Beaten By Bhagath! by S. V. Divvaakar

Beaten By Bhagath! by S. V. Divvaakar

Rating: 4 out of 5

ISBN (edition I've read): 9789382473039

Read between: 18-02-2013 to 23-02-2013

Review:
Not more than twice I saw this book on the 'Upcoming Coming' or 'New Releases' shelves of few online bookstores. I wouldn't have picked this book up, if GoodReads.com hadn't chose as one of the ten randomly picked winners of the give-away of this book. I wouldn't be more fortunate to come across this book.

Plot (from back cover of the book):
'I'm sure you can do a much better job than Bhagath!'

When BB hears these inspiring words from his sexy lady boss, his staid life as a successful analyst in an MNC goes into a tailspin.

Biteen by the ego bug and smitten by her, BB sets off on his quest to write a book that's better than India's greatest writer Dr. Bhagath's blockbusters. Nothing unusual about this for BB, who likes a good fight. Except that he and Bhagath had been classmates and friends at college.

What follows is a roller-coaster voyage of the debutant author and his book, with all its twists and cul-de-sacs. Brushes with publishers, celebrities, retailers, book chains, and competition with the alliances among giants, mark the challenger's journey, upping the stakes at every stage.

Will BB catch up with his famous friend?

What will their encounter be like?

Written from side the ring, 'Beaten by Bhagath' is a gripping tale ...the first-ever about the unseen side of wonderland of Indian fiction.

My take on the book:
Aspiring to be an author, myself, this book was God-sent, I thought when I first received this book at my door-step.

The choice of the cover design was not a good one. A cricket batsman taking books head-on. The plot and the cover of the book seemed, to most extent, unconnected. The story is absolutely authors, books, getting published and succeeding as an author. It deals little, almost zero, with cricket. Especially when people, like me, judge and pick up books just by the book's covers, it is very important for the cover to be good. At the same time, the cover should be related to the plot of the story, so that the reader doesn't feel cheated after coming to know that idea he assumed when he saw the cover and the actual story is different.

I want to agree that the, so called in the story, name of the greatest writer of India Dr. Ketan Bhagath, alias K-10, is, more than coincidentally, rhyming with the current boom in youth, Chetan Bhagat.

From my experience, I know that an author's struggle starts writing a story and ends with signing a contract with a publisher, who will eventually publish the author's book. That is what most of the people would think of. But this book has unveiled that finding a publisher is just the start of the problems. The hard work needed post-signing off the contract with a publisher is ten folds greater the sustained hard work by the author till then. I was moved to know that there are eleven new books a day. I know there is a huge competition, and tough one at that, of getting published, but the mere number - eleven - shook me no end. But then, I don't know. This book is a work of fiction and I didn't care to waste time comparing the extent of factuality of the book.

This book was more knowledgeable than I have anticipated. The writing at the start was pretty amateurish but then the writing with the plot, itself, got more and more interesting. After all the problems of a debutant author is put forward, the story takes on, what seemed to me like, a science fictional turn. It is this part of the story that isn't any typical. There was not a mention of this part in the plot or the description of the book. Perhaps, the author didn't want to bore the non-writing readers. But what he didn't reckon was that that part of the story had violated the key plot of showcasing the struggle and problems associated with the wonderland of Indian fiction.

Overall, a not-so-entertaining, but enriching read. Though the plot lacked the entertaining factor, its realism and typicality hooks on a reader.

Recommendations:
To all those debutant writers, who strongly believe that they would someday hold the paper back of their work in their hands, I would recommend this book. This book prepares you for the worse (definitely a life of an author couldn't get worse than this) and makes the problems post the signing contract with publishers familiar.

Now That You're Rich! by Durjoy Datta, Maanvi Ahuja

Now That You're Rich! by Durjoy Datta, Maanvi Ahuja

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

ISBN (edition I've read): 9788192222646

Read between: 13-02-2013 to 16-02-2013

Review:
Now That You're Rich ... Let's Fall In Love... More than 75% of its buyers might have picked it by its title. But I picked it up for the top line on the cover, which read, 'Over 250,000 copies sold'. It must contain something special to attract such a huge response.

Plot:

Four twenty one year old overachieving nerds are about to leave their old lives behind - cheating boyfriends, tyrant parents, sad loe lives and backbiting friends. It is time for a new beginning.

One dream job.

Cars, big houses, expensive suits and pretty shoes, luxury vruises - the world awaits them! But is life perfect? Is money all what you need? What do you do when seniors pick on you, look down your cleavages, dump you with piles of workload and you live on endless cups of coffee and crates of beer? Out from college and into the real world, how does it change them? Does the scent of money lure them away from the bliss of friends and relationship?

In this age old battle between money and love, what wins this time?

My take on the book:
Perhaps, the sequel of the other book named, 'Of course I love you.. Till I Find Better...'. (You can find the review of that book, here...). I wonder where Durjoy finds the titles of his books. Witty, funny and crude ones. This one, unlike the other one, is not very raw and rugged. If the other one was wholly about college life and love story, this one is about corporate lives, relationships, pestering bosses, friendship and love. That is what the Indian readers - mostly, comprising of teens and youth - want to read.

Though the book is the sequel of the book - Of course I love you - there is little connection between the two books. The characters the new, the plot is new, the story is new, the book itself is new. Only the narrator remains the same - Deb. Deb is the lead character and the narrator of the other book. He is also the narrator of this story, but has very little of his role in this book. Though the story is the first-person narration of the character Deb, due to the deficiency of his character in the story, the story runs mostly like that of an thrid-person narration.

Witty, entertaining, funny, interesting at some times, boring at other, Now That You're Rich is a book to consider.

Recommendations:
To all those teens and youth of India. This is more entertaining to the youth than the elders....

                         

Of Course I Love You..! by Durjoy Datta and Maanvi Ahuja

Of Course I Love You..! by Durjoy Datta and Maanvi Ahuja

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

ISBN (edition I've read): 9788192222608

Read between: 30-01-2013 to 03-02-2013

Review:
The top line on the cover of the book reads, 'Over 4,00,000 Copies Sold'. I was curious to learn the reason behind such a huge success behind the book, so I picked up this book. I hate to admit that the book was not bad.

Plot:

"When do you know you are truly in love?"

An India Today Bestseller for seventeen straight weeks, Of course I love you! is a story set in Delhi, during the years 2006-2008, which revolves around colleges, nightclubs, relationships and friendships. It takes a dark and hilarious view on modern day relationships. Narrated in Debashish Roy's unsure, confused and testosterone induced voice, it takes a jibe at college time romances.

The book takes you through the tumultuous journey of a young guy with raging hormones, relationship issues, and a forgettable past. Just as he struggles with life on these accounts, an exquisitely beautiful girl walks in to his life and wrecks it in ways more than one. Will he survive the ordeal? Will he come out stronger?

Of Course I Love You! is a constant feature on the AC Nielson-Bookscan Top 250 books.

Not for the prude, the book tackles issues faced by young adults in a brutally honest manner.

My take on the book:
First of all, I hate Durjoy Datta. I liked only his two books - If Its Not Forever and Till My Last Breath. The others which I read - Oh Yes, I Am Single and You Were My Crush - etched an unwearable irritation for his writing. All the criticism subjected to Durjoy Datta by many critics didn't much help with the impression, either.

The only reason I picked up the book was, as I have already mentioned, that I was curios. Though there was a lot of criticism against Durjoy, he has sold 4,00,000 copies! Either, Indian readers seldom cared critics' views or Durjoy is wildly imaginative to entertain the readers. The latter seemed legit.

At the start, I was too bored to read this book. It seemed like any college-love-story kinda book. In fact, it is any college-love-story kinda book, but the author's - don't know whether it is Durjoy's or Maanvi's - writing and the dark and crude humor made it a little interesting.

The crudeness of the narration just got to hooked to it. Perhaps, people criticize Durjoy for his crudeness, but that I what I loved about this book.

One more aspect, other than its crudeness, that I liked about this book is that it even paced. Neither fast nor slow, the book just flows in a smooth manner.

Not to mention, referring to my present instance of my relationship, I liked this book. It helped me a lot.

Save for the editorial errors, which were infrequent, I guess, every average Indian reader will enjoy this book.

Crude, honest, entertaining, hooking, darkly humorous  I am looking forward to the read book in the series - Now That You're Rich...


Unnecessary Observation:

• The cover design of this book is a black and white replice of the cover of If Its Not Forever by the same author. I wonder, why change the cover while you are to copy the cover of the another book.

Recommendations:
The book is best to people, who appreciate phrases like, making out to fucking.