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A review by nafisa_tabassum
Five Point Someone: What Not to Do at IIT by Chetan Bhagat
1.0
I don't normally hate books. In fact, I don't hate this one. Still, this book is one of those rare few that I found really, really hard to finish. I often felt so infuriated at the characters and the plot that I either closed it for a few hours or ranted into the pages like a weirdo.
Quality of writing is obviously important for a book. I thought this one read like a forced grade 10 essay. Some would say that it's the content that matters. I do agree that content is the major factor by which a book should be judged, but the writing just cannot be ignored. Books are meant to convey messages in a beautiful way. That is the whole purpose of writing. So yeah, major minus point.
Now, it might just be me, but I detected a lot of misogyny in the way Hari thought about Neha. Neha wasn't portrayed with a lot of respect, I can tell you that. May be he was trying to show us how boys at that age think of girls in reality. Maybe he was just trying to tell us about Hari's character. I don't know. What I do know is that it really annoyed me and made it bitter for me. How selfishly each of the three boys thought put me off as well. The frequent stereotypes are also very irritating.
Plus point is, I have yet to read a book that describes the feelings of 'under performers' (as he called them) so clearly or one that so accurately showed us wrongs done in grueling university life in India. It showed us 'the unfair system' as Ryan would say.
Verdict: It is NOT enjoyable. It does not make people laugh or cry or sympathize. It is badly written. Still, the view it gives us of IIT life is credible, realistic and educating.
Quality of writing is obviously important for a book. I thought this one read like a forced grade 10 essay. Some would say that it's the content that matters. I do agree that content is the major factor by which a book should be judged, but the writing just cannot be ignored. Books are meant to convey messages in a beautiful way. That is the whole purpose of writing. So yeah, major minus point.
Now, it might just be me, but I detected a lot of misogyny in the way Hari thought about Neha. Neha wasn't portrayed with a lot of respect, I can tell you that. May be he was trying to show us how boys at that age think of girls in reality. Maybe he was just trying to tell us about Hari's character. I don't know. What I do know is that it really annoyed me and made it bitter for me. How selfishly each of the three boys thought put me off as well. The frequent stereotypes are also very irritating.
Plus point is, I have yet to read a book that describes the feelings of 'under performers' (as he called them) so clearly or one that so accurately showed us wrongs done in grueling university life in India. It showed us 'the unfair system' as Ryan would say.
Verdict: It is NOT enjoyable. It does not make people laugh or cry or sympathize. It is badly written. Still, the view it gives us of IIT life is credible, realistic and educating.