The In-Between World of Vikram Lall

Dette er en av de fem viktigste bøkene jeg har lest, viktig for meg vel og merke. Hovedpersonen, kenyanske Vikram Lall er tenåring i Kenya omtrent da jeg var tenåring i Kenya, og sjelden har jeg kjent meg selv igjen i en person som er så ulik som meg som det jeg gjør med Vikram. Vikram vokser opp i Nakuru, en by i Riftdalen, flytter til Nairobi, og må dra i eksil til Canada og ser tilbake på årene i Nairobi og Nakuru, og spesielt årene i Nairobi er å vandre i livet til trettenårige meg. Jeg får samme assosiasjoner som jeg får til en like fabelaktig bok, En fremmed ved mitt bord, som handler blant annet om Ivos fars år i Nairobi. Den samme alderen, ulik bakgrunn men akkurat de samme vibbene. Viktig.

The title of this novel works well. Vikram Lall was ‘in between' in all aspects of his life. In between cultures (of Indian heritage in Kenya - neither black nor white); in between relationships - the buffer between his forward thinking sister, who falls in love with a black man, and his mother, stuck in her traditional thinking; as a middle man - in between the American financiers laundering the money they are providing to corrupt politicians to prevent Kenya following Tanzania into communism; and also between his parents - his mother holding her ties with India, his father loyal to the British Empire.

The opening paragraph of the book reads: “My name is Vikram Lall. I have the distinction of having been numbered one of Africa's most corrupt men, a cheat of monstrous and reptilian cunning. To me has been attributed the emptying of a large part of my troubled country's treasury in recent years. I head my country's List of Shame...”

From his self imposed exile in Canada, Lall tells of his life story. His childhood as a third generation Kenyan, from a grandfather who came to work building the railway, and settled. His father, running a provision store in Nakuru, a town in the Rift Valley; his childhood friends Njoroge, Bill and Annie; and sister Deepa. In parallel, his tells the story of his exile, his current relationships - with sister Deepa, with Seema, and with Joseph, the son of his childhood friend Njoroge.

The story is set in post WWII Kenya, as the country is poised between British colonialism and independence. The indigenous Kikuyu, rebelling under the guise of the Mau Mau, with Jomo Kenyatta a figurehead in the revolt. The violence against the British, the rise of Kenya as an independent country, and the immediate fall into corruption, dishonesty and the ruthlessness of politics.

The setting, the main political and cultural characters and themes come across as genuine and well researched. The individual fictional tragedies and sadnesses woven through the factual settings are plausible and plot and characters are developed well in an enjoyable read.

The book covers a lot of ground, over a fifty year timespan from Vikram's childhood to the end of his story in what I guess is the 90s. A good read, 3.5 stars for me, rounded up in this case, because I enjoyed how well the true events were woven in.