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Friday, January 20, 2012

Falling prey to the marketing strategies of today: a Rs. 135/- worth lesson

Look at the cover of the book and  the blurbs at the back. Make a note of your impressions from both.


If you agree with my first impression, I'd feel redeemed of deciding to buy the book based on these impressions. (Notice the 'National Best Seller' tag on top of the cover?)
My impressions from the cover was that the book is about the enthusiastic abandon which infuses the lives of the college-going youth. I felt it was a light and one time read. When you turn to the back of the book, it gives you glimpses of naughty-naughty happenings. (Eg: Have you ever experienced what happens when a porn movie is mistakenly played in front of your grandma and the CD player refuses to stop?). I can cope with such stuff... I thought. What I got instead was mind boggling to say the least. 
Two things ought to have warned me. The dedication of the book to all his family etc. "who always thought I was good-for nothing." Second, the title of the first chapter says '36-24-36.' This too didnt set the warning bells ringing.  It took me all of three pages to decide that this book was a bore. Yet, I plodded on as I didnt want to give up on a book on which I had spent my hard-earned money. 
I am not sure what language the book is written in? British English, US English, Indian English? Who is the intended reader? The grammar and punctuation pale in fright at being repeatedly assaulted and mutilated. Even the basic noun-verb agreement meets with a royal disdain. Lacking a command over the language, yet seeking to impress...so what does the author(?!) do? Right-click, substitute with bombastic sounding synonyms or perhaps words from the thesaurus which actually make you ROTFL with their absurd connotations. But of course, the author promised you a hilarious story in his gimmicky blurb, didn't he?
In the middle of the book, he turns a CB, envisaging the book turning into a super- hit movie. He holds all the pages in his hands and like the clerk at the post office, with a relentless frenzy starts stamping sex sex sex on each page. The moment a woman...any woman... appears on the scene, our hero is ogling, touching, kissing or having sex with her. When the maid was mentioned, I thought in my mind...not her! But then the hero spares none. And this despite having a steady girl friend. But then such trivial things don't stop our Casanova. In the middle of stamping sleaze all over the plot(?!), he perhaps realizes that a movie requires something more than sex, so the next is a murder, a suicide, a sacrifice... think of all the elements of a C-grade movie of the 80s and you have all the shit ( I didn't say it, it is the author). A good measure of gross thrown in as well... just in case, you know. To top it all, refer to the author's blog. The atrocious language, the chat lingo asking you to " Don't judge whether it is right or wrong, just keep your head by your side, and keep reading" I have definitely lost my head after reading this book.This is not all, at the end of his write-up he threatens ..." i will try my level best to entertain you in the future." To that,  all I can say is, "Oh Shit, Not Again!' 
Sleaze by any other name would smell equally awful.

4 comments:

RamaWish said...

LOL! And i read this book too!

Beautiful World said...

My first blind-picking-up of a book failed my common sense miserably!
Never again without reading reviews of an unknown author :(

Vinod Ekbote said...

Subha, when I read about you buying this book at the Book Fair I went Aaaw..

Beautiful World said...

Good that you didn't warn me,Vinod. Lessons learnt on your own are the best ones :)