Transmission

Rating:
Summary: "Love the brand and stay ahead of the curve"
Review: The dark, exploitative side if immigration, the excesses of global capitalism, and the vulnerable inter-connectedness of our electronic world is at the heart of this madcap, lively, yet often messy book by Hari Kunzru. Transmission is truly worldwide, as Kunzru paints a portrait of twenty-first century life from London to Washington State, from Southern California to India, and from Scotland to Brussels. Arjun Mehta is a shy, bright and idealistic young computer programmer who grows up in stultifying middle-class India and dreams of emigrating to America. With the promise of making lots of money, all Arjun wants is to work and be happy and live a life in magic America. So he flies west, with new visa in his pocket and romance and optimism filling his head.

Upon arrival in America, Arjun tries to make the best of it, but with none of the promised jobs materializing, he gradually becomes more disillusioned. All he sees is the "pumping of low rider cars, grown men wearing short pants like children, pastel lycra dressed men and women, and cars as mythical chariots gleaming with window tint." Arjun finally manages to secure a job outside Seattle, testing anti-virus software for a paranoid numbskull of a boss. While reassuring his parents back in India, that he's on track for early wealth and retirement, he embarks on a harried, half-hearted relationship with Christine, a sexually ambivalent American girl, who works for the company. He takes her to a hackneyed Indian movie and misses the fact that she is bored to tears. But Arjun thinks he has it made, and then with an economic downturn on the horizon, he is shown the door.

In desperation, and in order to try to prevent being fired, he unleashes a killer computer virus that features his favorite Bollywood actress, the seductive Leela Zahir. His intention is to cause minor havoc, and then, when his colleagues are stumped, to ultimately stop it and save his job. Kunzru, logically, thoroughly and systematically details the virus's progress through the global nervous system. But the virus eventually morphs into many headed Leelas and eventually becomes known as Greyday - "and informational disaster, a holocaust of bits," disrupting mobile telephony, airline reservations, transatlantic email traffic, and automated teller machines worldwide.

Arjun's virus brings together two sub-stories: Leela Zahir's new movie, a Bollywood, melodrama, which is shooting in the highlands of Scotland, includes a rather pointless foray into the life of its tortured leading man, whose messy sex life has landed him in the control of a violent, calculating mob boss. The other, far more successful story, involves the English Guy Swift, a greedy, self-serving, cocaine-fueled, smarmy young white-boy capitalist who runs Tomorrow*, a brand consultancy company based in London. With his contracts going sour - partly caused by the Leela virus - and his relationship with his girlfriend, Gabrielle on the skids, he thinks he can redeem himself with one last deal.

Kunzru is a blunt and gusty writer with a verbal agility that lends itself well to this subject matter. The plot takes many twists and turns as the three principal characters get caught up in the cataclysmic contemporary electronic collapse. The author rarely takes a breath and the novel barrels along at a furious rate. Kunzru writes with a minimalist style that draws you in, and also allows him to navigate, what is in essence a complicated tale of capitalist destruction, with skill and ease. Mike Leonard August 04.



Rating:
Summary: slow great slow
Review: This is the first book I have read from this author. I thought the story line a bit far fetched( but it is a nice yarn), the charachter development needed about 100 more pages. It is an interesting tale of immigration, dreams, the interenet, bollywood, and how small the world is becoming.

Rating:
Summary: slow great slow
Review: This is the first book I have read from this author. I thought the story line a bit far fetched( but it is a nice yarn), the charachter development needed about 100 more pages. It is an interesting tale of immigration, dreams, the interenet, bollywood, and how small the world is becoming.

Rating:
Summary: Melancholy Yet Satisfying
Review: When Arjun Mehta is offered a tech job working for an American software company, it's like a dream come true. Since Mehta began his love for computers at an early age in India, it was only natural that he'd be offered a job doing what he did best. The programmer imagines himself becoming the pride of his family, rich and successful. Once his H1B visa is approved; and he arrives to the U.S., the dream becomes a nightmare. Instead of fulfilling his dream, he ends up "on the bench," with other immigrants in a crowded apartment while waiting for a position to open up. When a job with a virus checking software company is finally offered, it doesn't take long for the realities of employment in the tech industry to set in, particularly the layoffs. When Arjun gets canned, he turns to drastic measures in order to keep his job. He unleashes a computer virus. So begins the plot for "Transmission" the latest book from London author Hari Kunzru (The Impressionist).

When Arjun's virus (named Leela after his favorite actress) is released, it is felt around the world, shutting down businesses, elevators, and ER departments. It causes so much havoc, the day it is released becomes known as Grayday, "an informational disaster, a holocaust of bits [where] a number of major networks dealing with such things as mobile telephony, airline reservations, transatlantic e-mail traffic and automated teller machines went down simultaneously."

The real Leela is affected by the virus as well. The twenty-one year old actress must squash rumors that the virus is a publicity stunt to help her promote her latest movie, while dealing with her overbearing celebrity mom.

The virus also affects romantic couple Guy Swift and Gaby Caro, the CEO of a marketing firm and a pr manager respectively. Guy, who relies on technology to drive home ideas to clients, must deal with the pressure from venture capitalists too succeed. He must also try to not to lose Gaby. Meanwhile, insatiable Gaby is given the task of handling Leela's bad press.

"Transmission" is a thought-provoking tale taken from a real-life story, reminiscent of an episode of TV's Law and Order. The author, much like Hemingway, is a master at painting an intricate picture. However, Kunzru describes a scene with such vivid detail that it tends to overload the story with uninteresting facts. Readers may find themselves searching for more dialogue. To top it off, there are a few words and phrases written in Hindi that may cause readers to feel they're not in on the joke. Though the language may be a tad high-brow for the average reader, the stimulating plot, absorbing characters, and melancholy yet satisfying conclusion makes it all worth while.