Sunday, 22 July 2012

Book review: Dork

Book: Dork
Author: Sidin Vadukut
Penguin Books India
Rs. 199


This is the first book of the 'Dork' trilogy featuring Robin 'Einstein' Varghese, a management consultant with a  'God' complex. The book is in the form of diary entries; an interesting way of presenting the story to the reader. The entries chronicle the life of Einstein who gets himself into one stunning mishap into another. Einstein wants to make it to associate at his firm and get into the pants of his lady love, Gouri, all within a year. Whether he succeeds or not forms the crux of the story.


Sidin Vadukut creates a protagonist who is filled up to the brim with flaws. Einstein is a bumbling idiot, blundering his way through life. Yet, he's supremely confident in his abilities and in spite of his qualities reminding the readers of someone they might know in real life, he is likeable and therein lies the brilliance of his characterization. As a reader, you are cheering him on, every step of the way. It reminded me of another narcissistic titular character, (Dr. House, anyone?)


Something that did irritate me though were the management or consulting terms used freely in the book. Coming from a non-management background, I for one, could not figure out what the author intended to convey at times. It could mean that I'm dense though I hope not! Overall, it's quite a refreshing read, quite different from the books that I have read recently. And yes, Shahrukh Khan's dentist's accountant and Padmalaxmi's ex-husband's hairdresser are on the spot with their reviews on this one! Stumped? Read the back cover of the book for it's most 'ROFL' moment!

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