-time asian gang in west London. Jas, the nerd-turned-tough guy, is desperate to be accepted by the other members of the gang even if it means renouncing a less violent and culturally different nature. Misfits never lasts of course, and as the gang rises and falls we experience how integration backfires for these second-generation immigrants, sticking to values both more modern and ironically more conservative than their parents, detesting everyone who might even look like a "coconut": a person brown in the outside but white in the inside...
Once the novelty of the language has sunk in, however, this story lacks a bit in depth and even the quite unexpected twist at the end fails to hide the fact that there is hardly any end to speak of... But said twist clearly makes what's "special" about Londonstani and I rather like the fact that it's hidden so far at the end. (

)

timtom | May 30, 2010 |

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As a point of distinction, Malkani, a Financial Times writer, can’t help but to occasionally wax economic, provocatively suggesting that the materialism and misogyny of hip-hop culture that these sons embrace may very well be of a stripe indistinct from that of their status-obsessed, dowry-doting parents. The globalization of gangsta as appropriated by the mainstream: I mean, greed’s good, innit?

toegevoegd door paradoxosalpha | bewerkThe Believer, Pete L'Official (Aug 1, 2006)

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Londonstani

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Hounslow, London, England, UK

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For my wife Monica and in memory of Mum.

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Serve him right he got his muthafuckin face fuck'd, shudn't b callin me a Paki, innit.

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Londonstani

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'Londonstani', Gautam Malkani's electrifying debut, reveals a Britain that has never before been explored in the novel: a country of young Asians and white boys (desis and goras) trying to work out a place for themselves in the shadow of the divergent cultures of their parents' generation. Set close to the Heathrow feed roads of Hounslow, Malkani shows us the lives of a gang of four young men: Hardjit the ring leader, a Sikh, violent, determined his caste stay pure; Ravi, determinedly tactless, a sheep following the herd; Amit, whose brother Arun is struggling to win the approval of his mother for the Hindu girl he has chosen to marry; and Jas who tells us of his journey with these three, desperate to win their approval, desperate too for Samira, a Muslim girl, which in this story can only have bad consequences. Together they cruise the streets in Amit's enhanced Beemer, making a little money changing the electronic fingerprints on stolen mobile phones, a scam that leads them into more dangerous waters. Funny, crude, disturbing, written in the vibrant language of its protagonists - a mix of slang, Bollywood, texting, Hindu and bastardised gangsta rap - 'Londonstani' is about many things: tribalism, aggressive masculinity, integration, cross-cultural chirpsing techniques, the urban scene seeping into the mainstream, bling bling economics, 'complicated family-related shit'. It is one of the most surprising British novels of recent years.

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