Before going ahead with this book review, I would like to apologize for writing this review long after the book hit the stands. But as the cliché goes ‘better late than never’, so if you haven’t read the book then this book review is meant for you and if you’re a good Samaritan then please do pass on the word to others. Since the topic of Cliché has come up let’s say, ‘Never judge a book by its cover’ has a new inspiration. The use of color and décor of the book is eye catching and it makes you wonder if its one of the ingenious books written by an Indian, like Chetan Bhagat’s books or fun and frivolous like Advaita Kala’s ‘Almost Single’. So you go on to the blurb at the back which tells us that the protagonist is an 18 year old Ria Rathore from Ahemdabad who is ‘Fiery, Naïve, Unconventional and Silly’, the rest of the blurb pretty much describes her as a rebel living in a conservative city. The climax is that despite her ‘Well-Heeled’ life and her popularity she is unable to intimidate her Lecturer named Radha Chatterjee, by whom she is quite intimidated.
If you’re thinking, ‘who wants to read a book based on the life of a eighteen year old’ and you put the book down even before reading it, then it is perfectly fine! But the problem will arise if you think the book remotely reminds you of ‘Mona Lisa Smile’ or even ‘Dead Poet’s Society’, and you flip to the first chapter to start reading it. The problem will start since you will be literally cursing your self for not reading this review.
The book is actually about a short lived lesbian relationship between a college fresher and her English Teacher. It is a controversial topic and the blurb conveniently overlooks that ‘one little information’. Moreover the other aspects of the book like the language, characters and the plot is not even worth calling mediocre. It almost seems that Roma Bansal, the writer wanted to write a book that would show case her name as one of the intellectual/chic writers from an Indian background. But after reading the novel I think she has redefined ‘professional suicide’.
For Example Ria’s character is a Indian version of an All-American-Rich-Blonde, atleast the sort they show in the books and movies. I can’t even sensor the book to a particular age because even if the book is talking about a homosexual relation, the language is written dabble. The books filled with small details which don’t seem to carry any importance to the plot, there is no figurative construction and the only thing it tells us about the characters is that they are financially well off and are self indulgent. Radha Chatterjee’s character comes off as mysterious, which is the only reason the story even has a back bone but Ria whose character is suppose to grow during the course of the book just struck me as shallow through out the book, she does commit an act of selflessness towards the end but it doesn’t implicate her decent into womanhood. The most annoying factor is that both women are heterosexual and have a soft corner for their respective men but in their undeniable love for each other they don’t seem to question their sexual preference. At adulthood if two women realize they have homosexual tendencies, it is bound to cause identity crisis, it is bound to cause confusion. The only thing that both women over here are suffering of is ‘love’.
The book by no standards is a ‘deep’ book since it is through-and-through shallow and it can’t even be called a ‘leisure book meant for masses’ since it is thoroughly boring and masses have a higher standard than this. Incase readers find this review as harsh then let me give you my word, this article is comparatively diplomatic and think what-may-ever-you-feel, but just don’t read the book!
Latika Deo
Sunday, April 19, 2009
One Afternoon
Before going ahead with this book review, I would like to apologize for writing this review long after the book hit the stands. But as the cliché goes ‘better late than never’, so if you haven’t read the book then this book review is meant for you and if you’re a good Samaritan then please do pass on the word to others. Since the topic of Cliché has come up let’s say, ‘Never judge a book by its cover’ has a new inspiration. The use of color and décor of the book is eye catching and it makes you wonder if its one of the ingenious books written by an Indian, like Chetan Bhagat’s books or fun and frivolous like Advaita Kala’s ‘Almost Single’. So you go on to the blurb at the back which tells us that the protagonist is an 18 year old Ria Rathore from Ahemdabad who is ‘Fiery, Naïve, Unconventional and Silly’, the rest of the blurb pretty much describes her as a rebel living in a conservative city. The climax is that despite her ‘Well-Heeled’ life and her popularity she is unable to intimidate her Lecturer named Radha Chatterjee, by whom she is quite intimidated.
If you’re thinking, ‘who wants to read a book based on the life of a eighteen year old’ and you put the book down even before reading it, then it is perfectly fine! But the problem will arise if you think the book remotely reminds you of ‘Mona Lisa Smile’ or even ‘Dead Poet’s Society’, and you flip to the first chapter to start reading it. The problem will start since you will be literally cursing your self for not reading this review.
The book is actually about a short lived lesbian relationship between a college fresher and her English Teacher. It is a controversial topic and the blurb conveniently overlooks that ‘one little information’. Moreover the other aspects of the book like the language, characters and the plot is not even worth calling mediocre. It almost seems that Roma Bansal, the writer wanted to write a book that would show case her name as one of the intellectual/chic writers from an Indian background. But after reading the novel I think she has redefined ‘professional suicide’.
For Example Ria’s character is a Indian version of an All-American-Rich-Blonde, atleast the sort they show in the books and movies. I can’t even sensor the book to a particular age because even if the book is talking about a homosexual relation, the language is written dabble. The books filled with small details which don’t seem to carry any importance to the plot, there is no figurative construction and the only thing it tells us about the characters is that they are financially well off and are self indulgent. Radha Chatterjee’s character comes off as mysterious, which is the only reason the story even has a back bone but Ria whose character is suppose to grow during the course of the book just struck me as shallow through out the book, she does commit an act of selflessness towards the end but it doesn’t implicate her decent into womanhood. The most annoying factor is that both women are heterosexual and have a soft corner for their respective men but in their undeniable love for each other they don’t seem to question their sexual preference. At adulthood if two women realize they have homosexual tendencies, it is bound to cause identity crisis, it is bound to cause confusion. The only thing that both women over here are suffering of is ‘love’.
The book by no standards is a ‘deep’ book since it is through-and-through shallow and it can’t even be called a ‘leisure book meant for masses’ since it is thoroughly boring and masses have a higher standard than this. Incase readers find this review as harsh then let me give you my word, this article is comparatively diplomatic and think what-may-ever-you-feel, but just don’t read the book!
Latika Deo
If you’re thinking, ‘who wants to read a book based on the life of a eighteen year old’ and you put the book down even before reading it, then it is perfectly fine! But the problem will arise if you think the book remotely reminds you of ‘Mona Lisa Smile’ or even ‘Dead Poet’s Society’, and you flip to the first chapter to start reading it. The problem will start since you will be literally cursing your self for not reading this review.
The book is actually about a short lived lesbian relationship between a college fresher and her English Teacher. It is a controversial topic and the blurb conveniently overlooks that ‘one little information’. Moreover the other aspects of the book like the language, characters and the plot is not even worth calling mediocre. It almost seems that Roma Bansal, the writer wanted to write a book that would show case her name as one of the intellectual/chic writers from an Indian background. But after reading the novel I think she has redefined ‘professional suicide’.
For Example Ria’s character is a Indian version of an All-American-Rich-Blonde, atleast the sort they show in the books and movies. I can’t even sensor the book to a particular age because even if the book is talking about a homosexual relation, the language is written dabble. The books filled with small details which don’t seem to carry any importance to the plot, there is no figurative construction and the only thing it tells us about the characters is that they are financially well off and are self indulgent. Radha Chatterjee’s character comes off as mysterious, which is the only reason the story even has a back bone but Ria whose character is suppose to grow during the course of the book just struck me as shallow through out the book, she does commit an act of selflessness towards the end but it doesn’t implicate her decent into womanhood. The most annoying factor is that both women are heterosexual and have a soft corner for their respective men but in their undeniable love for each other they don’t seem to question their sexual preference. At adulthood if two women realize they have homosexual tendencies, it is bound to cause identity crisis, it is bound to cause confusion. The only thing that both women over here are suffering of is ‘love’.
The book by no standards is a ‘deep’ book since it is through-and-through shallow and it can’t even be called a ‘leisure book meant for masses’ since it is thoroughly boring and masses have a higher standard than this. Incase readers find this review as harsh then let me give you my word, this article is comparatively diplomatic and think what-may-ever-you-feel, but just don’t read the book!
Latika Deo
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