Night Theater: A Novel

Written by Vikram Paralkar

Narrated by Raj Ghatak

A surgeon flees a scandal in the city and accepts a job at a village clinic. He buys antibiotics out of pocket, squashes roaches, and chafes at the interventions of the corrupt officer who oversees his work. But his outlook on life changes one night when a teacher, his pregnant wife, and their young son appear. Killed in a violent robbery, they tell the surgeon that they have been offered a second chance at living if the surgeon can mend their wounds before sunrise.

So begins a night of quiet work, "as if the crickets had been bribed," during which the surgeon realizes his future is tied more closely to that of the dead family than he could have imagined. By dawn, he and his assistant have gained knowledge no mortal should have.

In this inventive novel charged with philosophical gravity and sly humor, Vikram Paralkar takes on the practice of medicine in a time when the right to health care is frequently challenged. Engaging earthly injustice and imaginaries of the afterlife, he asks how we might navigate corrupt institutions to find a moral center. Encompassing social criticism and magically unreal drama, Night Theater is a first novel as satisfying for its existential inquiry as for its enthralling story of a skeptical physician who arrives at a greater understanding of life's miracles.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Highbridge Company
• Release date: Jan 14, 2020
• ISBN: 9781684578894

Vikram Paralkar

Vikram Paralkar was born and raised in Mumbai, and now lives in Philadelphia in the United States. He works as a physician-scientist at the University of Pennsylvania, where he treats patients with leukaemia and conducts research into the genetic mutations responsible for the illness.

Reviews for Night Theater

[Ryan Ludman · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I read “Night Theater” for my online book club the #BicoastalBibliophiles. We are always trying to read diverse, interesting books and this one was a perfect recommendation from @inkandpaperblog. I listened to the audiobook and it was a great listening experience. I don’t always listen to fiction because I can get bored and zone out, missing some plot points. I was engaged the whole time with this book.
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The book starts with a surgeon who is working in a remote village with limited supplies and less than ideal conditions. He has left the city for some reason but we are not told why right away. One night while working in the clinic, a teacher, pregnant wife, and young son show up at the clinic asking for help. They are dead, killed in a violent robbery, and they’ve been given a chance to live again. The teacher asked the surgeon to operate on them and fix their injuries for they will become alive again in the morning. The surgeon with the help of a pharmacist and her husband get to work to fix the family.
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I enjoyed the straightforward nature of this plot. Most of the action occurs during one night in a nice, linear plot. It’s easy to follow and the book doesn’t use a lot of techniques or gimmicks for tension. You can see all my thoughts on Goodreads. ★★★★★ ◊ Audiobook / Paperback ◊ Fiction - Spiritual, Medical Drama, Fable ◊ Listened on Scribd / Purchased from Books Inc. ◊ Published by Catapault in the US on January 14, 2020.▪️