Skip to main content

Book Review: Quarter Life Crisis

QUARTER LIFE CRISIS




This story has been due for a long time now… about time someone wrote something along the lines of something that is almost pandemic among the clueless youth of the modern world, self included. It is a surprise no one thought of penning something like this earlier, though I have read one book along similar lines, though not quite on the ball, as this one is. I am referring to the modern youth, and his or her attitude towards life in general and career & family to be specific.

THE PLOT
The plot is fairly simple – though fascinating. It is about two people: one a young man, the other a young lady. The young man is completely clueless about his life; has got into an Engineering degree course without an iota of planning or thought; in the 4th year, he has little idea or interest in what to do with the rest of his life. To put it simply, this poor man is clueless. He is even more clueless about his lady love, beyond the obvious fact that he is genuinely in love, and totally committed to her. The lady has none of the above problems – and is a beacon of strength, unlike the half-wit she loves.

The long and short of it is that things get out of hand in the personal sphere first – and the lady lands up getting pregnant. To make things interesting, she categorically refuses the option of abortion, though she is all of 21 or thereabout. Despite the fact that she has a clear definable life goal & a workable plan for it – she is adamant, as only a woman can be; trust me. The good point, or should I say the only redeeming point in the gentleman, he is a true gentleman. He stands by his lady love, and vehemently supports her, once he sees that there is no changing her mind. Tremendous maturity on his part, the way he accepts the reality, and wholeheartedly supports her.

The family of the lady, on the other hand, has some other ideas; they are just not willing to listen to either of them, or the lady’s plan to have the child. The two lovers plans were well known to both families, as they were together since long, but the lady’s parents will not accept this – given the gentleman’s cluelessness of his direction & life. The gentleman & the lady are clear-  lets get married immediately. But that is easier said than done, as the lady’s family will have none of it.

The gentleman’s family, though understandably distraught over this nasty surprise, gets over it fast enough – aided by a strong elder sister of the Gentleman, who is critical yet supportive of the two. She even tries to intervene in the Lady’s family, to no avail. Eventually, this family rises in solid support of the two lovers, a phase which has been handled remarkably well in the book. The book takes off from this point in the second half, for a series of genuine heart-warming, at times melancholy, surprises as the main characters show uncommon resolve, faith and patience… for what happens next, read the book!

THE ANALYSIS
There isn’t much to analyse in this book, to be honest; I don’t mean that as a criticism. This is a human interest story, a story on human lives and emotions. This is not a situational story, or a circumstantial one full of twists and turns and / or action. This is a book of Human Emotions, Life, Life Choices, Reactions, Family, and about Building a Life by Overcoming Ones Weaknesses. This is a book of how a clueless man finds himself; this is a book of choices – on how the choices you make impact your life as a whole. This is a book that teaches a standing life lesson, to be honest, in some ways.

The book does, at one level, serve to raise some pertinent life questions to the discerning reader, as to the importance of one’s choices, the importance of having a clear definable goal in life; of being on the right side of social norms; of having the strength to face the consequences of going against the norm; of being committed about everything in life; and about how things can go wrong if commitment is lacking in your approach or your attitude towards anything. It does all of this without being judgemental!

The story is intense and slow-paced; the author deserves credit for writing an engaging story despite it being a slow story. The way the intensity of the relationships portrayed in this novel has been brought out with clever wordplay, and a minimum of fuss and needless over-dramatization is what impressed me the most. Further, this intensity has been quite successfully maintained throughout the entire novel, without any  sacrifices made on any aspect of the novel.


The charectarisation is adequate; quite good, in fact. The character sketches are near-flawless in the consistency of their reactions over time and range of situations, which is a tremendous achievement in a novel of this genre. The behaviour of each character is fully believable and seems practical in the light of the overall character; not one scene seems forcefully done, or out of place. The best part of all is the female characters, all of which are shown as strongly-etched, which I personally liked. The language is simple and functional, not flowering, yet it succeeds to create a moving image in your mind. All in all, rated 4 stars out of 5…

Comments

  1. A woman always preserves life and gives life and protects life which is the fruit of her natural love whatever the circumstances. A man trying to be pragmatic in society destroys life and annihilates love. He is the loser ultimately.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PK, The Movie : One Of The Best...

\ PK : A Movie Ahead Of Its Time; A Movie That Is A Very Vital And Current Need! I dont normally review movies; my blog does not lend itself to such an activity, given its positioning as one that asks some tough questions to Indians. I am making an exception for this movie, not because it is a landmark movie {which it is}, but because this movie is also one that asks some pretty blunt, and to some people, offensive questions.  It is rather sad and humbling to see the vigorous protests to this movie, and some cases of active on-street protests and interference in some places. Sad, because there is almost nothing in the content that should excite such actions; and humbling because it is a painful reminder that we as a nation have still a ways to go in our quest for true development! Before I move onto the movie, I have just one question : did the protesters also protest to Haider? If no, you did not find the negative portrayal of The Indian Army objecti

Tarkeshwar Mahadev : Pune Hidden Gems

What do you do when you have something good, something that is praiseworthy, and something that can be an attraction? Answer, if you are in Pune – keep silent about it, tell no one. This is seemingly exaggerated – perhaps it is exaggerated; but I am flabbergasted by a series of unbelievable locations that I have visited in Pune City – within main Pune City, mind you . These are not well known – at least not one single localite informed me, even on asking . At least those I talked. If I didn’t talk to the right people, perhaps I am in the wrong. But – if you expand your vision to TV, Cinema, Popular opinion, hotels – the situation above gets proof. I earlier visited Pune on a family holiday, stayed in a good Hotel. Not one Hotel informed me of these; not one person – Taxi, Tour Guide – even mentioned these . Thus, it seems to me that Puneites don’t realise how lovely a city they have, how mesmerizing are its many, many tourist-worthy places, how rich and unspoiled,

Book Review : Chhatrapati Shivaji

Chhattrapati Shivaji stands as one of the most celebrated medieval heroes in Modern India; it is a name that touches a chord in almost every Indian, and is a powerful force to reckon with even today, three centuries after his death. He is present everywhere you can see; he is one of the few to withstand the onslaught of naming everything in sight after the Nehru family. A Chhatrapati square her, a Shivaji Terminus there – many cities have honoured themselves with some landmark, statue, street or square in his name. Such is his current followership, and so powerful is his presence. This makes reviewing any book related on this personality a big responsibility, a tough task  – and not one to be taken with insincerity, or with bias,  or attitude. I had always thought of The Chhatrapati as a tall personality, a commanding and great Indian; but had never given a thought to the pull, the deep connect and the powerful influence this genius had on me; as I read the current book, as I t