Kevein Books and Reviews

'Five Point Someone’ by Chetan Bhagat is a casual read, hence a nationwide hit. The book has nothing to do with IIT’s entrance criteria nor does it focus on the core nature of the elite institute. The story revolves around three characters: Ryan, Alok, and Hari (the narrator). These 3 boys (more of like common idiots) find themselves unable to cope up with the academic protocols of IIT. So they grow recalcitrant, a bit more than the teenage angst, to resist Prof. Cherian’s terror, but instead land up in a mess of trouble. The tone of the book is humorous and at times takes dark turns while covering the family background of the characters. Prof. Veera’s character makes this book a bit going and riveting as he helps these boys to cope up a bit. Not many characters are involved in this book. The story ends on a vapid note. The theme of the book is different; though based on college life. The book is a mega hit across India, in fact the first to differ from the core literary

So, the India-Pakistan theme is back. Though rarely, but this time through a book. Good one, the book by Siddharth Thorat is a spy-politico thriller. Being a fresh writer, he has put in the best of best efforts. The pace and plot of the book surely keep readers riveted. Sanjay and Shezad are the two prime characters of this book. The latter belongs to Pakistani Army, an elite officer, who creeps into India through Kashmir with some ferocious militants to throw an attack on the Indian soil. However, Indian Intelligence being superior to them; traces them down, and abort their operation just at the start, in Mumbai. The main charm of the book lies in tracing them (militants). That involves a lot of meetings, scanning and interconnected relationship between the various agencies and bureaus. The writer has carefully used over 50 abbreviations to make the most of the climaxes. And at the end, he also provided a useful glossary so that naïve readers can link up their mind w

Kamla Das was a terrific writer whenever the topic of expressing adverse situations of women in our society arose. She held a tough and bold stance in the support of women-power rising and women empowerment. Many critics express that her writing was full of feministic streaks and often sounded one-sided, well in reality a lot of pain in her writing was spiraled from her own life’s experiences. She was a bold writer that challenged the patriarchal nature of the society. In the anthology of short stories ‘The Kept Woman and Other Stories’, Kamala Das explores the plight, agony and various woeful issues of women in her own country, India. All stories have been put forward through women’s point of view and each story is based around a girl or woman, varying in transitions, like a young girl remembering her grandmother, a matured keep in the custody of a politician, a girl’s despicable marriage in the neighborhood and so on. Her focus was to shed light on events that often remain

Boys without Names is a captivating title. However, as the story advances it becomes predictable. Gopal- a teenager from a village - arrives in Mumbai with his family to find work to overcome their poverty status. Instead of finding work in a right way, he lands in the wretched child labour mess. In a decrepit home, on the outskirts of the city, he is put to work along with some more boys. There the boys are being herded and tortured by an ugly and stout man (he is also nameless). They work and live in strict confinement without knowing each other’s name, like aloof prisoners.  At times, the writer takes Gopal back to his village and often shows his deep emotional touch with his family and its hardship. One can profess that like Mulk Raj Anand’s books the theme of the book is based on humanitarian compassion, but somehow the shallow intensity of the characters and their less-defined roles makes it a wishy-washy read. And other boys’ accounts and backgrounds have totally bee

Man’s life without religion can be positioned as an inevitable privation - an unending path in the darkness. We all need light in our lives to walk ahead and embrace our duties and responsibilities towards humanity and the God. Some are simple for Godly affection while others go crazy in devotion. So, here the book – Nine Lives in Search of the Sacred in Modern India by William Dalrymple, explores the lives of nine people on account of their journey taken towards their devotion and their respective Gods or the source of powers. The book is an interesting read mainly it is unbiased in its nature. It almost covers all the directions of the vast India, ranging from South India to Bengal to Rajasthan to Eastern monasteries. For every religion, it provides a wonderful story as well as touches the hearts of their people. The most interesting and touching one was about a Monk’s story, who meets another monk and they weep together in remembrance of their homeland Tibet and about auto