City of Joy by Dominque Lapierre (1985; Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-18952-4)
Every once and awhile, a non-fiction book blows this novelist away. City of Joy is that kind of read: A compelling story; characters you care about; broad-shouldered issues; prose that connects. Some of you are old enough to remember that the late Patrick Swazye played American Max Lowe in the movie version of this sweeping look at the City of Joy; the most disease ridden, inhospitable, ugly slum in all of slummy Calcutta. The movie (confession: I haven’t seen in it since it came out in 1992 so I’m relying on Internet sources to refresh my memory) focused on the character of Max Loeb; who, in the book, is the physician son of a wealthy Miami Jew who also happens to be a physician. Loeb (Lowe in the movie) journeys to the slums of India’s most decadent city to find answers; answers to questions that many folks never ask: Why does God not see? Why does God not hear? Why does not God care? Why does God let children suffer? You know, the sort of questions raised by Elie Wiesel’s seminal book, Night.
Looking at the cast of characters from the movie script, one glaring deficiency looms obvious: The main character in Lapierre’s story, a Polish Roman Catholic Priest named Father Stephan Kovalski, who comes to the slums, stays for an extended period of time to live and work with the poor in their squalor, and who “shows Max Loeb the ropes” isn’t even mentioned in the movie script. That’s a huge hole and, even though the movie (as I recall) was entertaining and somewhat enlightening as to the reality of India’s poverty, despair, and inhumanity, without Father Kovalski’s story, the book would be about thirty pages in length (instead of 464.) For this non-Catholic, the grit, determination, resolve, and piety shown by the good Father is the story. Without his light, light cast by his comrades in the slums and reflected in the priest’s actions and faith, the tale loses its bearings like a galleon at sea with no compass. My advice? Read the book. Relish the words. Praise Father Kovalski and all the others like him. And then, if you feel the need, rent the movie. But you’ll likely be disappointed; not by Swazye’s acting or the script, or the supporting cast, but because it’s not the story the author wrote. 5 stars out of 5. A must read if you’re at all interested in world affairs.
