If I had to give an analogy, The Armageddon Mandala would be like "The Illuminati" as written by William Burroughs; or perhaps "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" as written by Hunter S. Thompson. ....Oh wait, that was written by him... Anyhow...
Gopal Mukerjee has written a wonderfully entertaining and exceptionally vile book (particularly for those of the feminine persuasion due to the excessive male humor). The adventurous and soon-to-be-psychotic reader should ready themselves for a ride that will take you in the most unexpected directions. The storyline is wonderfully conceived and one can never foresee the events that are about to unfold on not just the next page, but even the next paragraph. Admittedly, I didn't try reading the book while completely trashed, but then I would wager one might never regain sanity thereafter. You have been warned...
The Armageddon Mandala starts with a most modest small-town dick, who.... ups, I just want to note that that was not intended as vile male humor, nor to offend those of the feminine sex, who might be reading this review. Or was it? And which one?
Anyhow to return to the storyline: Private Investigator Allen Ginsberg must choose between two realities. Like Beauty, the perception of reality is in the eye of the beholder. So too is PI Ginsberg confronted with the immediate perceived reality that he has lived with his whole life, and an alternate reality is proffered to him by a being named Gyani, who has the stature of Danny Devito, the humorless stoicism of Spock, and the appearance of Gandhi. Note that I only invoke the image of Gandhi since he's the only iconoclastic Indian for Americans. I would have said Shah Rukh Khan, but besides the Indian public and the few deranged individuals who actually enjoy Bollywood films, no one would know to whom I was referring. There's also the fact that Gyani never sings or dances for a dame or our of despair, for sexual purity or frustration, or for any reason. On the other hand, there was that one time when Gandhi did that Pashtun jig in the Bombay slum of.... sorry, that's another story.
The choice is one that not only PI A.G. must make. The reader is left to ponder, which reality is the truer. May we never know....
I highly recommend this book, which is available as an ebook from Amazon. It may well be prudent to first engage in a thorough bowel cleaning prior to taking on the Armageddon Mandala.
There are so many great lines in this book that left me rolling. Alas, I only highlighted a few and here they are:
"Levity as alien to him as toes to a shark. As thought to a Texan."
"'The Drakor... are malevolent entities consumed by an intense passion for conflict and destruction. They are, however, united by a single purpose to establish their dominion over the earth only to see it destroyed in torment.'
'Right. In other words, they're Texans.'"
"Real PI's dug noir the way dentists dug tooth decay. The way plumbers due drain muck. The way priests dug kiddie porn..."
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