The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides - Not a Book Review

 

I bought this book on someone's recommendation. Though I saw the book in various bookstores and its online presence was also excellent. But everything with a good online presence isn't actually good. So, I picked up this book from a local bookstore and started reading it. Before you read further, let me warn you that this post might have some spoilers, and yes, I'll not be writing much about the story. 

The Silent Patient, which is written by Alex Michaelides, is a thriller, which has its own pace. At some point you find things moving at lightning speed. At some places, you'll be wishing to skip a paragraph or two. It can be categorized under the psychological thriller head... Maybe not. Human Psychology and thrillers have an age-old relationship. It gives the writer a space to explore the areas which are less explored. It also makes the story less predictable and gives the reader a long-lasting experience/hangover. 

If I talk about the writing of the book, the author has left no stone unturned. He took all the liberty to move forwards and backwards with a smoothness, which is highly commendable. The format of the story demands watching the same thing with two pairs of eyes. It was a challenge, But Michaelides do it with ease which is worth appreciating. On one hand, he uses the narrator to tell the story, and on the other hand, he uses the protagonist/ the silent patient/Alicia to tell the story in the journal entry format.

The other thing I wish to discuss is the role of the narrator. As a reader, we don't give much attention to the narrator. In most cases, the narrator is shown in a neutral light or on the positive side of the equation. But, you can't expect this from this book. Here, the narrator can guide you or misguide you as the situation arises.

The characters are very well used. Every character demands attention. I personally saw each one of them with a sight of suspicion on various occasions. And that's what makes you more active and involved as you read. Of course, the suspense remained till the last page of the book. 

The last thing which adds charm to the writing is the description. I believe that description in writing acts like sugar in a cup of tea - You add more or you add less, in both cases, it will spoil the tea. And the sugar/description was almost perfect in the book. It gives the reader perfect light to march ahead on the bumpy road. And the light is not that bright to make you blind. I hope you got what I want to say? If not, write to me at hrntales@gmail.com. We'll discuss more about this book and a lot more things.

So, the book was original, gripping, and perfect in every sense.

Here's the link if you wish to buy the book.

Love, Laughter, and Peace

HRN

"One Arranged Murder" by Chetan Bhagat - Not a Book Review

 In life, one of the most challenging tasks is judging something without being judgemental about it. Let me elucidate.  While Judging something, you have to be neutral in every aspect. You have to keep aside all your past experiences, earlier records, and people’s opinions regarding that particular thing. On the other hand,  when you are judgemental about something, you bring the past performances and other people’s view into the equation. Don’t worry, this theory is created by me. It helps me to bifurcate between judging something or being judgemental about something. I hope that will help you too, as you read this article further.

Chetan Bhagat, who started his career with the books like One night @ the call center, Five point someone, and Three mistakes of my life, was a trendsetter and converted many non-readers into readers. He brought a different revolution in the field of literature. He became the apple of the eye of millions of readers, specifically in India. But with time, and after lots of success, Bhagat started losing his charm when we talk about his books. Most of his books began adapting to Hindi movies. So, I personally felt like he started writing more for the movies’ scripts than readers. His Books like Half-Girlfriend and One Indian girl was somewhat looked like more of a Bollywood script than a book.

And then, his views upon feminism and gender equality were widely criticised across the nation. However, his books were a huge success and always remain at the top of the charts.

I read his recent book – One Arranged Murder.

If we talk about its story, Two friends, Saurabh and Keshav, are not much in talking terms after an episode of misunderstanding.  Saurabh, who is about to get married in a couple of months, is going to her fiancé, Prerna, at his home as she fasted for him on the occasion of Karva Chauth.  He was climbing the stairs to meet her at the terrace but was welcomed with something alarming. He saw a people gathering around a dead body on the ground. Was that an accident or a murder? The story revolves around that. Sourabh and Keshav, apart from working in a corporate, also run a detective agency called Z Detectives. So no points for guessing; they help the police to solve the case.

Honestly speaking, without flaunting my intellect, I could guess the criminal on the 80th page of this book, which has about three hundred-odd pages. That was more of a work of my emotional instinct than my critical analysis. But with each page proceeding, I started doubting myself, and that’s what I consider the success of this book. New theories came in eventually, and that’s the essence of the book.

It has that Chetan Bhagat factor as it mixes up all the variants like his earlier books. It has that tragedy, that romance, and that masala, his x-factor in the books like two states and three mistakes of my life.

On the other hand, I found some parts of the book quite impractical and hard to believe. The characters were behaving quite differently and beyond the boundaries of their portrayal. At some point, I also felt that this book is also written for a movie or a web-series. But that’s again one’s personal opinion, not a fact.

Do I like the book? Oh yes. It’s undoubtedly a page-turner, and I believe that its entertainment quotient is relatively high.

Will you like the book? That will depend on what you are looking for in the book.

Here’s the link to the book, in case you are looking forward to reading it.

I’ll see you soon.

Love, Laughter, and Peace

Himanshu R Nagpal