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| Boook Cover Source: Goodreads |
For quite a while, I was hearing a lot about this book from my friend and was getting mixed reactions about the book. So I decided to pick up the book and to see for myself where the book actually stands.
Here is a brief synopsis about the book before we start discussing the book in detail:
" Hi, I'm Radhika Mehta and I'm getting married this week. I work at Goldman Sachs, an investment bank. Thank you for reading my story. However, let me warn you.
You may not like me too much. One, I make a lot of money. Two, I have an opinion on everything. Three, I have had a boyfriend before. OK, maybe two.
Now if all this was the case with a guy, one might be cool with it. But since I am a girl these three things I mentioned don't really make me too likable, do they?"
Lets start with the cover. The cover looks great and is an instant eye-catcher in my frank opinion. Kudos for the cover. Second thing what I like about the book is the theme of this book. The book is about the girl Radhika who pursues her dreams while trying to fit in the stereotypical Indian society. Third thing which I like is the characters, specially that of Radhika. A young, ambitious, intelligent girl who is not afraid of voicing her opinion in front of everyone. A big thumbs up to Chetan Bhagat for creating such a powerful and great character. I also the narration and how the story is being told. The story starts in the present times and takes you to the past for explaining the entire incident. Also I like the little conversations of Radhika with her "mini-me", that added much more persona and lively feel to the character.
Coming to the things which bothered me...
The most annoying thing about the book is the way the theme is portrayed. Don't get me wrong, I do love the theme of the book, but I really feel disappointed with how the theme is portrayed in front of the audience. Chetan Bhagat wanted to portray feminist ideologies but instead he portrayed pseudo-feminist ideologies. Chetan Bhagat just portrayed what the other so called feminist people are portraying these days. To give you an example, Radhika always used to complain about her looks and how people judge girls by their looks and how much she earns and while selecting a groom for herself, she rejected the people for the very same reason for being ugly and not earning enough. That is clearly being hypocrite and the thought which the present day so called feminists flaunts.
I would have loved to read this book more than once, if it had portrayed the true essence of feminism. Considering the kind of readership which Chetan Bhagat have, it was a perfect opportunity for him to promote true spirit of frminism.
Coming to the narration part, I felt Chetan Bhagat made this book way more dramatic than required making this story more of masal bollywood movie script rather than a novel. I do liked the first flashback section, however in the second flashback section I felt Chetan Bhagat made this much more cheesy and melodramatic story for my liking. This whole thing made the plot ridiculous.
Also the book was not properly concluded and felt the ending was rushed. I don't know why but I fell Chetan Bhagat always rushes while ending his books which is kind of turn off for me. It feels like the entire dinner was good but then the desert screws up, leaving a bad impression onto the people mind.
So to sum up, this book was seriously lacking and it felt like I was reading a masala bollywood script rather than reading a novel, though I won't watch that bollywood movie either. This book clearly is over-hyped and I seriously feel disappointed considering the popularity of Chetan Bhagat as an author in India. I won't recommend this book to anyone and if someone ask me whether they should but this book or not, then the answer will be a big NOOOOOOO!, To rate this book, I would rate this book 2.5 stars out of 5. Still if you don't believe me and want to judge the book after reading it yourself, here are the links to the amazon from where you can get the book.
India: One Indian Girl by Chetan Bhagat
Outside India: One Indian Girl by Chetan Bhagat
So, this is what I feel after reading this book. Do let me know in the comment section what do you feel about the book. Guys if you like this review, hit the like button below and if you don't, do vote it down and mention the reason in the comment section below as it will help me to get better and do SUBSCRIBE to the blog to get all the reviews right into your mail box. To know more about Chetan Bhagat and his recent work you can visit his website: www.chetanbhagat.com
CIAO
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