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Age of Vice: A GMA Book Club Pick (A Novel)
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Original price was: $20.00.$10.99Current price is: $10.99.
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AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK
Named a Best Book of the Year by Publishers Weekly, Oprah Daily and NPR!
“Dazzling…Finally free from the book’s grip, now all I want to do is get others hooked.”— The Washington Post
“A page-turning social novel…It stirs the pulse while digging into the entrenched and evolving structures and contradictions of modern India.” —NPR
“Cinematic…As a storyteller, Kapoor is a natural.”—The New York Times
New Delhi, 3 a.m. A speeding Mercedes jumps the curb and in the blink of an eye, five people are dead. It’s a rich man’s car, but when the dust settles there is no rich man at all, just a shell-shocked servant who cannot explain the strange series of events that led to this crime. Nor can he foresee the dark drama that is about to unfold.
Deftly shifting through time and perspective in contemporary India, Age of Vice is an epic, action-packed story propelled by the seductive wealth, startling corruption, and bloodthirsty violence of the Wadia family — loved by some, loathed by others, feared by all.
In the shadow of lavish estates, extravagant parties, predatory business deals and calculated political influence, three lives become dangerously intertwined: Ajay is the watchful servant, born into poverty, who rises through the family’s ranks. Sunny is the playboy heir who dreams of outshining his father, whatever the cost. And Neda is the curious journalist caught between morality and desire. Against a sweeping plot fueled by loss, pleasure, greed, yearning, violence and revenge, will these characters’ connections become a path to escape, or a trigger of further destruction?
Equal parts crime thriller and family saga, transporting readers from the dusty villages of Uttar Pradesh to the urban energy of New Delhi, Age of Vice is an intoxicating novel of gangsters and lovers, false friendships, forbidden romance, and the consequences of corruption.It is binge-worthy entertainment at its literary best.
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Categories: Best Books of 2024 So Far
Product name:
Age of Vice: A GMA Book Club Pick (A Novel)
Price:
Original price was: $20.00.$10.99Current price is: $10.99.
Corinne04 –
I’m speechless, really. Such a depiction of human despair, you’ll do well to read a light hearted novel afterwards. The inevitability of fate. Stunning.
Charles B. –
The story has a very exciting sprawl. It explodes and expands like a chemical reaction, yet, at the end, when it condenses to a single point, a single moment, a single step toward freedom, it does not quite feel convincing or rewarding.
This is many books in one—blending elements of the French film A Prophet with Fifty Shades of Grey and One-thousand-and-one Arabian Nights. I’ve not read much Dickens, but perhaps one of his rags to riches novels also informs this story. The text portrays extreme wealth well-enough, and in places the sentences and story are crisp and thrilling.
However, my connection with the characters was undone by too many POV shifts. As I read the middle section of the story, I just wanted to get back to the original protagonist, Ajay. However, by the time he returns to the action, he’s been gone for so long, and there are so few pages left, that character has lost all of his charisma and ninety-seven percent of his agency. Two other elements undermined my trust in the story—oftentimes glamour was substituted for moral conviction, and many times, many different characters imbibed drugs or alcohol instead of having an emotion.
Sunny, the character at the center of all the action, reads like a mash-up Al Pacino’s two most iconic characters—yet he lacks the ferocity of both Michael Corleone and Scarface—for all Sunny’s cruelty, wealth, glamour, and suffering he never evolves into more than the joker that a bit player in the story defines him as early on.
Although I believe this book missed its target, I enjoyed reading it, because I think it was aiming at an exciting and noble target, and in doing so, it deepened my understanding of the target.
DomeniqueCY –
This book took me a very long time to read, and not because it was very long, but because there was a lot of visceral moments and a lot of characters such that I could only read sections at a time, and then I had to process them. It is very violent, and I got through it because it does add to the story and depth, but some people might not like it.
What I really found interesting though is the structure of each of these vignettes…this is indeed a cinematic novel, each sequence described and rolled out like scene in a movie. In that matter, this book did remind me of “My Year Abroad” with those simmering sunsets and floating smoke moments, but the plot here is just so much more interesting (not to say I didn’t like “My Year Abroad” but as movies go that one was more of a slow burn, and this one was very punchy).
People are saying this is the Indian version of the godfather, which I think limits the reading of it. I think they are saying this because of the crime family and the amount of cigarettes/cocaine/guns. I think beyond that it is an ultraviolet version of an actual reality, obviously hyped for consumption, but just below the surface, just in the ripples even, this probably has a degree of reflective accuracy. Although as I say this, I hope this doesn’t make people fetishize the systematic issues and habits of modern India. It would be similar to the fetishization of Raj Colonialism…
Anyhow 5/5
Neckbone Designs –
I read this book, lots of twist and turns, it’s a great summer read.
Steveg11Sings –
I love this book. I am very fussy about any book that I read and rarely find one that keeps me interested from beginning to end. I love historical fiction which I guess this book could be called. Also a great way to learn about the culture of India. Highly recommended.
W. Stephens –
Read this from start to finish in a couple of days. Could not put it down.
Great characters and evokes really well modern India, the disparity in social and economic levels, the brutality and corruption under the service.
The ending was just a little bit too rushed, but not enough to detract from a 5-star rating.
Cliente Amazon –
Bellissimo libro, divorato in pochissimi giorni. Tanti colpi di scena. Usa parecchio il flash back inavvertitamente per cui necessita concentrazione. Una pagina tira l’altra.
Da leggere in inglese per toccare con mano la profondità e il peso delle parole come concepite dalla scrittrice. Super consigliato
Carrie –
I love a deep dive historical fiction. And what’s even better is that this isn’t ancient history. I feel the characters, I see them like a show. Throughout the days that I took this book in I would literally forget I was reading a book and think about the scenes playing out in my head as a Netflix series. I would think about the detailed writing while I was at work, wondering what would happen next. And then to my greatest surprise, the book kept going with a twist to the plot I could never expect and I ate it up even faster! I haven’t read this great of a book, ever? I heard an interview with the author on NPR and I bought it that night. So glad I did! I believe Kapoor said in the interview that she is already being talked to about making the book into a series or a movie-easy to see why, all the hard work is already done! Excellent, 5 star read.
Reader –
The first half of this book is superb. It follows the adventures of Ajay, a poverty-stricken Indian child sold into slavery after letting a goat eat a neighbor’s crop. Ajay’s trajectory–from slavery to working for the charismatic and idealistic son of a powerful Delhi family–is beautifully written and heartbreaking. I would have been happy to have followed that character for the entire book.
Unfortunately, the second half of the book moves from POV to POV, using at least five different characters, which gave the storyline a somewhat confusing and chaotic feeling. I found it hard to feel sympathy for some of the characters and was confused at times about who was who (I had to look back to remind myself). The ending was abrupt and not entirely satisfying.
That being said, The Age of Vice is still worth reading. Deepti Kapoor has a unique and engaging voice.
Deborah Fowler –
About the powerful and corrupt in India counterposed against the powerless and poverty stricken. A good read with a twist.
Angelo Giacalone –
WOW. THIS BOOK WAS TRULY A GREAT READ. IT PRESENTED A PICTURE OF INDIA I WAS NOT TOTALLY FAMILIAR WITH, THE VERY DARK CORRUPT SIDE. I JUST HOPE IN REALITY IT IS NOT LIKE THIS.
NOT ONLY IS THE STORY AND PLOT INTRIGUING BUT FAST PACED. THE CHARACTERS ARE VERY REALISTIC AND AT TIMES ONE CAN FEEL EMPATHY FOR THEM, WHILE AT OTHER TIMES THEIR BRUTALITY IS REPREHENSIBLE. ONE COULD WIRITE A LENGTHY REVIEW, BUT I WILL SPARE YOUY AND JUST SAY READ THIS BOOK. IT ISONE THAT STAYS IN YOUR MIND AND AT THE END YOU WONDER WHAT A FOLLOW UP TO IT WOIULD BE LIKE.