Book Review : Above Average (Sam)

Hello people..... I am taking over the book review for this month from Mala.

This particular book would appeal to all I believe, especially the engineers out there.. for their life is impeccably reflected in there.... Nostalgia.................

Enough said... over to the book!!

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One glance at this book and I groaned, "Oh no!! Not another IITian penning down life at IIT. Chetan Bhagat was good but can't stomach the same stuff so many times." I looked at Mann, who had asked me to check it out, promising that it was a good one. Now, funnily enough I still went ahead and bought the book... may be because the one element that stood out there was Rock Music which is close to my heart. That was 27th June, 2007.

Today as I write about this book, I must say Amitabha Bagchi is not Chetan Bhagat. No.... they are different. The book Above Average is in so many ways the story of many a lives since say the mid 1990s.

The book is about an IITian, his dreams that were built during his life in there, how they fructified to some sort of a conclusion, how the entire friend group stayed in touch, where things went, how the undercurrents can spoil some good things, how life of an engineer shapes up!! Everything that happened around him made him sit up and take stock of facts. Life at IIT is not easy.... Life in it's full glory is a beauty not meant for the faint-hearted.

To identify with the story, the plot.... one need not be from IIT, or an engineer for that matter (though for this breed it's a life they know, they have seen, they are living!!)...... one just needs to be human. In fact, should one lok closely at it, just about every moment is being relived by loads of individuals be it some Dinesh from Stephen's Delhi, Arnab from Presidency Kolkata, Neha from Pune University, Diya from Sydenham Mumbai.... It's not the story about being an IITian.... it's about being a student, of dreaming, aspiring and..... living!!

The downside of this book, is perhaps the strange disconnected manner it might seem to proceed..... often one would be shuttling across time frames.... to the author's credit, the thread was still there.... one just needs to be really into the story to keep hold of it. Again, the pace is very relaxed... so take it up on a lazy Sunday afternoon. And what with the monsoon being in full swing (if not now, soon it would be), this might just help you pass by that weekend, with your favourite brew for company.

Happy Reading!!

After going through the book, I surmised the following:

Life was never fair........... But then they never said it would be unfair. To understand it and grow up is what constitutes the greatest of challenge... the most important education. For some it's at IIT.......... And for you??

P.S. This was my first attempt.. so please be extrememly critical in your comments

I have edited the post with due respect to the author's comments. To get the plot...... read the book :D