(Lowest: * Highest: *****)
Chetan Bhagat does it again. A simple novel about India and most importantly Indians. Sadly the similarity with his first novel ends there. This book is slow and definately not the “cannot keep it down” type. To be fair to Chetan the book is good and does tell a good story, A story worth reading and probably even learning something from. Frankly I was willing to give this book a *** rating but the last page of the Epilogue cost the book a * and made me fell like throwing the book out a window.
I have marked a section of this review as SPOILERS… if you want to read this book desperately just skip that part…
The story is about 6 people who work at the call center, set in one night. The catch is they get a call. (I know ur going wtf dont call centers get calls all the time). Well this one was from God..
That was enuf to get me to read the book and considering “5 point someone” was simply brilliant this was not a tough book to pick up. The good stuff in the book is simple Chetan Bhagat’s writing which is spectacular as usual. The hidden sarcasm and smart comments in the book make you laugh more than once.
The book starts off very slow and the first 100 pages are simply boring… The book slowly picks up pace and somewhere towards the end you actually start enjoying the book. As usual Chetan’s explanation of the chars is immaculate. I kindof want this book to be made into a movie just to see Priyanka’s nose(it is explained so well). The feeling of the chars to one another is clear and untainted from the story. The story line of 6 different people with their own worlds is well explained and beautiful to read…
**SPOILERS**
The choice of Shyam as the narrator was brilliant. How well Esha, Priyanka, Vroom, Radika and Military uncle were explained is another plus point of this book. About the book itself…
Firstly the dates explained was almost unwanted. I felt it was done to give the book a decent amount of size but it was hardly 10 pages. I did enjoy parts of 2nd date(when Priyanka screams at the family) and the 3rd date(confined spaces…need not say more).
Everything seemed ok considering I dont know much about call centers and how they work untill the call… For the love of god(no pun intended), the book actually got a bit more interesing after this. I enjoyed the part about the Bakshi(their boss) getting his just desserts. Their determination and presence of mind during the last part of the book is great and I did feel good for a couple of them as they stood up for themselves.
The best story was that of Ganesh and how well he is explained in the story. Anuj comes off as a prick and frankly thats how he seems.
The biggest blunder of the book is the last page where it is explained that the woman telling the story was God herself. A bunch of BS if you ask me. Consider this stuff, he says she tells him she will give the adresses of the people involved and then he realizes a few mins later that she is God and she dissappears(not in front of his eyes but he gets knocked out). Well if you as me Chetan might have thought its a good fun thing the end the book with but dude seriously wrong call… very bad call.
**END SPOILERS**
Finally… If you like light books read this one its prefectly light and relaxing. If you loved 5 point someone read this and dont expect it to be as good and it will turn out better than u expect. The book is not bad… I probably did not enjoy it as much as most ppl would, give it a try and drop your comments below.
Now Reading:
Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix.
