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!

Ashwin Sanghi's 'The Krishna Key'

After the success of 'The Rozabal Line' and 'Chanakya's Chant', writer Ashwin Sanghi is back with his latest mythological thriller- 'The Krishna Key'. I happened to read the first few chapters which are up online. It looks promising although the characters seem to have been totally ripped off from a certain other historical thriller writer which I'm sure you will have no trouble identifying after reading the book preview. A 40 something historian and a villain who has tattooed almost every inch of his body.. Sounds overtly familiar? Though I was disappointed about the not-so-original characterizations, I have full faith in Sanghi's abilities as an excellent storyteller. I thoroughly enjoyed his last book 'Chanakya's Chant' which is a work of art and I am hopeful that 'The Krishna Key' will live up to my crazy expectations. ;)


The book is expected to be released in the last week of August 2012.


A preview of the first five chapters- http://www.slideshare.net/ashwinsanghi/the-krishna-key-preview


Pre-order it on Flipkart- http://www.flipkart.com/krishna-key-9381626685/p/itmdayz59gtzmq22?pid=9789381626689&ref=229eff10-c8b3-4044-91c9-7843377440ff


And now for my favourite bit! The trailer for the book. I should mention that the music is awesome! Mystical, enchanting and it piques your curiosity regarding the book.

Revolution 2020- A review

I've gotten into this dangerous habit of buying books at the airport each time I travel by flight. Last month that was a total of 4 times and have spent a considerable amount of my hard earned money on fiction. So now I'm crossing my fingers hoping that it was a worthwhile investment. :)

There's something about a Chetan Bhagat novel that you can't just ignore. Is it the hype surrounding India's most talked about author? I bought Revolution 2020 more out of curiosity than anything else. The book is written in typical Bhagat style with the usual doses of struggles, failures, IITs and human relationships that make his books tick. The premise is simple- Two young men in Varanasi who fall hard for the same girl. One wants to change the world and the other wants to make a lot of money. So whom will she choose? A rather cute love story, but the editing could have been crisper with the middle third of the book especially, which drags on endlessly with the protagonist and his endless attempts at trying to win over his lady love.  Plus, I wish the author had done away with cliches about girls being difficult to understand, something he writes about in every book! 

Though the narrative gets tiresome at places, it's a good book overall. Not the best of Chetan's works (personally I rate his first book, Five Point Someone the highest) but it's not the worst either. I recommend it as a one time read. And if you're a Chetan Bhagat hater, then my advice is to avoid the book completely instead of complaining later about his writing style. So, all in all, it's a book for the Chetan fans or one for those who prefer to stay neutral on a touchy subject... Like me!!

My rating : 3/5

Post no. 9

I read two completely different books than I usually read and hence found it pertinent enough to review them on my blog :) 

Srividya Natarajan's No onions, nor garlic is a humorous take on the caste issues in India with Chennai City being the background. The book is loud and hilarious from page one. Though the book almost exclusively uses casteism and untouchability to entice emotions from its' characters, it's the writing style that ultimately wins in eliciting the laughs. I found that the Brahmin/Non Brahmin war taken a little bit too far- all the villainous characters are conspicuously from the so called 'higher' caste. I can understand what the author is trying to portray- that the whole concept of higher and lower castes is a farce, but she somehow succeeds in making Hinduism as a whole look like one too. I read another review of the same book where the reviewer mentions that an uninformed reader might draw wrong conclusions about Brahmins in general, and I tend to agree. Still, if you are willing to ignore the obvious and instead focus only on the humour, it is definitely an enjoyable read. I only hope that the author refrains from using a similar theme in her next novel, for I prefer to enjoy humour without having to feel uncomfortable. My rating: 3.5/5

The other book that I read during the week- Oliver's Story by Erich Segal. I would like to state at the outset, that I am no fan of romantic novels. I have never read a Mills and Boon and I probably never will. It's just that.. they all seem so sugar coated and superficial. I did manage to read Oliver's Story till the end and let me say this.. I have never been as impressed with a love story ever before! There is a certain touch of sadness associated with the lead character, Oliver Barrett and his journey to find the happiness that he lost after the death of his wife, Jenny. It's certainly the most romantic story that I have ever read. The ending was perfect; and the hopeless romantic in me could not have hoped for a better ending. Segal is also a master in subtle humour. I am almost certain that I will never read Erich Segal's Love Story which is a prequel to this book (maintaining my tradition of not wasting time on soppy love sagas) but hats off to Mr. Erich Segal, your Oliver's Story is a work of art! My rating: 4/5

Book review: The Vault of Shiva

The Vault of Shiva
by Andy McDermott
Hachette India
Rs. 299

Hmmm... Here I am reviewing yet another thriller novel. I must admit though, that the title of the book caught my eye rather than the author/ book itself. I had always wanted to read a thriller based on Hindu mythology so I started reading the book with sky high expectations.. The book started off interestingly enough with a group of mercenaries pulling off a rather impossible heist, one that involves Michelangelo's David. And that is just one of the priceless artifacts that have been stolen around the world. 'What' the purpose of the robberies is, and 'Who' the person behind it is, were revealed even before I had finished reading half the book and I was left wondering with 'Why' I was still reading it. Not to be overly critical, but a reader does expect twists and turns of some kind but with all the suspense thrown out so early, the rest of the book seems to be a total drag, to be honest.

Plus, the other major disappointment was obviously in the handling of the Hindu connection. The West never tires of stereotyping India and this book is another such example (What kind of a name is Madirakshi Dagdu?!) The saving grace was of course our protagonists Nina Wilde and Eddie Chase, or maybe I'm just a sucker for a husband-wife crime solving duo!

My rating: 2.5/5 (Being a little generous here!)

A Book Review

                                       Spartan Gold

Clive Cussler with Grant Blackwood
Penguin Books
Rs. 299

It seems like there is a whole truckload of thrillers written these days based on ancient mysteries, mythical treasures and the modern day treasure hunters. Spartan Gold is another such offering. 

Remi and Sam Fargo are a husband-wife duo who chance upon a German U-Boat from the Second World War and it happens to contain an extremely rare bottle of wine from..hold your breath..Napoleon's Lost Cellar! 

A French conqueror, a Greek treasure, a Persian Invader, two German U-Boats, one Ukranian Mafia-Pin, his Russian go-to man and our two American adventurers..Whew!! That sounds mind boggling already! But a promising first hundred pages drag on and on to a rather predictable conclusion, and you are left with the feeling of being let down. Especially being a book on a treasure hunt, one would expect some clever clue solving. Cussler and Blackwood let down their fans on this front with hardly any pages devoted to it. Still, it's a somewhat interesting read mainly because of the friendly spousal banter between our protagonists and the innovative ways in which they get themselves out of trouble.

My rating: 3/5

(Read it once)