Book Review: Paperback Dreams by Rahul Saini

To start with, this book is the ideal partner for a lazy, mindless Sunday afternoon. It is a light read. Funny yet brutal, simple yet complex. The author has done a good job in making this quite relatable. The best part about the book is that it is not all about baseless ambitions, there is a certain element of value-teaching which is so subtly involved that it makes the book almost nonchalant.

Moving on to the finer details, this book has a fresh appeal to it. It is neither a typical win-win love story nor a baseless Bollywood material. It is just, LIFE. And the thing I liked the most about this book was the “publishing couch” explanation given. Everyone thinks that an author has an easy like with everything around them of butterflies and lilies. The book, however obliquely, shows that author do have tough, notorious times. With three parallel yet interwoven stories the author highlights the kind of problems faced and the ethic-games played in literary industry. I loved the book for picking up this highly neglected problem and portraying it in a light, almost normal way.

The other good thing was that the characters are so relatable! Their emotions, their actions, their thoughts, they are all so natural and understandable which is what makes the book so…cute!

 But although they are relatable, they are no attachable! Yes, there is a difference! A certain depth to the character is missing. There are no multiple personality sides explored which kind of makes the character too general to be attachable. Which is why you don’t laugh when the protagonist tries to control his students and you don’t cry when he gets cheated!

The other factor that amused me was that the entire book was written in present tense. Yes. It was as if it is a live commentary going on. To a certain extent, it is interesting, the writer tries to create a certain bond between his characters and the reader, but at some points, it sounds silly! When describing scene transitions and mundane actions, it sounds really unnatural.

But yes, there are some sensitive spots where the reader has to use his brains and not follow blindly what is written. For example, where eve-teasing and casual sex have a mention. The reader has to be careful enough to understand the underlying meaning!

Lastly, the book does not have a proper ending! There are so many plot points that need to be given a proper ending. You can feel the in-completion when you close the book. It is rather abrupt and few plot lines aren’t given a befitting ending given the ideas associated with those plot lines. As a reader, that sort of disappoints.

But I believe all these negatives were covered by the sheer light-heartedness and novelty-subject matter of the plot. Ignoring all it’s grammatical mistake, I give the book a thumbs up!

Book Details:

(Review by: Aayushi Shah)

• About the Author

About Sprightly Spirit

“I dare do all that may become a man. Who dares more is none”. And all, may be. It may be the vigor. Or the spirit. Or the courage to avoid being “politically correct” or bent. And, ban all averse with immaculate overture of graciously fathomable words firm in views. Subtle. Justifying the undying conscience. Values. Knowledge. And, dares to stay true. True to own. True to the world. And, to the words. With a dream in eyes it exists. In you. In me. In all. The sprite that never shies away. The spirit that never dies!