Book Review: A Splash of Love
Part of South Asian Challenge 2013, Debut Indian Writers Challenge 2013 and Reading Challenge 2013: First Reads
Title: A Splash of Love
Author: Rajeev Ranjan
Publisher: Diamond India
ISBN: 978-81-288-3278-9
Pages: 212
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 1 of 5
Reviewed for: Author
I have stayed away from including the romance genre in my reading list for a really long time now. Infact ever since the birth of The Tales Pensieve, with which most of my reading list turned Indian, I have not read a book from the genre. It has not been unintentional. There is a whole horde of Indian writers who specialize in the genre and that itself makes it unattractive for a reader like me. It is not that I have banned the genre from my reading list; I keep checking the blurbs of books even though the title itself suggests deep-rooted love but unfortunately for a complex and wide spectrum spanning emotion like love, most of the Indian writers are struck singing just few cords. The premise of most of these stories has got repetitive, boring and unoriginal to say the least. To top it, most of these writers whom I call CB (Chetan Bhagat) wannables use the kind of language in a published book that mostly sounds like Hindi translated English. It is as if English in itself does not exist as a language. I am not a CB-fan girl but yes agreed his language is simple but it still doesn’t sound like Hindi written in English.
Consciously, I have never agreed to do a review of this highest selling genre in India for reasons that I never (almost) pick up a book that does not excite the reader in me with its blurb or cover (either or both), I hate trashing a book and I detest bad language in a published book. When Rajeev Ranjan, who is a good friend, contacted me for a review of his debut book on this site, I did try my best to wriggle out for reasons I have already stated above. The book’s cover and blurb did not excite the reader and the gut said it should not be on the to-be-reviewed-list but how do you say no to an author who is also a friend. The book has been read and unfortunately boasts of all the things that I have tried avoiding while reading and propagating Indian writing. It is a conventional boy-girl, love-infatuation, campus-friendship story told in the most rudimentary English I ever read. And to top it, grammatical errors starting with page one!
A Splash of Love’s treatment in narration is part memoirs and part coming of age. It is a story of love, attraction, misunderstood emotions, determined dreams, strong beliefs and the relationship maze. For me the plot was averagely good and ends with a feel good climax. The best part of the book is the fact that it tells the sublime story of those thousands who leave a certain eastern part of our country with dreams of a better, brighter future and bend destinies to attain those with their perseverance and hard work. For me this book had a plot that if written in a better language, minimally edited and atleast proofread once would have made a decent read.
Note to the writer: Next time atleast please don’t put names of characters in single quotes; its gives the reader an impression that the name may not really be a person’s name.
p.s. The book has garnered mostly positive reviews ranging between 3 to 5 stars on Goodreads.com and I am still at a loss to understand why! And as the cover says it is also a National Bestseller. That means a minimum of 5000 copies sold! Thought out. Time out.
My understanding levels seem affected by the expectation to see Indian writers a reckoning force on the global level and books like this are no step towards it. More than the writer, I hold the publisher responsible for such works making it to published works. Diamond books you need an efficient sub-editor, editor and proofreader.
Happy Reading (something better)
Thank you for the copy Rajeev but this review had to be like this. The Tales Pensieve’s readers come here for a reason and that reason can never be cheated with. I will look forward to your next but it needs to be better on production standards.
Best Price iRecommend: Buy A Splash of Love from Infibeam.com
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