The Tales Pensieve

The title of the book, a combination of three words, did not make much sense to me. I was hoping reading the book would clear that confusion up and bring a magical connection that will reveal the purpose behind the curious name. With the growing influence of vernacular words on the title, I wasn’t even sure if I was reading English words or some famous Hinglish expression.

The cover image, though, was a different story. With the image of a man falling (into love?) and that of a woman with her dress flowing behind her, this was the perfect bollywood poster material. The city skyline in the background did not offer any new clue about the story except maybe that it is focused on the modern city bred youngsters.

Punk Sunk Love – Two men, both with their own interpretation of the feeling called love. They have contrasting characters and are looking for answers to life’s questions in different ways. Their perception towards love is different. While one believes in the totality of it, the other is a sceptic. This makes for an interesting contrast that could be worked upon to create magic.

In the recent line of books being written like they were ideas for movies, this one feels more like a novelisation of a script rather than a novel by itself. There are some memorable moments (dialogues) and there are some genuinely good twists that would make this a page turner for people who are strictly fans of this genre. But beyond all that, the undercurrent of the movie feel makes book purists mildly uncomfortable at a new genre that is developing. The romance genre might, in near future, have a sub classification: Romance / filmy.

Romantic? Yes? Thrilling, even. But the book takes the ‘might become a bollywood movie one day’ line as a compliment and works diligently towards it. But it does seem like halfway through, the author clearly got sidetracked from what he wanted the novel to actually be. Certain clichés like ‘playboy meets sweet girl, vulnerable soft hearted man meets enigmatic, mysterious woman’, and stereotyping images are abound and this is what leads to this particular verdict. The book veers towards philosophical reflections aimed at making people rethink and analyse love with its many complexities. Often, the tone becomes serious, careening off plot and trying to force feed something that is considered a relevant concurrence from the current story to the reader.

The fact that this is the author’s debut is clearly visible and he has made the plot a mixture of all things that would work to make his book go on its way to becoming a bestseller. His careful aping of the author who knew what young india wanted will put off both the fans and others alike. If you like your stories to have new content and proper language, this book might not be the one for you. If, on the other hand, you are looking for a book to read while travelling, this might be the kind of pop corn book that would make it for you.

Yet another book from the long list of ‘wannabe movies’.

Title: Punk Sunk Love
Author: Dhirendra Tiwari
Publisher/ Imprint: Srishti Publishers & Distributors
Pages: 240
Genre/ Sub-Genre: Fiction/ Romance
Rating: 3.00 of 5.00
Reviewed for: Author

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