The In-Between World of Vikram Lall

Read during Winter 2004/2005

An intriguing story of post-colonial Kenya. Vikram Lall is from an Indian family, his grandfather came to Kenya, along with thousands of Indian labourers, to build the railroads for the Brittish. The Asians of Kenya are a forgotten population, always hovering bewteen the European colonists and the native Africans. Vikram hovers in this way for all his life. As a child, he befriends both English and African children but he begins to learn that he is not part of either world. His African friend, Njorgoe, falls for his sister, Deepa, both as a child and an adult but Vikram's childhood love for Annie dies with her death and the death of her family by the Mau Mau. Ever after, Vikram is merely the cold observer, as show more he tells the story from his retreat in Toronto. He meets Njo again in Nairobi and his adult life is set in motion by small acts. He is always the bystander, never taking the actions but being pulled along. I was completely drawn into his grey world of bribery and paybacks but it is the personal relationships that end up driving the whole story. The prejudice and petty personal and interfamily strifes that no one seems to escape from. Only at the end, when he seems to want to confess and be forgiven, did there seem to be a moral compass. Fascinating read. show less

I've had this book sitting on my bookshelf for almost 10 years so I decided now was the time to read it. I wasn't sure what I was expecting although I knew it had won the Giller Prize in 2003. That doesn't necessarily mean I will enjoy it (there have been a few duds such as the winner in 2019) but the chances are pretty good that I will. This book is certainly not in the dud category.

Vikram Lall was a third generation Indo-Kenyan. His grandfather had come from India to build the railroad. Then his father was born in Kenya and found a wife back in India before the country was transformed by independence from Britain. Vikram and his sister Deepa were raised in a small town where their parents were shopkeepers. Kenya was, at that time, show more experiencing its own fight for freedom from Britain. Most notably the Mau Mau carried out surprise attacks on white farmers trying to drive them from the land. Vikram, Deepa and their black friend Njoroge played with a white brother and sister when their mother brought them to town so she could shop. About a year after they met William and Annie Bruce, the Bruces were slaughtered by the Mau Mau. Some time later the police came to his father and told him that his gun, which had gone missing, had been used to commit the murders. The police arrested the gardener, Njoroge's grandfather, for the theft of the gun and conspiring with the rebels. Vikram believed that, in fact, his uncle had taken the gun and passed it on to the rebels. As a result of this turn of events the Lalls moved to Nairobi and Njoroge disappeared from their life. Then when Vikram, Deepa and Njoroge have reached adulthood they manage to reconnect. Deepa and Njoroge turn their childhood feelings into love for each other but Kenya and the Lalls are not ready for a bi-racial marriage. Njoroge is a force in the new black political establishment and he helps Vikram get a job with the government. Vikram will never be fully accepted by the black powers-that-be but he performs a useful service funnelling foreign money into the hands of some ministers so he has some clout. This becomes useful when most Asians are expelled from Kenya but the Lalls remain.

We follow the history of Kenya (and Africa as a whole) through the lives of the Lalls, especially Vikram, and it is fascinating. Plus the writing is wonderful. Vassanji captures the surroundings for his characters with words the way a photographer does with a camera. Hard to believe that this is a man who studied to be a nuclear physicist. show less

The In-Between World of Vikram Lall by M. G. Vassanji is the story of an Asian man who sees himself as an in-between, being neither white nor black, in colonial and post-colonial Kenya. Although he doesn’t feel it, he is a 3rd generation African. His grandfather came to Africa from India to work the railroad and stayed, putting down roots in the large Asian community. As the book opens, Vikram is living in exile in Canada and as his story unfolds we are taken back to Kenya and the Mau Mau insurgency of 1952 – 1960.

Again he finds himself in the middle of his two friends, Bill the white son of a British landowner and Njoroge, the black grandson of the Kikuyu gardener. These boys, along with Vikram’s sister, Deepa and Bill’s show more sister, Ann play together and become close friends, although the political situation is destined to tear them apart. Vikram’s story covers the changing Kenya as it emerges from Colonial rule, to the early hopeful days of independence to the dark dangers and corruption that evolved in later decades.

Vikram who identifies himself as “one of Africa’s most corrupt men”, becomes adept at survival, both political and personal, again as a middle man, he becomes a fixer, taking bribes and moving the money for the new black, corrupt ruling class. Eventually he is used as a scrapegoat in an international scandal and forced to leave Kenya.

The In-Between World of Vikram Lall was a fascinating multi-layered story. Although a powerful tale, I felt the story bogged down at times in the massive amount of detail provided. These details, although accurate and well researched cause the book to be overlong and slow. But ultimately this is a well written, deeply personal story from an author who grew up in Kenya and is well able to immerse the reader into the complexities of African history. show less

There is something to be said about a book that succeeds in being emotionally removed and yet heartbreaking at the same time. Such is the case with this book. You never really get a sense of feeling from the book's protagonist -- a man who introduces himself as having 'the distinction of having been numbered one of Africa's most corrupt men, a cheat of monstrous and reptilian cunning.' Despite this, as his story progresses you find that you relate to him more and more.

It is at the same time a detached and vivid tale that deserves attention from many angles. It simultaneously conquers many issues, from the complexity of race relations to the unending and all-too-human quest for belonging and acceptance. For all its complexity and show more dispassionate prose, it is easily described in one word: 'mesmerizing'. show less

"The terror that permeated our world like a mysterious ether,", 9 August 2015

This review is from: In Between World of Vikram Lall (Paperback)
An extremely readable work (though I found it dragged a little towards the end, as illegal dealings and fictional meetings with the President occupy the storyline). Narrated by the eponymous 'hero', who tells us at the outset of his being numbered "one of Africa's most corrupt men, a cheat of monstrous and reptilian cunning."
Two strands run alongside - primarily his earlier life in Kenya, but also his experiences now in Canada.
Vikram Lall starts his account by recalling his childhood in Nairobi, where he and his sister occupy a middle position in society, not quite able to mix with the 'European' show more elite, yet far above that of the black Kenyans. His playmates include kids of both groups - the white Bruce siblings and Kenyan lad Njoroge, who dreams of Jomo Kenyatta's leading his people to freedom. For this is the terrifying era of the Mau-Mau...

Later on, with Kenyan independence, Lall still finds himself in an in-between world; society has been turned on its head, with the Black population now in charge.
A family saga, an account of how corruption occurs, a story of terrible sadness, set in a country I knew little about.
(Incidentally, good though it is, I must take issue with the review by Janette Turner Hospital, reproduced on inside cover, which describes the book as "belonging in a category with Tolstoy's 'War and Peace'. Something of an exaggeration!) show less

This is one of my favourite books. Vassanji somehow fills the novel with a sense of foreboding, each chapter seeming to inch closer to some kind of ugly truth. As others have mentioned, the narrator does sometimes seem a little dull, removed - shellshocked is the word I might use - but this works to the novel's advantage. He is after all a person who has been caught in the middle throughout his life, falling into place without ever really understanding the horrors going on around him. From heartbreaking descriptions of his white, African, and Indian childhood friends - all taken in different directions by tragic events beyond their control or comprehension - to the novel's ambiguous and complex ending, I think this is one of the best show more books I've read, and after reading it again my opinion stays the same. show less

During a retreat from the world, Vikram Lall, a self-professed corrupt man, wishes to tell his story from childhood. It is a tale full of violence and torture, political corruption and redemption, ethnic prejudice and long-standing tradition. His world is a clash of cultures from his earliest memories. Vikram's childhood starts innocently enough with friends of various backgrounds and skin tones. Not black like his Kenyan friend, Njoroge, or white like his British friend, Bill. Vikram's family settled in Kenya after Vikram's grandfather arrived as a Indian railway worker along with his British overseers to lay tracks in Kenyan landscape. Kenya had been trying to break free from British rule ever since.
Vikram learns early on that one has show more to be careful of causing too much suspicion. No one wants to be accused of being involved with the guerilla group, Mau Mau. As Vikram grows up, he learns survival does not always mean being honest. It is better to cause the heartbreak than to endure it. show less