Introduction
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| Source: Amazon.in |
ISBN: 978-812-914-9305
Genre: Fiction
Publishers: Rupa Publications
Price: Rs. 295/- ( I got the book for review from the publisher)
Behind the Book
Arjun Singh is an accountant by day and a demigod by night. But he’d rather care about GST than his superpowers—even less so about life himself. Arjun is about to be murdered by goons and he couldn’t be happier. He’s spent his life waiting for death. Unfortunately, things do not go as per plan. Much to Arjun’s chagrin, he manages to live. But things get a lot worse than a failed death. Arjun is an accountant but behind this façade he’s protecting his identity as an almost indestructible species of humanoids, a power that Arjun would gladly exchange for a bushel of bananas and a vat of rum.
And now some people know exactly what Arjun is capable of. He’s forced to work for an alcohol baron’s unofficial army, assassinate terrorists and fall into life-or-death battles with a Chinese dragon. What is even worse is that they’ve not cleared his taxes yet.
Combining dark humour with a whirlwind plot—Pawan is a story of a reluctant superhero, the futility of war and a whole lot of rum.
About the Author
Sorabh Pant is a popular stand-up comedian from India. He has hosted about 1500 stand-up comedy shows across eighteen countries (but he claims to have done them only for Frequent Flyer Miles). He’s the ex-founder of East India Comedy, some of his most popular comedy videos are ‘Rant of the Pant’, ‘EIC: Outrage’, etc. Pawan is Sorabh’s third novel. He is based in Mumbai, India.
Reading this book was an altogether different experience as I was trying a new genre , something that I have always wanted to do. Having loved and laughed at Sorabh Pant's stand up comedy I thought of taking this up.
To start with the cover, I absolutely loved it. What a unique, satirical cover that seems to mock a reader and entices one to grab the book. The smirk on the monkey's face is such a perfect match to the whole story inside. It does perfect justice to the theme. Written on the lines of dark humour, this book has satires on everyone and anyone. Ranging from politicians to a common man, Sorabh Pant tries to show you the funny side of them all and he succeeds to quite an extent.
The whole premise of India having its own desi superhero is very interesting and something that grabs attention immediately. But till now the issue has always been the execution by an author of it to a level which makes us go WOW. Though Arjun is one character that is interesting but the "wow" element was missing. Arjun's character as the protagonist is interesting but fails to stay with you for long.
Being a stand up comedian, the author does excel in the jokes section immensely. He manages to make you laugh and snicker at his well timed observations. There are a lot of places I could relate to well and loved the dash of real life mixed with fantasy in those pages.The plot interesting in the hindsight has many loose ends which tends to act as a distraction for a reader. Or should I say there is so much happening that it is difficult to keep a track at some places of what, where, when, who and how. Perhaps visually it might have looked better but on paper it left me confused at a few places. I admire the author's imagination of a parallel unofficial army and the various nicknames he has used to denote commonly known things/people/places. It was fun trying to decipher them after which the joy of reading was different. The language is lucid making is an easy and light read.
Having said all of the above I would still recommend this to readers who enjoy humour and fantasy as genres for this is an interesting read nevertheless!
To start with the cover, I absolutely loved it. What a unique, satirical cover that seems to mock a reader and entices one to grab the book. The smirk on the monkey's face is such a perfect match to the whole story inside. It does perfect justice to the theme. Written on the lines of dark humour, this book has satires on everyone and anyone. Ranging from politicians to a common man, Sorabh Pant tries to show you the funny side of them all and he succeeds to quite an extent.
The whole premise of India having its own desi superhero is very interesting and something that grabs attention immediately. But till now the issue has always been the execution by an author of it to a level which makes us go WOW. Though Arjun is one character that is interesting but the "wow" element was missing. Arjun's character as the protagonist is interesting but fails to stay with you for long.
Being a stand up comedian, the author does excel in the jokes section immensely. He manages to make you laugh and snicker at his well timed observations. There are a lot of places I could relate to well and loved the dash of real life mixed with fantasy in those pages.The plot interesting in the hindsight has many loose ends which tends to act as a distraction for a reader. Or should I say there is so much happening that it is difficult to keep a track at some places of what, where, when, who and how. Perhaps visually it might have looked better but on paper it left me confused at a few places. I admire the author's imagination of a parallel unofficial army and the various nicknames he has used to denote commonly known things/people/places. It was fun trying to decipher them after which the joy of reading was different. The language is lucid making is an easy and light read.
Having said all of the above I would still recommend this to readers who enjoy humour and fantasy as genres for this is an interesting read nevertheless!
Foodie Verdict
This book is like Malai Sandwich - Nestled between two delicious bites is a layer of awesomeness!
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| Source: Grand Laddu Wala |