So a few months ago, I was contacted by Santosh, who is a writer to see if I would review his books. He has written quite a few and was gracious enough to send me 4 of them for review. Now I know its been long overdue, but the last couple of months have been hectic and it took a week of fever to get me to finally sort out all the old posts I've had lined up. Oh well, enough personal drama, lets talk about the first book I read, called Surrogate Author.
Now, I say book, but its almost like a little play. The premise is, the famous story of Devdas and his Paro (made rather mainstream by a certain Mr. SRK and his leading ladies) but instead, told from the point of view of a struggling writer. The book unfolds as a play over nine months (I love this little nod to how writing is almost like giving birth to a child), with each character having their own lines, and even a narrator. I really like the premise of the book. Truly, every struggling author has an almost poetic romance with his first book. Right?
While the premise held me till the end, the writing almost made me feel like throwing the book at a wall. I abhor incorrect grammar, especially in books and this book has a lot of issues in that sense. I cannot stand dialogue that is riddled with mistakes.
Onto the characters, I find it a little difficult to accept that one of the characters is a book. Yes, this would be fine but the fact that the book speaks, moves about and fights with the lead character, which all the other characters can see too (its not just in his mind, mind you) makes it a little weird for me. There is a scene where the book is described to be running through the house in joy. I cannot relate this to any real life scenario. I do understand that the writer has a certain creative liberty, I still wish it was a bit more realistic.
All in all, the book is a quick read (finished it on a single train journey to work) and an interesting take on the classic. If you can manage to ignore the writing issues, you should read it. If not for anything else, then just for the romance between a writer and his first book.
Now, I say book, but its almost like a little play. The premise is, the famous story of Devdas and his Paro (made rather mainstream by a certain Mr. SRK and his leading ladies) but instead, told from the point of view of a struggling writer. The book unfolds as a play over nine months (I love this little nod to how writing is almost like giving birth to a child), with each character having their own lines, and even a narrator. I really like the premise of the book. Truly, every struggling author has an almost poetic romance with his first book. Right?
While the premise held me till the end, the writing almost made me feel like throwing the book at a wall. I abhor incorrect grammar, especially in books and this book has a lot of issues in that sense. I cannot stand dialogue that is riddled with mistakes.
Onto the characters, I find it a little difficult to accept that one of the characters is a book. Yes, this would be fine but the fact that the book speaks, moves about and fights with the lead character, which all the other characters can see too (its not just in his mind, mind you) makes it a little weird for me. There is a scene where the book is described to be running through the house in joy. I cannot relate this to any real life scenario. I do understand that the writer has a certain creative liberty, I still wish it was a bit more realistic.
All in all, the book is a quick read (finished it on a single train journey to work) and an interesting take on the classic. If you can manage to ignore the writing issues, you should read it. If not for anything else, then just for the romance between a writer and his first book.
Name: Surrogate Author
Author: Santosh Avvannavar
