Night Theater
A Novel
by Vikram Paralkar
This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.
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Pub Date Jan 14 2020 | Archive Date Jan 03 2020
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Description
A surgeon must bring a dead family back to life in this fabulist debut novel set in rural India, called “otherworldly” and “a haunting contemplation of life, death, the liminal space in between, and the dogged search for resurrection” (Kirkus Reviews, starred).
Fleeing scandal in the city, a surgeon accepts a job at a village clinic. He buys antibiotics out of pocket, squashes roaches, and chafes at the interventions of the corrupt officer who oversees his work.
But his outlook on life changes one night when a teacher, his pregnant wife, and their young son appear. Killed in a violent robbery, they tell the surgeon that they have been offered a second chance at living if the surgeon can mend their wounds before sunrise.
So begins a night of quiet work, “as if the crickets had been bribed,” during which the surgeon realizes his future is tied more closely to that of the dead family than he could have imagined. By dawn, he and his assistant have gained knowledge no mortal should have.
In this inventive novel charged with philosophical gravity and sly humor, Vikram Paralkar takes on the practice of medicine in a time when the right to health care is frequently challenged. Engaging earthly injustice and imaginaries of the afterlife, he asks how we might navigate corrupt institutions to find a moral center. Encompassing social criticism and magically unreal drama, Night Theater is a first novel as satisfying for its existential inquiry as for its enthralling story of a skeptical physician who arrives at a greater understanding of life's miracles.
Advance Praise
"Paralkar merges folklore and fable, meditative commentary and meticulous detail . . . Each nameless character is drawn with psychological depth and layered motivations. Paralkar, a physician-scientist, melds medical realism and metaphysical debate, wry humor and somber observations to create a riveting and intriguing tale." —Booklist
"Fablelike tale that melds the philosophical with the corporeal . . . Paralkar’s novel underscores the arbitrary nature of death, the fact that one can neither prepare for it nor, perhaps, cheat one’s way out of it . . . Grotesque, strange, and hopeful in turns, the novel will leave readers marveling at the mysteries of death—and the wonders of life." —Publishers Weekly
"Otherworldly . . . [Paralkar's] prose is sharp and melodious, and within these enchanting passages is a haunting contemplation of life, death, the liminal space in between, and the dogged search for resurrection . . . A beguiling and unforgettable fable." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Yes, Night Theater is an exquisite fable about what we need and what we want, and a beautiful meditation on what it means to be alive. But it reads like an urgent thriller, full of characters pumping with blood and guts, twisting and turning and twisting again. This novel actually kept me up all night and then some, clutching my mortality, listening to my heartbeat, drawing that line between the living and the dead until it blurred." —Aja Gabel, author of The Ensemble
“Night Theater is mesmerizing, strange, and frightening. Paralkar masterfully captures the thrill and desperation of humanity’s oldest struggle—to escape death itself.” —Peng Shepherd, author of The Book of M
"A haunting, hallucinatory fable, Night Theater wrestles with the deepest mysteries of morality, death, and the afterlife." —Rachel Heng, author of Suicide Club
"Night Theater hypnotized me, held me on the line between life and death, perfectly grotesque in its discussion of the body, perfectly heady in its depiction of the afterlife. Paralkar has created my favorite kind of story: morbid, magical, and enthralling." —Sarah Blake, author of Naamah
"In rural India an unnamed surgeon uncovers old secrets: What do angels look like? Why are tears denied to the dead? Is the afterlife run by bureaucrats? The surgeon’s indifference to death is like God’s, only more terrifying because it is human. I read this book in a single addictive sitting. It will stay with me for a long time." —Jeet Thayil, author of the Booker Prize–short-listed Narcopolis
"Haunting and irresistible. I cannot wait for you to read this book." —Wayétu Moore, author of She Would Be King
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781948226547 |
| PRICE | $16.95 (USD) |
| PAGES | 224 |
Featured Reviews
Mari H, Reviewer
With a story that feels like The Good Place meets Paulo Coehlo (minus the comedy), this book is enchanting from start to finish. The prose has an allegorical bite, and it reads in a way that hooks into you and doesn't let you go. I haven't stopped thinking about the story since I finished it, and honestly I find myself continually trying to work out all the messages hidden within this macabre story.
I found Paralkar's story to be intricately well crafted. The fact that the bulk of the story takes place over the course of a single night means there's never time for the reader to get bored. At the same time, it doesn't feel like too much has been packed into that time frame, either. The pacing carries you along with ease.
The characters, too, are written with compassion. The surgeon is aging and irascible, but we see enough of him that we appreciate who he is. The pharmacist is warm and caring, her husband loyal and trusting. The family – a teacher, his wife, and their young son – all have distinct personalities and flaws. And this is going to sound bizarre, but I was so immersed in the story, in these characters, that I didn't realize that none of them had names until after I'd finished the book.
But perhaps the most marvelous thing about Night Theater was that it was never exactly as I expected it to be. It took turns I would never anticipate, little twists and turns that sometimes took my breath away, and the ending is the kind of ending that leaves you thinking about its implications long after you've finished reading.
In the end, this is a story with a breathtaking scope. It's a story about what life takes away from you and what it gives back, about sacrifice, compromise, intrinsic value, and picking your battles. It's about hope or the lack thereof, about optimism or pessimism, and about so many other things I'm still dissecting.Poetic without being overly prose-y, I finished this book with the ultimate sense of having read something beautiful.
Rachel P, Educator
I really enjoyed this weird, surreal, allegorical novel. It made me think about the ethics of medical treatment, the corruption of the health care industry, and the nature of love, family, career, and faith. I don't want to give spoilers, because so much of the unsettling plot turns on the gothic details of this small-town surgeon's ethical dilemma. I felt myself pulled along by Paralkar's disconcerting slow revelation of exactly what is going on in this book. And, for a book which basically freaked me out the majority of the time, I found the culmination/revelation in literally the final paragraph to be a bright and beautiful gesture.
Highly recommended,
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Sarah-Hope P, Educator
Night Theater is one of those reads that won't let you go. It leaves you with far more questions coming out than you had going in, and that is one of it's real strengths. Nothing in this story is simple, despite how straightforward the narrative feels.
The premise is relatively straightforward, if fantastic. A cynical physician in a rural clinic in India is confronted with three dead people who claim they will be able to live again if he repairs their wounds before the sun rises. From that point, thins spin out with increasing complexity.
I don't want to say too much about this title for fear of interfering with the process of reading it—but I do strongly recommend that readers grab the opportunity to live through that night with the physician at the story's center.
I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley. The opinions are my own.
Paul V, Reviewer
A very good, earnest tale with well-written characters and interesting plot. This talented author writes with a really style and this has the feel of a play, and it's quite engaging. Recommended if seeking a magic realism read.
I really appreciate the review copy!!
Tracy D, Reviewer
Sort of magical realism, sort of allegory, sort of horror. I was enchanted and repulsed in equal measure, but in all the best ways. A very atmospheric novel that at times reminded me of Pan’s Labrynth. So smart and twisty.
Lindsay L, Reviewer
Thank you to NetGalley, Counterpoint Press, and Catapult for this ARC, out January 2020!
I absolutely breezed through this book in no time at all. From the description, it sounded more like a dark comedy, but it truly is more of a life or death (no pun intended) thriller from beginning to end. I really didn't know what to expect going in, but Paralkar paints his pictures so vividly, and sometimes a little too vividly in regards to all of the surgical procedures that take place. He clearly has done his research, but more than that, he knows how to create characters that take on a life of their own, and you feel for each person throughout this novel. I loved that it all took place in one area, which is a thing I also tend to love in films as well. Even though the story is confined to a small space, it never feels that way. It is a tale of the afterlife, human nature, faith, and above all human kindness and what lengths we will go to to save ourselves and those we love. I can't wait for people to be able to read this, and now I need to get my hands on Paralkar's other work!
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