The Death of Vishnu is the first in a trilogy of novels I plan to write.Īs I mention in the front pages of the novel, The Death of Vishnu started with the death of an actual man named Vishnu, who lived on the steps of the building in which I grew up. As Vishnu closes in on the riddle of his own mortality, we wonder whether he might not be the god Vishnu, guardian not only of the fate of the building and its occupants, but of the entire universe. Suffused with Hindu mythology, this story of one apartment building becomes a metaphor for the social and religious divisions of contemporary India, and Vishnus ascent of the staircase parallels the souls progress through the various stages of existence. Jalals obsessive search for higher meaning Vinod Tanejas longing for the wife he has lost the comic elopement of Kavita Asrani, who fancies herself the heroine of a Hindi movie. As the action spirals up through the floors of the apartment building we are pulled into the drama of the residents lives: Mr. At the opening of this masterful debut novel, Vishnu, the resident odd-job man, lies dying on the staircase he inhabits while his neighbors the Pathaks and the Asranis argue over who will pay for an ambulance.

Anchored by Death by Catherine Finger