Last Man in Tower, Aravind Adiga
Fast Facts
- Adiga won the Man Booker in 2008 for The White Tiger
- If he wins again for Last Man in Tower, I'll eat my hat
- 480 pages
- Author currently lives in Mumbai, which I can barely imagine visiting after this book
- Depressing without a trace of redemption - just say no!
Have you ever hated a book entirely because of its ending?
If not, then please - read Last Man in Tower. It will give you the unenviable feeling that the admittedly somewhat-enjoyable hours you spent getting to the end were really just an exercise in masochism. It may also destroy your sense that there is good at the core of every human being. Truly, the end of this book is so terrible that I regretted picking it up in the first place, despite Adiga's talent for storytelling and character development.
This Lord of the Flies (Indian adult version) doesn't have enough in it to redeem how depressing it became. No phoenix rising out of the ashes. Just a feeling that you got smacked around a little at first, only to get punched in the gut as your reward.
Plot Summary
Masterji, a recently-widowed retired physics teacher in his 60's, lives in the Vishram Society, which refers to the occupants of two crumbling apartment towers in Mumbai. The towers have stood for years, and the residents seem to be solidly middle class. They're certainly not wealthy, but they live comfortably, and many of them have maids. The population is decidedly older, and though the group is somewhat gossipy, it is clear that their years of living in close proximity have established significant bonds between them.
Pure Evil rears its ugly head, though, when corrupt Dharmen Shah and his left-hand man, Shanmugham, enter the Society offering nearly twice the value of each apartment to the Society members. Shah is a sleazy builder with a rebellious son, a "kept woman" named Rosie who has essentially been blackmailed into staying in his company, and a terrible cough that seems a harbinger of doom. Shah has astrologically-approved plans to raze the Society and build luxury condos, given that this section of Mumbai is fast-changing due to an influx of finance companies. The catch is that every Society member must give his approval for anyone to receive the easy cash.
Nearly everyone is in favor of the offer, and people start to spend the money not yet in their pockets on expensive trinkets and status symbols. The opposition to the deal includes teacher Masterji's best friends, the Pintos, an older couple - Mrs. Pinto is blind and can't imagine moving from the Society she knows by feel. Mr. Pinto and Masterji have a little book in which they keep account of all the money they owe one another for small items, so that finances never tear their friendship apart. How very ironic. Because of their opposition, Masterji also opposes the deal, along with a social worker.
Social pressures and the promise of a "sweetener" of additional money from Shah eventually break down the Pintos and the social worker, who is bitter because her husband left her and stole her dowry.
Masterji, a recently-widowed retired physics teacher in his 60's, lives in the Vishram Society, which refers to the occupants of two crumbling apartment towers in Mumbai. The towers have stood for years, and the residents seem to be solidly middle class. They're certainly not wealthy, but they live comfortably, and many of them have maids. The population is decidedly older, and though the group is somewhat gossipy, it is clear that their years of living in close proximity have established significant bonds between them.
Pure Evil rears its ugly head, though, when corrupt Dharmen Shah and his left-hand man, Shanmugham, enter the Society offering nearly twice the value of each apartment to the Society members. Shah is a sleazy builder with a rebellious son, a "kept woman" named Rosie who has essentially been blackmailed into staying in his company, and a terrible cough that seems a harbinger of doom. Shah has astrologically-approved plans to raze the Society and build luxury condos, given that this section of Mumbai is fast-changing due to an influx of finance companies. The catch is that every Society member must give his approval for anyone to receive the easy cash.
Nearly everyone is in favor of the offer, and people start to spend the money not yet in their pockets on expensive trinkets and status symbols. The opposition to the deal includes teacher Masterji's best friends, the Pintos, an older couple - Mrs. Pinto is blind and can't imagine moving from the Society she knows by feel. Mr. Pinto and Masterji have a little book in which they keep account of all the money they owe one another for small items, so that finances never tear their friendship apart. How very ironic. Because of their opposition, Masterji also opposes the deal, along with a social worker.
Social pressures and the promise of a "sweetener" of additional money from Shah eventually break down the Pintos and the social worker, who is bitter because her husband left her and stole her dowry.
Among the social pressures: Mrs. Puri, a ringleader in the Society who has an 18-year-old son named Ramu, who has Down's Syndrome and struggles with basic functions. Mrs. Puri is an object of sympathy at first, given the difficulty of her role as caregiver and her desire to find a nurse for Ramu, and a more comfortable place to live. Mrs. Puri, Ramu, and Masterji have a nice relationship at the outset - Ramu loves the old teacher, and he shows great kindness to them both.
Masterji holds out in the real estate deal because he knows that the Pintos truly don't want to leave. He also feels attached to his home - this is where his beloved wife lived and died, where his daughter grew up before being thrown off a commuter train and left to die on the tracks, where he raised his money-grubbing son (who is fast-friends with Mrs. Puri.) He has taught the children of the Society science lessons after school, and this is his community. His hope is that the offer from Shah will expire, and life will go back to normal. To this end, he visits a lawyer for protection, but the lawyer's true motivations lie in reaching an even sweeter settlement with the builder.
So what happens?
Spoiler Ending: Why I Hated It
Mrs. Puri and her conformist, spineless neighbors enlist neighborhood thugs to break into Masterji's apartment in the night and beat him until, afraid for his wellbeing, he agrees to take the money and leave the Society. While this beating occurs, the neighbors - including the Pintos! - put cotton in their ears to dull the screams. Masterji fights back and, incredibly given his age, scares the teenage thugs away.
When this doesn't work, Puri and her compatriots wait a few days, provide more cotton balls for the neighbors' ears, and then she and her associates beat Masterji brutally and drag his wounded body to a railing by the courtyard. They then throw his body over the railing, and he dies.
Is that enough to destroy your faith in mankind? No? What about the postscript to this lovely tale, wherein Masterji's son is thrilled to inherit Shah's money; everyone moves into an only-slightly nicer apartment; and the social worker and neighborhood children sing a song by the banyan tree about how wonderful Masterji was?
Yep, that's how it ends. With a song about Great Masterji, written by his murderers and their co-conspirators.
Vomit.
Well-written isn't enough. Interesting characters aren't enough. Scenes of Mumbai that make you feel like you're there? Not enough. Certainly not enough to redeem this story that has nothing but misery, greed, death, and finally, the self-righteous rewriting of history to make these horrible neighbors seem less horrible than they really were.
Final Word
Second novel slump? The White Tiger author should have pulled some of the murder-mystery of his first exciting, fascinating novel and infused Last Man in Tower. After this throttling, though, it'll be hard to bring this initially-hopeful reader back.
Final Word
Second novel slump? The White Tiger author should have pulled some of the murder-mystery of his first exciting, fascinating novel and infused Last Man in Tower. After this throttling, though, it'll be hard to bring this initially-hopeful reader back.
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