Association of Small Bombs (Mahajan)

The Association of Small Bombs 
Karan Mahajan, 2016
Penguin Publishing
288 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780525429630


Summary
Nominated, 2016 National Book Awards

An expansive and deeply humane novel that is at once groundbreaking in its empathy, dazzling in its acuity, and ambitious in scope.

When brothers Tushar and Nakul Khurana, two Delhi schoolboys, pick up their family’s television set at a repair shop with their friend Mansoor Ahmed one day in 1996, disaster strikes without warning.

A bomb—one of the many "small" bombs that go off seemingly unheralded across the world—detonates in the Delhi marketplace, instantly claiming the lives of the Khurana boys, to the devastation of their parents.

Mansoor survives, bearing the physical and psychological effects of the bomb. After a brief stint at university in America, Mansoor returns to Delhi, where his life becomes entangled with the mysterious and charismatic Ayub, a fearless young activist whose own allegiances and beliefs are more malleable than Mansoor could imagine.

Woven among the story of the Khuranas and the Ahmeds is the gripping tale of Shockie, a Kashmiri bomb maker who has forsaken his own life for the independence of his homeland.
 
Karan Mahajan writes brilliantly about the effects of terrorism on victims and perpetrators, proving himself to be one of the most provocative and dynamic novelists of his generation. (From the publisher.)

Author Bio
• Birth— April 24, 1984
• Where—Stamford, Connecticut, USA
• Raised—New Dehli, India
• Education—B.A., Stanford University
• Awards—Joseph Henry Jackson Award
• Currently—lives in Austin, Texas


Karan Mahajan was born in 1984 and grew up in New Delhi, India. He attained a degree in English and economics from Stanford University.

Mahajan's 2008 novel, Family Planning (2010, U.S.) won the Joseph Henry Jackson Award and was a finalist for the International Dylan Thomas Prize. It was published in nine countries. The Association of Small Bombs, his second novel, was released in 2016.

His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, NPR’s All Things Considered, New Yorker (online), Believer, Paris Review Daily, and Bookforum. A graduate of Stanford University and the Michener Center for Writers, he lives in Austin, Texas. (Adapted from the publisher.)

Book Reviews
The Association of Small Bombs, is wonderful...is smart, devastating, unpredictable and enviably adept in its handling of tragedy and its fallout. If you enjoy novels that happily disrupt traditional narratives — about grief, death, violence, politics — I suggest you go out and buy this one. Post haste.
Fiona Maazel - New York Times Book Review


Brilliant.... Mr. Mahajan’s writing is acrid and bracing, tightly packed with dissonant imagery.... The Association of Small Bombs is not the first novel about the aftermath of a terrorist attack, but it is the finest I’ve read at capturing the seduction and force of the murderous, annihilating illogic that increasingly consumes the globe.
Sam Sacks - Wall Street Journal


[A] beautifully written novel.... Ambitious.... Carries us deep into the human side of a tragedy.
Washington Post


Karan Mahajan’s The Association of Small Bombs urgently depicts the toll of terrorism on victims and perpetrators.
Vanity Fair


Besides having one of the most instantly memorable titles for a novel in recent memory, Karan Mahajan’s new novel explores the life of a young man in the aftermath of a horrific event that takes the life of two of his friends. With a story that crosses continents and addresses questions of nationalism, terrorism, and the effects of violence, this novel seems ready to engage with some of our era’s looming issues.
Vol. 1 Brooklyn


Mahajan’s talent is in conveying the sense that the world is gray, not black-and-white, and he accomplishes this by weaving together the evolving motives and passions of his characters so intricately that in the end we see each as culpable, and human.... [S]earing. (Mar.)
Publishers Weekly


[A] broad array of story lines connected to a 1996 detonation of a small but potent bomb in a humble Delhi marketplace.... The anchoring characters are Mansoor and Shockie, a Kashmiri bomb maker who...worries about his victims and his ill mother. Mahajan’s terrorists and social activists are never content to settle into one venue or mindset.
Booklist


Mahajan's effort to make a thriller out of the story...can feel pat.... But he's strong at exploring the very long shockwaves of small-scale violence:... a devastating cruelty for upending lives to no useful political purpose.... An engaging if plot-thick novel that's alert to the intersection of the emotional and political.
Kirkus Reviews

Discussion Questions
We'll add publisher questions if and when they're available. In the meantime use these LitLovers talking points to kick start a discussion for The Association of Small Bombs, then take off on your own...

1. It seems easy at times for those of us who live in western societies to ignore or, worse, seem not to care about bombings that occur in Africa, the Middle East, or South Asia. But The Association of Small Bombs insists that we must care. Has reading the novel changed the way you view distant events?

2. A great deal of thought has gone into what inspires terrorists. In both Shockie and Malik, and later Ayub, the author attempts to present bomb makers/terrorists who readers may find sympathetic. Do you? Does the book provide insights into a terrorist's psyche or  motivations? Are terrorists monsters or sociopathic killers?

3. Talk about the different phases and shapes of grief that Mansoor and the Khuranas experience as they attempt to cope with the loss of Tushar and Nakul. Why, for instance, in the immediate aftermath of the bombing, does Mansoor walk away from the bodies of his friends? Consider Vikas' obsession to film Delhi markets, his need perhaps to "hide" behind his camera.

4. Follow-up to Question 3: How, in particular, does the death of their children undermine the Khuranas' marriage? Were there visible rifts before the bombings?

5. In his grief, Vikas thinks to himself:

When things are good, you can think of no other way of living; when things are in ruins, there appear a million solutions for how this fate could have been avoided.

Is this a thought pattern common to most of us? Do we often reflect on how our troubles might have been prevented, how we might have done things differently; by the same token, how typical is it to accept, without questioning, our good fortune?

6. Talk about Ayub and his influence over Mansoor? Describe how he helps Mansoor heal, both physically (using visualization and holistic techniques) and spiritually (turning to prayer). What about the young men's faith?—Ayub's belief, for instance, that "prayer keeps keeps you focused on the eternal present." Would you consider Aybu and Mansoor's faith radical Islam...or is it more nuanced?

7. Six years later, when he learns he is permanently impaired, Mansoor feels rage toward Vikas and Deepra Khurana. "Why," he wonders, "had they been so irresponsible—with him in particular?" He recalls that Uncle Vikas had "perversely cajoled him into going with Tushar and Nakul to the market" (p. 162). Is he right to blame the Khuranas for what happened? Should the adults have been more cautious?

8. The Association of Small Bombs makes comparisons between the life of the West with its emphasis on individualism and materialism and the traditional Indian values. Some of the evidence is persuasive. On the other hand, we are also shown an India beset with an responsive political system, a corrupt justice system, sectarian violence, and dire poverty. Is there justification for either view point?

8. Discuss the underlying motivations of the terrorists in the novel. In The Association of Small Bombs, they don't seem to murder in the name of Allah; instead, they seem more politically motivated. What are the issues?

9. One of the major questions posed by the book is this: how can people force governments to address their grievances? After the failure of the protest organized by Ayub and Tara, Ayub wonders whether peaceful protest has any affect: "What would Gandhi do if he were alive today? Would the press even notice him?" Ayub, once a staunch believer in nonviolence, comes to believe that violent, not peaceful, methods bring change. Later, however, at the end of the book, he thinks of a bomb as a "child. A tantrum directed at all things." What do you think?

10. Think about the title: what is its significance? What are the various meanings of "small bombs"? Consider the line that Vikas says toward the end of the book, after he and Deepra form their Association: "The deadliness of an attack should not be measured by its size."

11. Does The Association of Small Bombs offer any path for hope?

(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online of off, with attribution. Thanks.)

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