Book Review: An Ideal Wife
The title of the book, thankfully devoid of superlatives, piqued my interest. What could be the qualities of an ideal wife? And was this book about the search for one? The cover is considered attractive in recent times, and as far as modern book covers with caricatures go. But it did not draw me in the way it should. It was funky and different, but did not quite cut it.
The summary is quirky, sounding more like a parody than an actual book. It promised humour, and many ‘oh God, why?!’ moments (pun intended) in the story.
Few pages in, the book reminded me of a movie that was playing out scene by scene, not as a compliment to the very vivid descriptive narrative, but more as a this could be a bollywood script tone. It had all the elements fit for a movie, and could be made so one day. It did resemble a movie about tech savvy modern Gods who interfere in human lives, albeit for a different purpose. I was trying not to think of the Genie on the beach joke as I read through the book, a collection of one gaffe after another.
Sameer is not accustomed to losing bets. He makes bets for fun and sticks to them, winning them easily by luck or by planning. One day, after a debate with his buddies, he makes a bet to find an ideal wife. Though he is basically an atheist, a god decides to help him. Finding a wife should be easy, right? Only, it isn’t. Finding an ideal woman who matches Sameer’s criteria for the perfect woman isn’t easy. If the woman does come, what would happen? That is the whole premise of the story.
The content idea is new. Involving tech savvy gods in everyday life to weave a story with a message is a novel idea. But the story does not quite wrap that idea up in a proper package. The writing is plain and though written with the aim of getting a few laughs mingled with the message, there are no memorable incidents in the book. The events become predictable after about half of the book and I could almost clearly see how the climax was going to be.
The writing style is filmy, and more suited to be a movie than a book. The individual events are not memorable but the book finally does say what it came to say – only, some readers might lose interest before it comes to that point.
Anyone who likes their stories to be fast paced like a movie and not really fussy about language or logic would like this story. But if you are someone who looks to gain something informative from every book you read, wince at errors in logic and are not really a fan of gaffe, this story is probably not for you.
The idea is new, the execution not so.
Title: An Ideal Wife
Author: Sanjay Grover
Publisher/ Imprint: Good Times Books
Pages: 176
Genre/ Sub-Genre: Fiction/ Drama
Rating: 3.00 of 5.00
Reviewed for: Author
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