Friday 20 June 2014

With a Pinch of Salt by Jas Anand: a review

Name: With A Pinch Of Salt...
Author: Jas Anand
Publisher: Srishti Publishers & Distributors
Page Count: 186


The back cover says: There are some people who can never come straight to a point. If you ask them a simple question like what is the time? They would probably reply, "Time! This is the most horrible time of my life. My father is not sending me money, I can't understand any damn thing in the lectures, no girl ever seems to be interested in me and the hostel food is pathetic. It is the worst time of my life."

In short, this book is like a 'handbook of everyday humor'. It is based on observation on funny tendencies in people and then creating fictional caricatures and anecdotes around them.

The tendency of beating around the mulberry bush has been converted into a fictional characters and anecdotes, served "With a Pinch of Salt..."


On the name & the cover:
The content of the book is as unfamiliar or unique as the title of book. Its good to see the author has concentrated to choose such an appropriate name for this humorous content.
The cover complements the content perfectly. From the funny cartoon to those thought bubbles, everything seems to indicate that this book is going to tickle your funny bones.


On the narrating style:
This book is something I am going to remember for ages. The way the author has presented the book is unique. I can't say that this is the perfect way to write a book, I am sure this imperfect narrating style is going to catch the readers eyes. I liked how the author has described his characters. Wally Wordsworth and Fabio Fibmaster are my favorite characters because I have my own experience of facing them. I can surely say that readers are going to love the creations of the author, which are very much visible in our daily life.


On the story-line:
This would be an understatement if I say this book has a hilarious content. Every chapter of the book have something to make the readers laugh. The book starts with the author describing his readers how to read this book. As soon as the author starts to introduce his characters and their anecdotes, I couldn't stop laughing. Sometime I felt the author has described a bit more to make a clear picture of a character, which looses the interest. But every time I was about to lose interest, the author very efficiently introduced a new character. This book is an outcome of the author's brilliant observation skills. At the end the 'syndromes' are described in such a way that left me laughing after even closing the book. The 'stage-hijack' part was my favorite.


+ Point: The exceptional characters and the way their tendencies are described.

- Point: Few chapters with less element of humor and overstated description.


Final Words:
A wonderful experiment by the author to pen down his observation by creating fictional characters. A unique book in its genre.


A

A+ (Excellent)    A (Very Good)      B+ (Good)        B (Average)     C (Below Average)

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