Being an ardent fan of Erich Segal & having read all of his novels, I’ve to say this one is among the best. The central character of the novel, Andrew Elliot has had a long lasting impression on me & its one of the few characters that we all can relate to.
This book is a story of 5 friends, all from totally different background & the main protagonist is the common line through all of them. These guys belong to “class of 57” in Harvard & through these guys we get a tour through the life of different individuals and their experiences.
The reason that I love this book is its style of narration. At any moment of time while reading the book, the reader can touch & feel the character & sometimes even say “yeah, that’s me”. Since the characters are so different in their thinking & portrayal has been so perfect, there hasn’t been any kind of confusion in understanding their personality. The author hasn’t used any kind of shortcuts with the characters, they are shown as simple human beings who make mistakes in life just like you & me. There are lot more shades to their personality rather than the normal black & white. Author doesn’t make any judgements and leaves the decision to the reader.
This 600 odd page book takes us to a different era & at the end of it, the reader can feel contended for having gone through a quality book which was worth the time spent on it.