Book Review : The Soft Target

Kalyan Nanda’s The Soft Target

Kalyan Nanda’s book under review – The Soft Target – comes across as a simple, lovely though faintly melancholy read, lively throughout, and well paced. The topic {or background theme} is mental illness; and despite this seemingly drab lifeless subject, the book is anything but. And, the theme has also been presented in a very different form, with the entire treatment being almost unique. Overall, I rate the book as 4 stars-  and it narrowly missed the 5 star mark. Superb book indeed!

THE  STORY

The story is of a kid / boy / man with a debilitating social illness that precludes his conversing normally with anyone; this is balanced with an unusually high intellect, and other capabilities. The book is the slightly melancholy story of how we encounters troubles right from childhood, and manages to overcome them all. Life consistently gives him challenging situations – which have nothing to do with his mental situation … parents death 2 days before most vital exam, for example… and how he continues on his path – and where this path takes him… the end comes as both a surprise and not a surprise…

THE ANALYSIS

This book is a genuine surprise… the concept is near-on unique, as is the approach taken. First, the concept : the book’s title is a reference to the hero being a soft target for God, and how we supposedly overcomes these challenges. Thus the story is a series of situations – all genuine in that they are plausible, for our hero; and the grit he displays, and the support he gets along the way. However, the core of the book blurb – taking on God, is not brought out by the book. Quite the opposite, in fact – as it comes out that God has actually stood by him through it all…

Next, the approach – the author has done a bang-up job of presenting a heavy, tedious topic in a most friendly, lively and interesting manner; with an excellent concept as above, supported by a great plot full of plausible twists, the everpresent crime angle to further heighten the tension and the interest. This comes across as a decided plus; making for a truly rewarding read. To top it all, there are light healthy humourous and witty dialogues & observations littered throughout the book. While the concept cost it one star, the presentation earned the book 4 stars, and 4 very richly deserved stars at that.

The book is based on an excellent plot, with a well-defined story progression. The story proceeds at a healthy comfortable pace, with the jumps in the time as the young kid grows up being handled adroitly. It isnt too racy – just right, keeping it lively and bright, while giving all of us some strong life lessons along the way. There is a lot – A lot – one can learn from this book; what the main character went through was a very trying experience indeed. Building that, showing that on the page through words is a touch of uncommon skill indeed!

Which brings me to the characterization – the strongest, and indeed, almost the only well developed character is Mohan, though one or two of his support group have also been developed well. Plus, keeping lively prose & wit in this backdrop, while also developing characters is a remarkable achievement, allowing the reader to both connect with Mohan as well as empathise – while not being pulled into the depths of melancholy moods. This took stunning skill – well done, Mr Nanda!

CONCLUSION

All in all, this is a nice, lovely and reasonably fast read, a very lively book indeed. It is a short read, and is quite a heartfull and moodfull {new words both J} despite being short. The main character Mohan, plus that idiotic friend of his,Brij – stay with you long after you put it down. Samidha, despite her short tenure, rises above all. It is a book that motivates you, entertains you, teaches you to be more accepting of everyone, and forces you to confront society’s idiocy in a very lively homely package… highly recommended indeed, a must read for all… this is not a book you should miss…

In closing, the author asks a question – who is the soft target, is it God, or is it Mohan? And asks the reader to answer. Well, Kalyanjij, neither is the soft target, whichever way you look at it… scientific basis or spiritual basis. Scientifically, with growing population – genetic diseases are sure to increase in number as alleles arise due to mutation, or due to genetic segregation. Unavoidable, though sad for the individual. Spiritually, there is karm theory over multiple lifetimes – so  again, no soft target; in fact  - in both genetic and scientific terms, God has supported Mohan through extraordinary ability!

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