"In between each impression, at the moment when one person falls
away and the next has yet to take possession, the Impressionist is
completely blank. He becomes these other people so completely that
nothing of his own is visible."

Epic in scenario and sweeping in scope, Hari Kunzru's distinguished
debut plots the bizarre journey of the man who becomes the
Impressionist as he assumes the mantle of many identities,
shape-shifting for survival. The protagonist is a chameleon-like
figure who eschews the need for home and identity, virtually
transforming himself into a set of characters to suit his changing
backdrop, which spans the globe --- from the teeming streets of
Bombay to Edwardian England to the sun-scorched deserts of Africa.
Kunzru's novel is set at a historical crossroads, pitting brazen
British pride against the burgeoning independence movement in India
and serving as a touchstone for the protagonist's complex racial
and ethnic identity.

The Impressionist's first incarnation is Pran Nath Razdan, a
spoiled teenager raised in the lap of luxury down-river from the
Taj Mahal. One of the servants, however, harbors the secret of his
true parentage. When it's revealed that Pran Nath is actually the
son of an Englishman but passed off as his privileged father's
progeny, he is unceremoniously tossed out into the street to fend
for himself.

Eventually Pran Nath becomes Rukhsana, a creature of sexual
servitude who reads the boundaries between male and female. In this
role, he's forced to be the pawn in a dangerous colonial game of a
depraved British General who refers to him as Clive. Rukhsana
escapes and lands in Bombay, where he assumes the double identity
of Robert, dutiful adoptive son of a Scottish missionary couple,
and Pretty Bobby, errand boy and occasional pimp to the cohorts of
the city's most notorious district.

As political unrest roils the country, the Impressionist gets a
hold of a British passport through circuitous circumstances and
transforms himself into Jonathan Bridegeman, a wealthy young heir.
Back in London and later at Oxford, Jonathan perfects his
Englishness to a fault. Eventually, he embarks on a hopeless
anthropological expedition to Africa and there experiences a
rebirth.

The protagonist is a tabula rasa, wiping the slate clean over and
over as to assume his new identity so completely that not a trace
of the old one is left. As a result, the main character comes
across as relatively unsympathetic and shallow, lying to those
around him and even himself as he fashions an entirely new identity
to suit his desires. The Impressionist mines stereotypes and is a
keen observer, gifted at mimicry. As he uses people, so people use
him, and you somehow feel that his foibles and stumblings are as
deserved as the success born out of his cunning. Kunzru's
embroidered prose, urbane wit, and masterful storytelling captivate
the reader and exhibit a sophistication not usually found in a
debut. His novel is as multilayered and complex as the lead
character himself.

Kunzru's lush, evocative story works on several different levels
--- raising questions as to what it means to be black or white,
Indian or English. Set against India's independence movement, THE
IMPRESSIONIST also examines an individual's place in society and
the personal and political ramifications for adopting or
challenging the status quo. But Kunzru's characters aren't merely
vehicles for exploring deeper notions of race and ethnicity,
rather, they're luminous and richly drawn, often in possession of
an individual depth that breathes life into this lavish, engaging
read.

The story could be considered a series of vignettes of different
characters, all loosely connected together by the Impressionist's
will to survive and meld into whatever world he finds himself in
--- whether that's the stifling academia of Oxford or the decadence
of a jazz club in Paris. Kunzru is an immensely talented writer,
spinning a story with rich language and exotic locales, and this
noteworthy debut secures his place among the UK's best new
writers.