Above Average - Amitabha Bagchi

There are good books and there are bad books but in most cases you know what you are getting into relatively soon in the above scenarios. But what about the ones which are neither? Well, you are just glad that the ordeal is over. That's how you feel when you finish Amitabha Bagchi's "Above Average" which lives up to its names in terms of merit. I usually finish an interesting book in a week at the rate of around 50 pages on weekdays and 200 pages on weekends. It took me 2 weeks to finish this. Not an impressive introduction for a review? Well, I am living up to the potential of the book :)

I picked this book because of Amitav Ghosh's recommendation but I regret paying heed to his word of praise now. It is not that every book which is based on the protagonist coming from IIT Delhi, which seems to be the center of universe for all kinds of stories these days, has to be as interesting as Five Point Someone, but we already have an overload of such books that I am beginning to think of IIT Delhi as a genre of fiction now like thrillers and romantic comedies!

     The book is about a protagonist who is as broad minded as the tunnels of araku valley, as focussed as Rakhi Sawant is in her attempts to be considered as a mature and sensible human being. But these are not the real drawbacks for the book. Au Contraire, this could have been the focal point of establishing the connection with the user in portraying the vulnerability of a young man coming of age (The Inscrutable Americans). People identify with the emotion of pain and angst more easily than quixotic ones like ideals and noble principles that money is not a factor at all in today's middle class society.

     The only highlights of the book are the 50 odd pages in the end when you are so tired of the monotony of the story that it almost comes as a breath of fresh air. The author has tried to take the best of Chetan Bhagat's humor and Amitav Ghosh's narratives to create what eventually turned out to be a mish mash of confusing emotions for both the protagonist and the reader following his story. Yes, there have been sincere attempts at showing the different strata of our society through the characters but sadly, only one or two leave a lasting impression on you and the lead protagonist is not one of them.

     It is the first book for the author and one would have excused him for the lack of charisma by giving the benefit of doubt for his lack of experience but Chetan Bhagat and Arundhati Roy have spoiled my expectations of how a first time author's work should be rated. It would be rude to call him another wannabe of that league but I personally found his style lacking a lot of the substance. He has a long way to go if he is to be considered a part of the new breed of interesting writers. Read it if you want to realize that there is something more boring than boredom.
-- Rj