Oct 22, 2010 02:37 AM
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If a book does not engross you even after half of the pages are flipped through, then there can be 2 possibilities. Either there is some problem with the book(the book is not good enough) or you cannot relate yourself to the book. 'Above Average' suffers from both these syndromes. I took ages to finish this book.
Arindam Chatterjee(The Protagonist) is a Bengali, born and brought up in Delhi. His upbringing has been such that he thinks himself more of a Delhite and less of a Bengali. However, like every other bengali, he does not miss Pandal-Hopping during the Durga Pujas. The story uncovers his childhood days when he used to accompany his family for shopping, flower exhibitions etc continuing to the days of preparation and finally cracking the IIT Entrance Tests, then spending some of the most
memorable years of his life at the IIT, Delhi Campus, befriending some of the brightest talents of the country and finally continuing his higher studies at Baltimore, US. At every juncture, he comes across various leagues of people. Some with dreams bigger than life, some on their path to transforming them into reality, some exceptional talents but end up being grade under-achievers and some with no dreams at all. However, every individual is unique in his own rights and almost everyone has a darker side to his character. No dreamer realizes that with every dream, there comes sacrifices that one has
to make, some small and some big enough to induce a permanent void in their lives. This is what the book is all about. The Author describes many a incidents happening in and around Arindam's life- Some funny and some abominable enough to change his life for ever.
The book can be said to be a collection of numerous incidents which move back and forth in time. This is where the author scores. The events are not in chronological order and are jumbled up, there by adding an element of suspense to the book. His impeccable english also helps the cause. The book gives a reality check of what happens in India. Either you take a safe route and follow the crowd to become a doctor or an Engineer or pursue your dreams in some other vocation and be prepared to
struggle by getting into the road-less-travelled. There is a Rat Race going on at various stages of life and you are inevitably a part of it- Irrespective of whether you want it or not.
However, the negatives score a tad higher than the positives in 'Above Average' and that brings down the book to just being an average one instead of a good read. There has been unnecessary description of Delhi, Mayur Vihar, Flyovers, canals etc and a rank outsider like me could not find any sense in them as I can never relate to them. At times, the author went into too much of intricate details of things giving an impression that he was more interested in showcasing his plethora of knowledge rather than putting down the lighter side of the incidents. Last but not the least, the thing that actually pulls the book
down are the events(unlike other best-sellers) that just have no fuel to give the reader an adrenaline rush. I think this is where the author fails. The cover page design was also a big let down.
The back cover of the book has some really classy lines-
"Life is a confused tangle of ambitions and aspirations, some attainable, some not and some hanging tantalizingly in between."
-Superb description of life as it is.
