Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read and review this ARC. Full review to be found on Goodreads and on my website.

This seemed like a good story from the synopsis. It's an interesting read. Unfortunately, it's just difficult to understand and comprehend. If it had been easier, I think I would have liked it. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

This sounds like it would be an interesting story told from the points of view of several (mostly young and male) people living in London during the time when marchers were protesting the murder of a white soldier. They were threatening the protagonists’ community. Unfortunately, between the slang and the dialect, I found too much of this book to be impenetrable. I tried listening to the audio book while following along in the ebook, but really these people might have been speaking Martian. Eventually I just gave up trying to understand it and just let the language flow over me. That worked for a while, but ultimately I was done in by the plotlessness of the book. This was not for me and I gave up at the 30% point. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

First published in Great Britain in 2018; published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux on December 11, 2018

Conflict among cultures is not the Clash of Civilizations that hysteria-fueled commentators anxiously await, but there is little doubt that people holding different worldviews sometimes view each other with hostility rather than understanding. In Our Mad and Furious City examines those divides and the bridges that cross them in a story that covers the lives of a few diverse characters in London over a short period of time.

The London of In Our Mad and Furious City is divided in many ways, including the division between those who live off-Estate and those who don’t. “What makes me off-Estate is where I live,” Selvon says, “but truthfully what makes me off-Estate is more than that, ennet.”

The lives of several characters are simultaneously revealed in the novel. Some live in Stones Estate, others do not, but all perceive boundaries that are not easily crossed.

Nelson, once homesick for the West Indies, now worries about his son as he rolls his wheelchair past the Estate. Nelson still remembers the first time he saw KBW (“Keep Britain White”) graffiti. “Was an ugliness in this Britain, I feel it then. But I had not learn it yet. … To see it there, writ across the brick, it have me numb and leave me feeling a sorta deep-down shame. Sorta shame the Lord give you when you love a wretched thing. Was how it feel like when I realize that this Britain here did not love me back, no matter how much I feel for it.”

The tension has expanded since Nelson came to London, driven by divisions not just of color but of religion. Guy Gunaratne explores those divisions from the perspectives of his diverse characters, none of whom particularly want to be divided. As Nelson learned in his youth, hate breeds hate, turning good people bad unless good people can find a way to resist.

Nelson’s son Selvon plays football in the Estate with his friends Yusuf and Ardan. Selvon is smart and plans to go to university. Whether he has a future will depend in part on how he lives his life and in part on fate. Selvon and all the other characters are living in a dangerous world.

Yusuf lives in the Estate. He keeps his head down, avoiding both the imams and the anti-Muslim marches. To Yusuf, the Estate is a world away from Pakistan, but Pakistan is a world to which he might be forced to return.

Ardan, a lover of rap in any language, sits on the West Block rooftop to write music. If Ardan has a future beyond minimum wage, it is in music, but to reach that future he’ll need to overcome his fear. Ardan’s father has disappeared. His mother Caroline, a Belfast transplant who had a complicated relationship alcohol as well as history, lives with him in West Block. She has disturbing memories of the Troubles that, in some ways, parallel her current life in London. She is certain that violence follows her and that God doesn’t care.

In Our Mad and Furious City raises enduring questions about the awful things people do in the name of religion or because of another person’s religion. If religion is so often perceived as a vehicle that justifies hatred and violence, would the world be better off without it? The same questions, seemingly relevant to every time and place, relate to violence based on race and ethnicity. The riots that Nelson experienced in the West Indies, that Caroline feared in Northern Ireland, and that affect the lives of the characters as the novel nears its end all echo the same lunacy. At the same time, the story suggests that cause and effect can be more complex issues than observers might assume.

Characters speak in dialects that may require the reader to guess at word meanings (or, when all else fails, to Google). Most of the characters are young and they share the common language of youth. The dialects add to the story’s authenticity and give the book a nice rhythm.

The plot is eventful in an understated way. Gunaratne could have taken the plot over the top but he allowed himself only one large moment of drama. It is dramatic in a way that seems inevitable given the story that precede it. For the most part, the story is very personal, told from the perspectives of people who want to come together, to avoid the senseless divisions that seem to require them to take a side. The story’s sadness is balanced by hope, the possibility that the world can become a better place, one human at a time

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Race, poverty, immigration, radicalism. This novel touches important buttons, switching between a group of characters that share variations on slang and streetspeak. It’s a grim combo, reaching back int9 the past for more violence and sectarianism. While these subjects deserve much attention, it’s hard not to see the book as a worthy slog.

This novel is written in dialect (one with which I am not familiar) and it was difficult for me to follow the cadence and get into the flow of the story. I struggled to read it. Perhaps this would work for me on audiobook. I plan to pick it up in that format.

Three friends find themselves caught in the crossfire of race riots after a Muslim “bredda” murders an off-duty British soldier. Told from multiple perspectives, the three friends each narrate the story in their own voices using “road slang,” capturing the culture of their neighborhood. One of the three, Yusuf, struggles between his father’s peaceful teachings of Islam and new Imam’s radicalization in the face of the xenophobic backlash against Muslims. Themes of home and belonging stream through the conflicted characters who try to understand their identity and where they belong, feeling conflicted between the different cultures each of them inhabit and their own backgrounds as second generation immigrants. I enjoyed reading this book. I especially enjoyed the language and culture that infused the narration, and the complexity of the characters.

Guy Gunaratne's novel, In Our Mad and Furious City, takes place during 48 hours after a real-life incident where a former British soldier's life ends in violence. The three young men in the novel have connections to the subsequent bloodshed in a London housing estate and surrounding mosques.

The story comes in the third person. Three boys, Selvon, Ardan, and Yusuf, have grown up in the estate. Their parents come from Belfast, Pakistan, and the Caribbean. The book covers the thoughts and actions of each character. Much of the language is reminiscent of Martin Amis's novel, Lionel Asbo: State of England. The characters are similar, and I learned how to understand some of the local vernacular, even though it changes rapidly in contemporary society.

The times are vicious, on both sides, and the story reflects what is happening today in most western societies that struggle with the 'other' who have come to our shores. They have every right to be there/here. Their struggle is universal and sad. If only we could know that somehow this will evolve into some peace in the future.

GG's book is tough to read and brilliant in its understanding of the world today. It certainly deserved to be listed for the Booker and the Goldsmith Prizes.

I received an advanced copy of this novel from the publisher through NetGalley.

Taking place over 48 hours in a diverse community on a London housing estate, this is a mostly successful exploration of race, immigration, religion, prejudice and terrorism – all those issues that so divisively beset our contemporary society – narrated through the voices of 5 characters. Each brings a different perspective and point of view, and each comes from a different background. Simmering violence pervades every page, and a sense of alienation and futility is depressingly evident. This is London in the raw, reflected in the vernacular speech of the characters, and it’s a slice of gritty realism that cannot fail to make an impression. However, I found that the book lacked focus and narrative drive. The constant switching between characters is sometimes confusing and the voices aren’t always distinctive enough. Some of the stories are more convincing than others. The inclusion of a woman from Northern Ireland sat uncomfortably with me, as I could never quite work out why she had been sent into exile from the Troubles, and her story seemed extraneous to the central storyline. The time frame can be confusing too, and the reader needs to concentrate at all times – not necessarily a bad thing, but it can become wearisome. I was impressed by much of the writing, and certainly by the author’s grasp of contemporary urban life, but overall found the novel too scattergun in its approach.

With its large cast of characters each with an individual voice, it reminded me of Tommy Orange's There There, one of my favorite books of this year, so this book suffered in comparison. By setting this in London and taking place over a couple of hours, Gunaratne may have bitten off more than he could do justice to the bleakness of the estates and the misinterpretation between the characters. It is not my kind of book, but I welcomed the opportunity to try something different.

I found this book really hard to get through. Between the thick London slang, bouncing back and forth between POV characters, bouncing back and forth in time, and the lack of one compelling story, it was a tough slog. The subject matter - racism, violence, extremism - is super important and timely, but the presentation was a miss for me.

I was eagerly anticipating the opportunity to read this highly regarded debut novel and it didn't disappoint.
The story takes place in working class London and is told largely from three distinct views from second generation immigrants trying to navigate through life with the radicalization of Muslims on one side and white nationalist on the other.
I throughly enjoyed the local vernacular used throughout, the numerous references to football and how it is a way of life there, and the ending was amazing. Hard believe this was a debut as the author has clear talent. I feel this is a book that deserves the attention it has gotten and can hopefully start discussions.
Thank you to the publisher for providing me with this arc that isn't yet available in the US.

Conflicted.

The primary story, what I understand of it, takes place over two days during a volatile period in a poor area of London. Three young men of differing ethnicity, Pakistani, Irish and Caribbean bond over "footie".

Sorting through the slang, the sentence structure, characters, writing style, and what was happening was certainly a challenge! From the get go, I was huh? What am I reading? What are they saying? What is happening?

And yet I love to be challenged when I read. I love to learn, to stretch my knowledge, my understanding of places and things.

Even when I was ready to give up, this book haunted me. Couldn't stop thinking about it, had to go back for more.

I was pleased I did.

I believe I missed some of the bits due to unfamiliarity with the locale, lifestyle, and slang. Will definitely re-read as I know that while I enjoyed the book, there is more to it that will further enrich it for me.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC.

The eponymous mad and furious city here is London, standing in, in theory, for any number of large global cities with large immigrant populations. It’s the glorious melting pot in action, which sometimes works and…sometimes burns things. The latter, here, quite literally. What attracted me to this book was the Man Booker listing, albeit this was merely long listed. Plus I’ve always enjoyed stories about immigrant experiences. This one took a while to enjoy, actually, and even then enjoyment might not be the right word. It’s more like appreciation. There’s so much grime, desperation and ugliness here and the writing concentrates so much on uber realistic representations that it took a while to recognize the beauty of it. Told through a number of varied multigenerational, multinational, multiethnic perspectives, the narrative comes together as a visceral depiction of the life on a London estate, where various nationalities must not only reckon with each other, but also with the white supremacists and racists who consider themselves real Londoners. In a way it’s a brutal story of an unconditional love, a love for a city that won’t love you back. And that’s very compelling and poignant. The narrative itself is heavily laden with slang and at times almost stream of consciousness and makes for a challenging, emotionally and intellectually, read. It has the right energy, style and subject to make it a likely award candidate and, of course, it’s ever so timely in a world where immigration has become such a hotly contested/discussed/loathed matter. This story represents a version of cohabitation, but doesn't speak too highly of a prospect of peaceable coexistence. It's something to contemplate and makes worthy if not particularly easy to enjoy read. Thanks Netgalley.

I received an advance reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

It’s hard to describe this book beyond saying how amazing it is. It’s lyrical without being pretentious and abstract without losing hold of characters or narrative. It’s violent in a way that is engaging and not offputting. It’s probably one of the best books I’ve read this year. I would recommend it to anybody, even if this doesn’t sound like your thing, because it’s not usually my thing but I loved it

Nominated for the Goldsmiths Prize 2018
Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2018
This book is going to win the Booker (update: No it didn't, which of course only means that the judges were wrong! :-)). Set in London, the story discusses identity, a topic that is central for so many current political issues, from Brexit to the divided States of America, to globalization, religous conflicts, you name it. On top of that, the language is vivid and fresh, and Gunaratne finds many compelling images that he evokes in street slang and patois - the poetics of grime and hip-hop have clearly infused this text which is full of rhythm and musical references.

Our protagonists are three teenage friends who live in and near some decrepit housing blocks in North London: Selvon is the son of immigrants from the Carribean, and he dreams to climb the social ladder by getting an athletic scholarship, which is why he is obsessed with his physical fitness. Ardan has Irish roots and aspires to become a musician. Yusuf is the son of the local imam who has recently passed away. Apart from these three young men, we are hearing the perspective of two grown-up immigrants - what unites all five of them (apart from some aspects I will not spoil) is their experience of violence.

The interlocking stories of these characters quickly become an exploration into the question how fear and hate emerge and how these two feeling are interrelated. Why do groups of people - immigrants and non-immigrants, Muslims and Christians, Catholics and Protestants - start to hate each other, and how is hate perpetuated? How do these feelings become so overwhelming that they turn into madness and fury, so that the common living area - in this case the city of London - is suddenly a battleground?

These question touch the core of human nature, and Gunaratne discusses them to a dirty grime beat. I really felt with these characters, and it is miraculous what a joy it is to read this book, although it makes the reader stare into an abyss.