A couple of words can pretty much sum up this book: pathetically boring. Got this book at the Crossword bookstore in the famous InOrbit mall in Malad (W), Mumbai. I am a big fan of fiction from the Indian subcontinent, so I make it a point to pick up some dude I haven't heard of before. Sarna disappoints in his debut novel.
The book's about Aftab, a 40-year-old Delhiite, whose wife left him for his friend, taking with him their 10-year-old son. So Aftab slowly descends into an abyss of self-pity, taking us with him every agonizing step of the way. He drinks, of course, and bitches about everybody: his boss, his secretary, his friends and their wives, and of course, his wife and friend. Thrown in are insights he gains about himself, his weaknesses. We come to know what makes Aftab tick. Then, he begins his just as agonizing rise to redemption.
The problem is that the reader just doesn't care. Sarna fails to engage the reader's sympathy for Aftab, making his sorry plight, his self-analysis and epiphanies, his attempt to start over with his first love, just one terrible exercise in futility. And, oh, the ending is so Hindi movie, Sarna must have been inspired. But at least the reader is glad the tragedy is over.
3 comments:
I loved the book. The language used, the scenes developed are so autobiographical that it comes across as someone's real story (a suggestion the author strongly denies). Have another go at it...Maybe you might like it. There is nothing wrong with the book. Great story.
Anyone's who's loved and lost will relate to the book in ways that cannot be explained. I love it how bang in the centre of the book (Pg 100 of 200) he details the moment when he realised we weren't going to be lovers like that...
Maybe I should have another go... it's been a few years, so I may have missed something. Plus, I am a big fan of re-reading.
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