“Prophecy”
by Kanak Kapur
from the January 13, 2025 issue of The New Yorker
I wonder how it must be to be a young writer, publishing a few pieces here and there, no novels or short story collections out just yet, and The New Yorker publishes my story. I’m thrilled when it happens and wish those authors well! Here we have Kanak Kapur’s debut New Yorker fiction, but in looking around I don’t think she’s published much elsewhere. Her interview with Deborah Treisman says she is working on her first novel. So congratulations all around, and I hope we like the story itself.
Here is how “Prophecy” begins:
The night of Dev’s twenty-second birthday, he was invited to sit with the elders after dinner. The summons was conveyed by Bhakti Bai, the maid, who called Dev into the kitchen once the dinner plates had been cleared, and placed in his hands a tray of glasses filled with water. “They’ve asked for you,” she said.
Please feel free to comment below with your thoughts on the story. And Happy New Year, by the way! I hope 2025 is a good year for you all.
I was surprised when the POV changed to first person in the last section. Is there any other stories that do something like that?
Of all the short fiction the New Yorker must get daily, this story somehow was published. It fails on so many accounts: cliched, one dimensional characters, a meandering story line with little intellectual depth, but rather emotional concessions. Skip it and read the engrossing story about copyright infringement.
I wish Jagriti was as full and complex a character as Dev. We can see Dev hunger for his uncles’ approval and at the same time wish to not be like them. This contradiction in his character feels very human to me. Whereas Jagriti tells us who she is from the very first moment we meet her, and remains this plastic cutout of a character for the rest of the story.
Also the didn’t need to start in Dev’s childhood to show us the push and pull of his relationship with his uncles. We see it clearly in the paragraph that begins the section of the story where he is an adult.
The switch in perspective and the introduction of a new character at the end is the Alice Munro effect. I noticed the same thing in “Revision” by Daisy Hildyard. When Munro did it, it was exciting for being so fresh. Now that seemingly every other writer in The New Yorker is doing it, I’m wondering when another original thinker will come along to freshen things up again. There used to be a time when writers weren’t merely contented with aping what had come before. Now all they care about is their career, and hitting the checkpoints (such as publishing in The New Yorker) that lead to success.
It made me very happy this story was published in the New Yorker because it seems excellent to me in many ways. The characters are so real, the very direct expression of thoughts and feelings and the intransigence of some parents is so true. If you at all appreciate India, this story is amazing.
Dev is such an interesting character because he is a blank slate who absorbs all that is going around him. And Jagriti is strong willed. They are an interesting combination. Then there is Bhakti Bai and that incredible letter she writes and Dev’s reply. Some might say this story was a little too hopeful, a little too optimistic but I don’t agree. The majority viewpoint of not having any control over fate yet when challenged, characters take their own decision despite all contrary viewpoints is great to read. Some readers are happier with gloom and doom and not with characters who question fate and thoughtless conformity in a realistic way. And who might even have as ally or two.