The Elephant Suite

I have to say I really enjoyed the three novellas in The Elephant Suite set in India by Paul Theroux. And a part of the reason I enjoyed them so much was that I knew about the inspiration for them and some of the real life experiences that Theroux had while traveling in India for his book, Ghost Train To The Eastern Star. Theroux was disturbed by India and couldn't fully reconcile himself to those experiences he had and I think writing these novellas were a way to set down his feelings and experiences of that overwhelming and overbearing country. These stories of a wealthy American couple's sensual brush with India that reminded them that they were outsiders and possibly corrupters of the spiritual heritage that still exists in modern India. The second is a middle aged business man who is seduced and won over by India and undergoes a complete personality change. And the last story of a college student caught in the world of spirituality and commerce and comes face to face with India bureaucracy and the while managing to get biblical-like redemption. In retrospect there are some heavy handed literary devices employed by Theroux with doubles, doppelgangers, and other flourishes, which didn't seem too heavy handed to me as I was drawn into his descriptions of the sights, smells, and intense feelings that India created within the characters.