Before going into a more objective analysis of the book, let me convey an overall impression – it’s a very well written and even more readable book, and a bit of a feel-good one, too. If you love a love story, this is the book to read! Un-putdownable is the word that springs to the mouth. I finished the book in a single session.
There is also a strong underlying message in the book, which has been brought to the fore a few times. It is about the need to become Indians rather than North Indians or South Indians.
There are some hints of this book being a sequel to Five Point Someone – the name of the hero, of course, is different; however, there are unmistakable references to incidents in the older book, and our hero, of course, is an IITian who has now joined IIM-A: much like our own Mr. Bhagat.
This book reads like a pure love story.
There is a bit of DDLJ thrown in(the boy & girl wanting to win over the parents and not just eloping), a little bit of Love Story elements(the boy hating his dad, physical relation in college while studying, the college scrum life followed by overpaid jobs) strewn about. Having said that, let me quickly add - the way Chetan Bhagat builds up the story-pieces it all together- is quite nice and entirely believable– would get your heart racing; he gets you Then there is a sense of an underlying goodness in the heroine, which, paired with her sense of adventure, would make you fall in love with her.
If you’ve ever loved anyone, you’d definitely be able to connect with the way the story shapes itself – you’d be able to identify the shades of your own love in the heroine’s.
A few incidents are a bit overboard and unrealistic, like the time that the heroine is able to diffuse a marriage situation, but then I’d say that authors need some leeway and deviation from reality to write a good book. It’s scary, also, because it showed me the author’s inability to find a realistic ground to prove the bride’s worth.
He has captured the essence of the “normal” south Indian and North Indian families and the differences therein(which makes them perceive the other as abnormal). He has also brought to the fore the basic tug-of-war between the old prides(like I am the boy or the boy’s family) and the new thought – of the woman’s equality, and how the old sneaks upon you and overwhelms the modern without the least warning! Very finely captured, indeed.