Book Review – Love in Crazy Times

Title: Love in Crazy Times

Author: KV Gautam

Plot: The story is a gripping tale of search for love and freedom, braving heart-breaks, evil bosses and family pressure. The protagonist Amit is a daring middle class guy who chases both love and dream of starting his own business. He is faced with the hypocritical Indian society and the corrupt business class on his path. His victory is not easy and comes after a long trail of personal and professional setbacks.

The story also shows how India, after the economic liberalization, is offering immense opportunities as well as challenges to young people. It’s also about the cultural gap between a small town and a metro, and how parents find it difficult to adjust in a fast changing nation.

The story, narrated in the first person by Amit, is set in Delhifrom the period of 2005 to 2011. The story follows life of Amit, a small town boy armed with optimism and confidence, who comes to Delhi in search of a job. The story also narrates personal and professional struggles of his friends, Suraj and Shantanu, who came to Delhi from Lucknow and Kolkata respectively.

It’s a racy and pacey story that has elements of romance, humor, emotions, drama and a bit of social message.

Review: If the plot you’ve read above seems kind of similar, it may well be because you’ve read Chetan Bhagat’s ‘Revolution 2020’. If you have read it, it is hard not to draw parallels between the basic settings of both books. However, the protagonists are quite different and their destinies also turn out different.

Before getting into the story, I’d like to say this: if you’re the type who gets mad at typos and grammatical mistakes in reading material, this book will enrage you. The editor of the book has done a really bad job, and the number of such errors is just too many to be listed. Had that not been a problem, this book would have made a much better read.

As it stands, the story starts out in a promising way, but unlike the protagonist’s description in the plot, Amit appears to be an insecure and whiny kind of individual. He does however have a few amusing opinions on his friends and colleagues. Overall, the book seems to describe the workings of a simple but insecure and sexually frustrated young man, struggling to find his bearings in modern India.

Another thing that jars the narrative is the sprinkling of random incidents throughout the book, which don’t seem to have any relation to the plot. You keep waiting for the random bits to gel together somewhere along the way, but they stay that way, disparate.

Verdict: Not really high end literature, you could give it a try without too many expectations.