Author: Akhil Sharma
Genre: Cultural, India, Immigration
Rating: 1.5/5
Verdict: A depressing, dark story with a seemingly rushed ending. Don't bother reading this.
I have heard about Akhil Sharma in a few of the Asian authors list and his books have always been on my to-read pile. This was a pretty short book and there was no reason for me not to pick it up from the library. Even though I finished this book in a few hours straight, it was a pretty depressing story for the most part and leading nowhere.
The book is about an Indian family of four (father, mother and two sons) that immigrated to the US in the 70's in search of a better life and how tragedy strikes and their lives change in a matter of 3 minutes when their elder son becomes brain dead after an unfortunate pool accident. The story is narrated by the younger son and we learn about the father's alcohol problems and how he feels that his mother hates him and spends all her time with the elder son caring for him. Until this point, Akhil completely lured me into the story and I just kept turning pages to find out where he led the readers to next. But, it was at this point in the story that it started becoming very repetitive, long-winded and boring. I continued to read in the hopes of the story going somewhere, but it never changed gears. It lacked depth and never left an impact on me. I am glad it was a short book and I just finished it. I am sure I would have abandoned if it was a tad longer. I do not even want to get started about the ending which seemed completely abrupt, rushed and meaningless. I do not expect a happy-ending or a redemption for every book I read, but at the very least there should be a message. I cannot help but compare this with the other books with the same theme - Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala and Take this man by Brando Skyhorse. Both narrated brilliantly and left a huge impact and the message at the end was very clear.
A very ordinary lifeless book with repetitive prose. I just don't get the hype about this book. I don't think I will pick up any more of Akhil Sharma's books after being burnt by this one. I would definitely warn you to stay away from reading this.
Genre: Cultural, India, Immigration
Rating: 1.5/5
Verdict: A depressing, dark story with a seemingly rushed ending. Don't bother reading this.
I have heard about Akhil Sharma in a few of the Asian authors list and his books have always been on my to-read pile. This was a pretty short book and there was no reason for me not to pick it up from the library. Even though I finished this book in a few hours straight, it was a pretty depressing story for the most part and leading nowhere.
The book is about an Indian family of four (father, mother and two sons) that immigrated to the US in the 70's in search of a better life and how tragedy strikes and their lives change in a matter of 3 minutes when their elder son becomes brain dead after an unfortunate pool accident. The story is narrated by the younger son and we learn about the father's alcohol problems and how he feels that his mother hates him and spends all her time with the elder son caring for him. Until this point, Akhil completely lured me into the story and I just kept turning pages to find out where he led the readers to next. But, it was at this point in the story that it started becoming very repetitive, long-winded and boring. I continued to read in the hopes of the story going somewhere, but it never changed gears. It lacked depth and never left an impact on me. I am glad it was a short book and I just finished it. I am sure I would have abandoned if it was a tad longer. I do not even want to get started about the ending which seemed completely abrupt, rushed and meaningless. I do not expect a happy-ending or a redemption for every book I read, but at the very least there should be a message. I cannot help but compare this with the other books with the same theme - Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala and Take this man by Brando Skyhorse. Both narrated brilliantly and left a huge impact and the message at the end was very clear.
A very ordinary lifeless book with repetitive prose. I just don't get the hype about this book. I don't think I will pick up any more of Akhil Sharma's books after being burnt by this one. I would definitely warn you to stay away from reading this.
