Book Review;New fiction fromIndia;Lotus-eaters;

　　書評;印度新小說;醉生夢死的人;

　　Narcopolis. By Jeet Thayil.

　　《Narcopolis》，Jeet Thayil著。

　　The official history of Mumbai attributes the city srise to its natural harbour and textile industry. Butbefore cotton mills came to dominate thelandscape, Mumbai s merchants grew fatexporting opium to China. The city s main schoolsof art and architecture and its best public hospitalare named for a pioneer of the trade, Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, as is a 2.4km elevated roadthat cuts through the old city.

　　官方史記載孟買的崛起源于天然港口和紡織業。但在印度紡織廠占主導地位前，孟買的商人已經從向中國出口鴉片的貿易中獲得豐厚利潤。這座城市的藝術建筑設計學院和一流的公歷醫院就是以一個貿易先驅者詹姆塞特吉吉吉博伊的名字命名的，，他也出資修建一條2.4千米的高架道路，橫穿這個古老的城市。

　　In the shadow of that viaduct lies Shuklaji Street, Mumbai s last connection with opium. Itwasn t much of a street, notes Dom Ullis, the narrator of Jeet Thayil s debut novel, Narcopolis, but it was the epicentre of vice: prostitutes, drug dealers and petty criminals.Dom arrives here to partake in Mumbai s love affair with opiumjust as it is drawing to a close, some 150 years after it started.

　　Shuklaji街就座落在這座高架橋附近，它是孟買與鴉片的最后聯系。它不像一個街道 Jeet Thayil處女作《Narcopolis》的主人公說。因為這里是罪惡中心：嫖娼，毒品交易，小偷小摸盛行。Dom Ullis講述孟買與毒品的淵源，仿佛置身于150年前孟買毒品伊始到結束的場景。

　　Dom drifts in and out of Rashid s, an old-fashioned opium den where pipewallahs prepareyour smoke for you and serenity prevails. Rashid s is a clearing house for characters andstories. Dom meets Rumi, a wife-beater and failed businessman; he brings Xavier, an angryold artist; he befriends Dimple, a eunuch prostitute who in turn tells the story of Mr Lee, aChinese exile. Then there is Rashid himself, who watchesand fruitlessly resistsas hisgraceful world of opium-eaters is rendered obsolete by the nightmare of low-gradeheroin. Mumbai forgets opium as those who loved it either die or burn out their brains.

　　Dom漫步在一個老式的鴉片窩點拉希德， 在那里有人為你準備好煙卷，寂靜襲來。拉希德是各色人物進出和講述眾多故事的場所。Dom遇到魯米，魯米實施家庭暴力，曾經經商卻一敗涂地;DOM引薦了一個憤怒的老藝術家澤維爾;并和男妓 Dimple成了朋友，Dimple講述一個遭流放的中國人李先生的故事。還有房子的主人拉西德徒勞的抵抗當看著自己優雅的鴉片世界被夢幻般劣質海洛因遺忘。那些吸食鴉片的人或者死亡或者沖昏了頭腦，孟買也被鴉片遺忘。

　　A reformed addict, Mr Thayil has had personal experience with the world he describes. Buthe is also a published poet, who wields his words with care. His efforts are there to be seen.Admirably, Mr Thayil resists the urge to insert himself into the narrative. Dom Ullis ismostly absent, giving the reader nothing. The only way to keep track of the book schronology is through the conversations. New cars, soft drinks and coffee shops indicatethe passage of time as India s economy creaks open. Ugly, brutal references to Muslimsmean that 1993, when the city erupted in religious riots, has left its scars. And if it s ecstasyand MDMA, it must be 21st-century Mumbai.

　　一個遭改造的毒梟Mr Thayil，用自己的親身經歷描述這個世界。他也是位有名望的詩人，小心翼翼的駕馭自己的文字。他的努力有目共睹。備受贊譽的是，Mr Thayil抑制著插進敘述著的欲望。因Dom大部分時間不在場 ，讀者無法追溯時間。唯一可以曉知書中年代的是書中的談話。隨著印度經濟開放，新車，飲料和咖啡店暗示時光的流逝。書中提及丑惡暴力的穆斯林時，意味著 1993年爆發了宗教暴亂，并給穆斯林帶來傷痕。而當書中提到迷幻藥和搖頭丸時，那一定是21世紀的孟買。

　　Book Review;New fiction fromIndia;Lotus-eaters;

　　書評;印度新小說;醉生夢死的人;

　　Narcopolis. By Jeet Thayil.

　　《Narcopolis》，Jeet Thayil著。

　　The official history of Mumbai attributes the city srise to its natural harbour and textile industry. Butbefore cotton mills came to dominate thelandscape, Mumbai s merchants grew fatexporting opium to China. The city s main schoolsof art and architecture and its best public hospitalare named for a pioneer of the trade, Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, as is a 2.4km elevated roadthat cuts through the old city.

　　官方史記載孟買的崛起源于天然港口和紡織業。但在印度紡織廠占主導地位前，孟買的商人已經從向中國出口鴉片的貿易中獲得豐厚利潤。這座城市的藝術建筑設計學院和一流的公歷醫院就是以一個貿易先驅者詹姆塞特吉吉吉博伊的名字命名的，，他也出資修建一條2.4千米的高架道路，橫穿這個古老的城市。

　　In the shadow of that viaduct lies Shuklaji Street, Mumbai s last connection with opium. Itwasn t much of a street, notes Dom Ullis, the narrator of Jeet Thayil s debut novel, Narcopolis, but it was the epicentre of vice: prostitutes, drug dealers and petty criminals.Dom arrives here to partake in Mumbai s love affair with opiumjust as it is drawing to a close, some 150 years after it started.

　　Shuklaji街就座落在這座高架橋附近，它是孟買與鴉片的最后聯系。它不像一個街道 Jeet Thayil處女作《Narcopolis》的主人公說。因為這里是罪惡中心：嫖娼，毒品交易，小偷小摸盛行。Dom Ullis講述孟買與毒品的淵源，仿佛置身于150年前孟買毒品伊始到結束的場景。

　　Dom drifts in and out of Rashid s, an old-fashioned opium den where pipewallahs prepareyour smoke for you and serenity prevails. Rashid s is a clearing house for characters andstories. Dom meets Rumi, a wife-beater and failed businessman; he brings Xavier, an angryold artist; he befriends Dimple, a eunuch prostitute who in turn tells the story of Mr Lee, aChinese exile. Then there is Rashid himself, who watchesand fruitlessly resistsas hisgraceful world of opium-eaters is rendered obsolete by the nightmare of low-gradeheroin. Mumbai forgets opium as those who loved it either die or burn out their brains.

　　Dom漫步在一個老式的鴉片窩點拉希德， 在那里有人為你準備好煙卷，寂靜襲來。拉希德是各色人物進出和講述眾多故事的場所。Dom遇到魯米，魯米實施家庭暴力，曾經經商卻一敗涂地;DOM引薦了一個憤怒的老藝術家澤維爾;并和男妓 Dimple成了朋友，Dimple講述一個遭流放的中國人李先生的故事。還有房子的主人拉西德徒勞的抵抗當看著自己優雅的鴉片世界被夢幻般劣質海洛因遺忘。那些吸食鴉片的人或者死亡或者沖昏了頭腦，孟買也被鴉片遺忘。

　　A reformed addict, Mr Thayil has had personal experience with the world he describes. Buthe is also a published poet, who wields his words with care. His efforts are there to be seen.Admirably, Mr Thayil resists the urge to insert himself into the narrative. Dom Ullis ismostly absent, giving the reader nothing. The only way to keep track of the book schronology is through the conversations. New cars, soft drinks and coffee shops indicatethe passage of time as India s economy creaks open. Ugly, brutal references to Muslimsmean that 1993, when the city erupted in religious riots, has left its scars. And if it s ecstasyand MDMA, it must be 21st-century Mumbai.

　　一個遭改造的毒梟Mr Thayil，用自己的親身經歷描述這個世界。他也是位有名望的詩人，小心翼翼的駕馭自己的文字。他的努力有目共睹。備受贊譽的是，Mr Thayil抑制著插進敘述著的欲望。因Dom大部分時間不在場 ，讀者無法追溯時間。唯一可以曉知書中年代的是書中的談話。隨著印度經濟開放，新車，飲料和咖啡店暗示時光的流逝。書中提及丑惡暴力的穆斯林時，意味著 1993年爆發了宗教暴亂，并給穆斯林帶來傷痕。而當書中提到迷幻藥和搖頭丸時，那一定是21世紀的孟買。