Neha - Yet another love story - RK's review
Why did I read this book?
I came to know about this book through my friend almost a year back. It is her husband's first book. I had decided to read it at some point in time. Last week, she informed me that her husband has published his second book. That's when I remembered his first book after a year and I wanted to read it first before reading his second.
Also, I connect myself whenever I hear about authors publishing their first book as I knew how it feels when presenting the first book to readers.
If you are among few, or maybe many, wondering how I knew that feeling, I would like to tell you that I have published a book, The 41-minute Journey.
Sorry, you have to believe it.
I have also read the author's few reviews of movies and books from his blog constantscribbles. So I had some expectations of his first book, ordered it, and started reading.
Did I like it?
I had thought why did he call his book 'Yet another love story' as it sounds to not prefer this book. But that's the hint for how the author wanted to showcase his story. He does not want to show his story as a different or new love story as it is not and he wishes to portray it as one another ordinary love story as it is. He has also admitted it in his initial note in the book. The author sets the right expectation for his story in his note.
'How an author can get this much confidence to almost criticize his book in the name of setting the expectation?' I thought.
With all his notes (alerts), started reading the book. After reading a few chapters, I tried to realize the narration style but I couldn't as there was none till then. The story is being narrated by the author itself, not in a linear fashion. Not in a non-linear fashion either. It was kind of non-linearly non-linear. The author not only narrates the story but also talks to you. I really mean it. If you get a chance to read, you will also realize it.
Each chapter deviates from the title of it and does not get back on track immediately. Instead deviates further. I felt why he has to detail things that are not relevant to the main story. I realized I might lose interest if the style is going to be the same throughout. I also worried, if I lost interest and did not like the book, how will I say that to my friend. She is someone who reads all my writings and gives me genuine feedback. It would be so harsh to say that I did not like her husband's first book. I could also not lie that the book is good because that is the biggest betrayal a reader can do to the writer. And I cannot do that being an aspiring writer.
With all these thoughts, I continued reading. As the author mentioned (in the book's title), the story was not different from any other love stories we have read or known. But, shortly while reading, I realized that I should not look for the story in this book, but for the author's narration. Though it is non-linear raised to the power of 2 or 3, I felt I was being slowly adapted to it and started liking it.
There are places I laughed not only at the conversation between his characters but also at his conversation with me (readers). The flow of the story is nothing new but still, something pushes me towards the end not just to know the climax but also to know how the author has handled the climax.
I liked the climax very much. I felt relieved that I don't have to give bad comments about the book to my friend. I am happy that I got a chance to know a story through a different narration.
Though I haven't read a lot many books but just 20, I never came across such a style of narration. Still, I cannot call it a style. It opened a new door for me into the writing world as it had broken various traditional ways of writing. Appreciate his guts for this attempt.
Looking forward to reading his next book, 'Summer Camp'.
Comments
Post a Comment
Your feedback pls