The compound is, of course, now gone, so it is no longer possible to reconstruct what happened the night of the raid based on forensic evidence, although it is possible the Abbottabad Commission, a panel that was appointed by the Pakistani government to look into the raid, could shed some light on this question should its findings ever be publicly released.

CNN: Who really killed bin Laden?

There are some tedious passages, but Mr Chaudhuri is capable of producing that quicksilver compound of recognition and surprise, which is, of course, what so often distinguishes art from stage directions.

ECONOMIST: Indian fiction: Disconnected | The