Blurb:
It is Bangalore in the late 1990’s. There are tremendous socio-economic and
cultural transformations taking place as a result of liberalization. How would
these changes impact the thinking of a group of friends in their late teens?
How would they cope, find opportunities and what of their original identities
would they be left with, after western ideologies are brought in and bombarded
into their awareness by cable TV?
Told through emails
and first person account of events, And We Remained is a light and entertaining
read of these friends as they experience love, heartbreak, prison, politics,
drunken binger, strip clubs, sexcapades, US and Europe during their journey
into adulthood.
Verdict: ‘And We Remained’ is a debut novel by designing
professional Asad Ali Junaid. I loved the cover of the book because the cover says
everything about the content of the book. Designed obviously by Asad Ali
Junaid. This is what happens
when a designer, design for himself.
The story is described in a
different and unique way. At the very beginning it struck to me that the
narrating style is a bit confusing but as the story goes on I find this style
unique and innovative. This story is narrated in the voice of four friends. The
author has
very efficiently managed to keep the two side of the story going
simultaneously, one is narrated by those four friends and one is by numerous
numbers of emails with their dates, which helps the readers to keep the track
of the time. This smooth and different narrating style will definitely
catch readers’ attention.
The story unfolds around the late
1990’s when there is neither internet nor mobile phones. In the era
of love letters Sahir (the main protagonist) and his friends Gopal and Sandeep
falls for the new girl in the college, Wardha is how the story starts. On the
other hand, the author keeps
showing how these friends lives are moving on after completing Engineering
through numerous mails. In the Engineering part, readers can enjoy the flavor
of late 1990’s and the way of blooming love and friendship in that era and In
the email part readers are
going to see what the conversation
between teenagers and about their journey to the adulthood. Few scenes will leave
readers laughing while at the end readers are going to cherish about the
friendship described in the story.
This book is a light read. Readers may feel that the content
could be much better and the end of the love story inside the book can be
described in a better way. The ending is predictable as well. Overall this book
is a nice and fresh read apart from this nominal flaws.
Final Words: Interesting story told in a different style. As a
debut author Asad Ali Junaid has done a good job and hope he keeps
growing in his future projects.
Title: And We Remained
Author: Asad Ali Junaid
Publisher: Asad Ali Junaid
Page Count: 270 My Rating: 3.75/5
Author: Asad Ali Junaid
Publisher: Asad Ali Junaid
Page Count: 270 My Rating: 3.75/5
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