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Transmission by Hari Kunzru
In his second novel TRANSMISSION, HARI KUNZRU satirizes the Indian movie business, the globalization of the information technology industry, outsourcing, the PR/advertising industry, venture capitalists, London and California, while taking potshots at several leading corporations, the Scottish tourism industry, domineering showbiz mothers and much else besides.
Arjun Mehta is lured from his home in India to indentured servitude (more generously known as `bodyshopping') in the dark underbelly of the American software business. After being terminated by a Dilbert-esque manager of a company making virus-protection software, Arjun unleashes his own virus in the form of an animated tribute to Bollywood actress Leela Zahir, which, rather than getting his job back, brings much of the world to a standstill.
Meanwhile, London golden boy Guy Swift is crashing and burning along with his oh-so-hip marketing business, Tomorrow* [sic], which is "not so much an agency as an experiment in life", while Leela's acting is suffering from the notoriety of being the subject of the virus.
TRANSMISSION is funny and rips along, and Arjun as almost perfect as a geek Everyman. However, social commentary, the satire, while biting, is not as incisive as one might wish, perhaps because it plays off (what were) current headlines. The excess of feckless marketing airheads like Guy is to some extent yesterday's story, and rather pales against market manipulation and corporate embezzlement. Bollywood hardly needs satirizing; and the California strip mall culture is too easy a target.
Nevertheless, Kunzru has picked types which can be found in every city of the world including (or perhaps especially) in Asia, even (or perhaps especially) in Hong Kong, in that wide arc that runs from Chungking Mansion to Soho.
Peter Gordon
11/06/2004
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Peter Gordon is editor of The Asian Review of Books. |
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