A Maverick Heart: Between Love and Life
Author: Ravindra Shukla
ISBN-13: 9789382473008
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Frog books/ Leadstart Publishing
Number of Pages: 383
Genre: Fiction / Drama
Language: English
Price: Rs. 195 (Got a review copy)
About the Book:
Resonance - We often use the term, “frequency matching” in our daily life to define compatibility. Our frequency does not match, we do not get along? We are not in sync? We are not on the same page etc? When people of similar frequencies (wavelengths or within the same range) come together – output is not a simple sum of individual work, but exponential. In science we term this phenomenon as resonance. Output at this stage is beyond any logical limit. Three young kids, with different family backgrounds and outlook meet during their graduation days at IIT-Bombay campus and become close friends. Although, individually they are in sync, but the same is not true for their interaction with the world. How will their relation withstand the conflict of family and society pressure? How do their character shape out, as they traverse from an educational environment through the corporate world to the realm of the social-political world? Inspired by the real events across the globe from the last decade, Ravindra Shukla brings you the characters based story – struggle and triumphs of a young generation and their relevance in the current socio-eco-political era.
Resonance - We often use the term, “frequency matching” in our daily life to define compatibility. Our frequency does not match, we do not get along? We are not in sync? We are not on the same page etc? When people of similar frequencies (wavelengths or within the same range) come together – output is not a simple sum of individual work, but exponential. In science we term this phenomenon as resonance. Output at this stage is beyond any logical limit. Three young kids, with different family backgrounds and outlook meet during their graduation days at IIT-Bombay campus and become close friends. Although, individually they are in sync, but the same is not true for their interaction with the world. How will their relation withstand the conflict of family and society pressure? How do their character shape out, as they traverse from an educational environment through the corporate world to the realm of the social-political world? Inspired by the real events across the globe from the last decade, Ravindra Shukla brings you the characters based story – struggle and triumphs of a young generation and their relevance in the current socio-eco-political era.
Swarnali Speaks :
The book blurb and the author profile promised a lot of great things. A lot of important contemporary issues like cultural conflicts, corruption, the marriage scenario are highlighted and paid attention to. As the very title suggests, the book is not just a love story but tells the tales of three protagonists, Rahul, Richita and Neerav, their stories of love, friendship and how they waddle through life trying to find meaning.
The characters in the books are not sketchy and are developed quite in depth. However, I would have liked if Neerav was paid a little more attention. The stories of camaraderie between the two guys, campus tales from IIT-B, and the thoughtfully penned dialogues are the positives.
The problem areas in the book were mostly with the editing and the typos spread throughout the course of the book which is a major turn off. The book was unnecessarily dragged to almost 400 pages which makes the pace painfully slow in certain areas. It could have been almost brought down to half the size with careful editing which would have made it crisp and sharper. The few Hindi dialogues inserted into the book helps to bring out the Indian fervor but a translation would've been a lot of help for non-Hindi knowing readers.
Another issue I had with the book is the way it was presented. The story is quite promising and tries to bring together some very great ideas but the unusually slow pace is a little disappointing. Also the shuttling between the narratives were pretty confusing for me and I think they could be neater. A good example of narration shift from first person to third person can be seen in R.K. Narayan's "Guide" which I think the author can refer to to sharpen his narrative skills for his future endeavors.
Overall, the book is an okay-ish read. You can give it a try it if you like campus stories and like detailed narratives.
The book blurb and the author profile promised a lot of great things. A lot of important contemporary issues like cultural conflicts, corruption, the marriage scenario are highlighted and paid attention to. As the very title suggests, the book is not just a love story but tells the tales of three protagonists, Rahul, Richita and Neerav, their stories of love, friendship and how they waddle through life trying to find meaning.
The characters in the books are not sketchy and are developed quite in depth. However, I would have liked if Neerav was paid a little more attention. The stories of camaraderie between the two guys, campus tales from IIT-B, and the thoughtfully penned dialogues are the positives.
The problem areas in the book were mostly with the editing and the typos spread throughout the course of the book which is a major turn off. The book was unnecessarily dragged to almost 400 pages which makes the pace painfully slow in certain areas. It could have been almost brought down to half the size with careful editing which would have made it crisp and sharper. The few Hindi dialogues inserted into the book helps to bring out the Indian fervor but a translation would've been a lot of help for non-Hindi knowing readers.
Another issue I had with the book is the way it was presented. The story is quite promising and tries to bring together some very great ideas but the unusually slow pace is a little disappointing. Also the shuttling between the narratives were pretty confusing for me and I think they could be neater. A good example of narration shift from first person to third person can be seen in R.K. Narayan's "Guide" which I think the author can refer to to sharpen his narrative skills for his future endeavors.
Overall, the book is an okay-ish read. You can give it a try it if you like campus stories and like detailed narratives.
Rating : 2 / 5
This review was a part of Reader's Cosmos book review program.
