Belper Book Chat discover Hari Kunzru's The Impressionist

About us
Belper Book Chat first began as a result of a Millennium initiative by Derbyshire Libraries. A poster appeared on the library wall inviting interested readers to a meeting at the Queen's Head (yes, we do meet in a pub). About twenty of us turned up that night and met in the upstairs room that has since become our regular meeting place. We had nothing at all in common except that we all loved to read, and were willing to read books that we wouldn't normally read, in order to be able to talk about them with others. That was very necessary because Priscilla Baily, Derbyshire Libraries' Reader in Residence, had chosen our first book (Ladder of Years by Anne Tyler) for us before we even met. Priscilla had already done all the hard work; we had both books, and a place to meet. Over the past two years The Queen's Head, on Chesterfield Road, Belper, has continued to support the group by letting us use their room and never charging us a penny. Books are chosen from a long list published by Priscilla and the county librarians. All we had to do was pick the books and read them. Bookie Heaven!

Of course it wasn't all that simple. We've had our ups and downs. Numbers shrank from that optimistic start, especially when evening classes started. We soon discovered that dedicated readers are also likely to attend other evening classes. But we've kept a solid core of about seven and gradually over time our numbers have built back up, so that at present we have about twenty members and can rely on at least ten to turn out even in the wildest Derbyshire weather. Shortly we may even have to consider a waiting list to join or setting up a second group.

Derbyshire Libraries' staff have been very supportive, always available for help and advice; organising extra events, like a very successful Booker evening when members of various Book Chat groups gathered together at a local library to attempt to second guess the Booker judges. The constant hard work of Ruth Sharpe at Belper library has also been vital to the group, and is much appreciated. She spends many hours every month making sure we have the books we need at the correct time.We publish our programme several months in advance through the library.

If you happen to be visiting Derbyshire on the third Tuesday of the month and can make your way to the Queen's Head, Chesterfield Road, Belper, at half past seven, new readers are always very welcome; we'd be very pleased to see you.

Books that have sparked great discussion for us include:

The Sparrow - Mary Doria Russell

The World's Wife - Carol Ann Duffy

The Reader - Bernhard Schlink

The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver

Enduring Love - Ian McEwan

We were thrilled to be invited to read The Impressionist. It was a book that was being much trumpeted and was one that many of us would have read in any case. It has been a fascinating experience. Usually the Book Chat scheme provides a question sheet for each title on its list. So for the first time we were on our own, with a book so new that there were not even any reviews to draw upon. I, at least, was completely aware that this was a magnificent opportunity to miss the point completely and fall flat on our faces.

Instead we had a fantastic time. This is a wonderful book for discussion groups.
It centres around the story of a young man called Pran Nath, which is where we started talking about the book.

Pran is the result of an almost magical union between a stoned Indian bride and a solitary English wanderer, who are caught in a cave during a torrential monsoon flood. Pran is brought up as the spoilt son of a rich Indian family until the true story of his birth is revealed and he is catapulted out on to the street to fend for himself, with only his looks to recommend him.

Straight away we were into controversy. Some of us felt that Pran was little more than a literary device, a mirror that reflected the stories of a series of particularly well drawn minor characters such as Major Privett-Clampe and Elspeth Macfarlane. It didn't matter whether Pran was believable or not, he was a vessel for ideas. Others felt strongly that Pran's personality grew throughout the novel. He was a person engaged in an eternal search for self. We watch his earlier identities trying hard to reflect what he sees in other people, but by the end he has stopped trying to become someone else. He has come full circle and they noted his resemblance to the father he had never known.

Pran's story is told in a series of episodes that are almost short stories in their own right.
We looked at each of these. We all liked the beginning, especially the episode in the cave with its sexual imagery of the flood. We felt the 1920s colonial life at the Maharajah's court was particularly dramatic, a satire of corruption where no one escapes the author's ridicule. This is perhaps the funniest part of the novel but it's also the time when Pran faces some of his greatest danger.

The novel changes place and pace when it moves to the back streets of Bombay and Pran lives a double life in the care of an English missionary couple who have gone their separate ways. We enjoyed the stories of both Mr and Mrs McFarlane and gradually understood why the wall down the middle of their compound is more than just a physical barrier that only Pran will cross. The snapshot of Victorian middle class life we are treated to is educational as well as entertaining. Elspeth is experimenting with spiritualism and her husband has retreated into ideology and pseudo-science. The irony when he measures Pran's head is quite delicious. This section sees many of the characters transforming themselves in order to survive. It's not just Pran who is an Impressionist.

It would be giving too much away to tell how Pran achieves his next transformation and ends up at an English university, carefully learning how to become an English gentleman. Once again the picture of the society in which Pran finds himself is incredibly well drawn. But, by now he is looking back. We loved the way his father has a mention in this section. It's very well done, almost a footnote not overstated. Pran is reflecting upon his past, and we began to note and discuss the sense of loss about his past and his previous identities, shown by his need to confess his real character several times. This culminates when he is rejected by the love of his life for being boring and ordinary.

For some of us, the African episode was the most difficult, but others felt that once again Kunzru had captured the spirit of the times, when the world was not so well known and there was still a sense of wonder at finding new peoples. Irony reaches its darkest proportions as the acceptance of being English and belonging in English society that Pran has so yearned to achieve now becomes not only undesirable but also a sickness to be cast out. The moral of this novel may well be, take care what you wish for; you might get it.

Which brings us nicely to the ending. We spent some considerable time trying to decide whether it was optimistic, pessimistic or a cop out. Some of us saw him riding off into the sunset, with his life opening out before him, whilst others felt that he was just on his way to another episode in a pointless existence.

We all found many parts of the book very funny, especially the section based in the Maharajah's palace, but we disagreed about whether the book had set out to entertain and satirise or to seriously engage with issues of belonging, identity and race. We spent sometime discussing these themes as they appear in the book, but felt that this was not one of the novel's strengths. We did not find a clear view from Kunzru: It was almost as if the author was using the novel as a means of exploring ideas that he was still developing himself.

This is an ambitious first novel, set on a huge canvas with a varied cast of characters. It was a very informative book that laid before us a melting pot of ideas which many of us had been driven to explore further.

Some quotes from members of the group:

'I'd definitely read his second novel, I can't wait'
'Too clever and the ending dwindled away'
'Inspired use of language'
'Hugely entertaining'

We loved the cover. Members noted wryly that the picture on the front cover is headless. Like Pran himself, it is a figure of mystery. Ironically the picture is not the work of the impressionist school.

We noted that at times the book seems to consciously imitate other writers' styles so we considered which books we'd read that this one brought to mind.

Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
Handful of Dust - Evelyn Waugh
Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver
Half a Life - V. S. Naipaul
Bhowani Junction - John Masters

What makes a good discussion book? Clearly it's not just a great story since two of our most successful books have been collections of poetry. In our experience there must be two conditions: There has to be enough to talk about, and there has to be disagreement. A book discussion group is not a fan club and talk soon runs dry if all everyone has to say is: 'Ooh it was good - I did enjoy that.' Our most enjoyable evenings have been when the group has been split about a book. The reason that The Impressionist is such a suitable choice for book groups is not just that it is a good book, though it is, but because everyone at our meeting had seen something different in it.

We would definitely recommend the book to other groups. We are all looking forward to his next novel.

Beth Harding - Belper Book Chat