OK, I finished this 270 pager in one single sitting, over a period of 5 hours – Now that is not what I would be doing on most books. However that is not to say that Five Point Someone is a classic. Heck, FPS is not even the best book I have read in my life either. It didn’t move me, nor did it break my heart in the end. Yes, many facets of hostel life and college were missing too, and at times I thought the book spent too much time on three people. Yet, this book rode high on several factors that did it in for me; One- nostalgia. Next – Chetan Bhagat doesn’t try too hard, which is a blessing. Next – the characters are believable and mostly relatable. Next – it doesn’t read like a movie Screenplay!!! (Thank heavens and thank Chetan for small mercies – these days I tell you authors only… hmmph!)
Anyhow coming to the point (did I deviate anyways? Ha!), the point of the book is essentially about three pointless guys, into pointless things, generally pointless about their life, who believe education system is pointless, generally earn less grade point averages than their batch-mates, and who at one point make it a point to enjoy their college life as their primary point in life, and very well manage to do – almost. (OK, here, stop, go back, read the sentence and count the number of times I used the word “point†and exclaim at my profound abilities to use 11 “point†in one sentence).
< < OK, there are 10 “point†words – you didn’t count did you? Admit it admit it – no shame admitting it ïÂÅ – What your point anyways you may ask! >>
Coming to the point (And this time I did deviate!), the three guys happen to be Hari (Who writes the book in first person), Ryan and Alok, almost seeming to arrive from three different strata of life to study under the coveted IIT institute. The book essentially chronicles their lives in the four years of their engineering, complete with everything I could relate too, though I was in electronics engineering, AND not an IIT-ian. The reason why I could relate to Hari and Ryan more than anyone else was because of the way I could relate to me and my room-mate in my engineering; quintessentially I spent a better part of my engineering trying to be someone else, just like Hari does. What happens through 4 years of their life is what the book is all about, and saying anything more would probably take away the fun of reading this book! The book is a nostalgia ride, and at best left to be read.
Though that is not to say the book is not without its share of flaws; Chetan almost breezes through the joy of Hostel life, almost relegating hostel to the background. Hostel life teaches you an awful lot of things in life, and it was a factor sorely missing from the book and three friend’s life, which in turn hampers their character development strongly. Also, given the fact that the book is more about friendships and lasting friendships, it doesn’t really delve deeper into anybody’s life at all. At the end of four years, it comes across as if Hari, Alok and Ryan know about each other just a little more than what they did when they began, which is trifle unrealistic. Also, a pivotal incident about keys leaves you wondering how a character knows for sure that a bunch of car keys also contains keys to an office. . However I could easily ignore the flaws.
Though, perhaps, one of the reasons this book also clicks is Chetan Bhagat doesn’t try too hard – its difficult to explain it, but one gets a feeling that Bhagat opted to keep things in control rather than get away with “creative liberties†LOL. And another reason of course is the nostalgia it definitely builds up making you reminiscence your own college days. The favorite parantha shop, the rooftops of buildings, pink floyd, alcohol – seem to remind of some of your own incidents in your life.
Overall
Everyone loves something they relate to – even with its share of good and bad, I still loved Five Point Someone, and would strongly recommend everyone to read it. Its not the literature classic out there, but its definitely a book to read, cherish and allow yourself some deep nostalgia.
And one other thing why I liked the book – 3 years ago, I started a chronicle of my hostel life, didn’t know why, but just wanted to pen it down. At 70 odd pages, I quit with other burdens of life. Maybe, this book has just inspired me to write down some more pages….