Mediocre But Arrogant--- A review
I bought a couple of books before I started my journey to US. One of them is Mediocre But Arrogant by Abhijit Bhaduri. I read it completely in a couple of days.
The book is about a guy Abbey who joins a B-school and the way his life transforms in the years he spends in the school is the essense of the book. The best thing I liked about it is the style of narration. Everytime I read a work of fiction, I tend to imagine myself in the shoes of one of the central characters. And more so if it is a first person narration. Earlier books like "And now Miguel" by Krumgold, which I read when I was very young cast a deep impression on me and somehow I love the first person narration. Very few books give me a feeling that the author is narrating "my imaginary story" with "me" narrating the story. MBA is one such book and I would have lost count of the number of instances in the story when I actually felt it is me narrating it in the form of Abbey. What all I am saying is that I could readily identify with the character in the book, with absolute ease and no heavy imagination required.
The friends of Abbey, his lovers and the characters of Prof.'s like Hathi (Hathaway) were all very familiar. Anyone who went to a professional college not necessarily a B-school could easily identify the typical characters around. But let me warn you, this doesn't make the characters stereotyped. In fact, there is some kind of freshness in the entire plot.
It is very important to mention the character of Abbey's friend Rascal Rusty. This character provides a unique yet curiously nostalgic flavour of someone who you look up to. The mystery and riddles associated with Rusty was very well presented. Adding another feather to the crown to Abbey's story.
On the whole, it is a book you must read,
(1) if you had enjoyed the college days spending more time with friends than books and assignments, hanging out, getting caught etc.
(2) if you were too busy with acads and often wonder what you missed in college, and if given a chance to live it through again, what would you do?
Well, now you know, which category I belong to (with my emphasis on the point (2) above).
All in all a great entertainer, full of fun, vivid incidents and a decent story telling.
Now, there's a sequel due from Abhijit, which he calls "Married But Available". I am just too curious when the book will hit the shelf!!
I recommended this MBA to all my friends who are into books and hopefully one day, as the talk is if a movie is made out of it, I shall recommend all my friends to see it!!!
So, if you get a chance grab it, relax on an afternoon in the weekend and dream away to a life full of dreams and miseries (depending on which character you suit!!) , and get a good laugh!!!
The book is about a guy Abbey who joins a B-school and the way his life transforms in the years he spends in the school is the essense of the book. The best thing I liked about it is the style of narration. Everytime I read a work of fiction, I tend to imagine myself in the shoes of one of the central characters. And more so if it is a first person narration. Earlier books like "And now Miguel" by Krumgold, which I read when I was very young cast a deep impression on me and somehow I love the first person narration. Very few books give me a feeling that the author is narrating "my imaginary story" with "me" narrating the story. MBA is one such book and I would have lost count of the number of instances in the story when I actually felt it is me narrating it in the form of Abbey. What all I am saying is that I could readily identify with the character in the book, with absolute ease and no heavy imagination required.
The friends of Abbey, his lovers and the characters of Prof.'s like Hathi (Hathaway) were all very familiar. Anyone who went to a professional college not necessarily a B-school could easily identify the typical characters around. But let me warn you, this doesn't make the characters stereotyped. In fact, there is some kind of freshness in the entire plot.
It is very important to mention the character of Abbey's friend Rascal Rusty. This character provides a unique yet curiously nostalgic flavour of someone who you look up to. The mystery and riddles associated with Rusty was very well presented. Adding another feather to the crown to Abbey's story.
On the whole, it is a book you must read,
(1) if you had enjoyed the college days spending more time with friends than books and assignments, hanging out, getting caught etc.
(2) if you were too busy with acads and often wonder what you missed in college, and if given a chance to live it through again, what would you do?
Well, now you know, which category I belong to (with my emphasis on the point (2) above).
All in all a great entertainer, full of fun, vivid incidents and a decent story telling.
Now, there's a sequel due from Abhijit, which he calls "Married But Available". I am just too curious when the book will hit the shelf!!
I recommended this MBA to all my friends who are into books and hopefully one day, as the talk is if a movie is made out of it, I shall recommend all my friends to see it!!!
So, if you get a chance grab it, relax on an afternoon in the weekend and dream away to a life full of dreams and miseries (depending on which character you suit!!) , and get a good laugh!!!
-Siddartha Pamulaparty
Nov 4, 2007.
Comments