17th Book of 2021
When someone says “What can be more real than fiction?”, I totally agree with it. An author has all the creative liberty and freedom to explore the current surrounding in his fictional story in a way that the readers reading it understand that this is being referred to what they are experiencing every day. A non-fiction writer always has to twist and turn their words to protect the dignity of the place or people they are talking about. Whenever I read any fiction book which has such great elements into it which relates with what people around me and I are already suffering or living, I just wish to spread the words to as many people as possible to let them know about the book and author.
Here, I am referring to the latest book I have completed last night- “NIGHTWATCHMAN PVT LTD” written by the debutante author, Naveen Kundra. The book is published by Notion Press in around 420 pages. Frankly speaking, when I had seen the cover page and the title of the book, I didn’t expect much but what made me started was the synopsis of the book. As soon as the story begins, it just pulls you in. Even if it can’t be called a thriller, it is no less than that. It is a perfect page turner as you just want to know what is going to happen ahead as all looks smooth at the moment. Because author has written this in a simultaneous format where we are being narrated two different timelines, where the earlier one is the basic plot, we just want to know how our protagonist got in a scoop in the future timeline.
The writing style of Naveen is as good as any prominent fiction writers’ in India who write in the same genre. He knows how to narrate an incident. He keeps few of them sometimes limited to a paragraph or two whereas some of them have a chapter dedicated to them. Naveen knows how to use story elements very sharply as his plot doesn’t have only one narrative and thought-process to it. It consists of so many factors that one needs extreme level of research and intriguing observation that when you write it, a person reading thinks that this has always been around you but how couldn’t you focus upon it before reading it in the book.
Naveen has used many social and political concerns in his book in a light story format but it talks about our contemporary issues. The protagonist has come from a small place to this very big state for a job which can take him places. His parents have always compared him to his peers which made him feel inferior. After working for some time, like every small-town boy, he dreams of creating his own product and becoming an entrepreneur. Then the book talks about the kind of obstacles and challenges a person faces when he gets into entrepreneurship. The author also takes up the topic of how the big sharks in the market try to wipe you out completely from your business through various demeaning tactics and how it impacts one’s personal as well as professional life.
Kundra has also not shied away from introducing us to the internal politics in the Police department and how every officer is different from each other but have to keep their personality squeezed due to the pressure from top orders. Also, how a department like Police which is responsible for Law and Order in the state are continuously manipulated by the State Government is administered in the 2nd half of the book. The plot of the book corelates with our current Covid situation also at some or the other level and you can understand how internal blame game takes place due to which public suffers. Author has been sarcastic and humorous at several points which really makes you appreciate his witty side and keeps the book entertaining.
The writing approach of Naveen is really distinct where he first mentions any character as if it’s just another supporting character but after some time when the story becomes interesting, author makes it more captivating by taking us to their back story and their relationship with the protagonist. It really becomes interesting to read the story for next few pages after that until which we are again taken to another character’s past. This cycle becomes so addictive that you wish the book keeps going further in the same spiral model.
Along with a story which is purely based on entrepreneurship and its challenges, I really liked how author was able to embed romance, love, sex and all these delightful light moments in the book in the required quantity to not make it a very complicated read for the readers who don’t prefer it but kept it compatible for all. While reading, I could easily visualize whole story in a very entertaining masala pot-boiler Bollywood movie. This book has all the ingredients to be made in a very popular big-screen film; I just wish that it reaches up to that level.
Now talking about few drawbacks, the book has lot of typos and spelling mistakes due to bad proofreading. When you make so much effort in writing such a difficult book, such things need to be taken care of. It just spoils the reading experience. Secondly, author has mentioned spoofy names of some real locations in the book. I believe that if the author would have based his book with real places’ names, it would have made the people relate and enjoy it more as currently, it feels as if author is trying to make fun of things rather than being serious about his own story. Thirdly, the book is of around 420 pages which I believe could have been easily of less than 350 pages. The story really gets slow in the 2nd half and I wish author could have kept it crisper.
Overall, this book is a very entertaining stuff which will compel you to complete it in just one sitting irrespective of its length. When a book has such power, I think author has won his efforts of multiple sleepless nights. I give this book 4.5 stars out of 5.
Thanks.
WRITING BUDDHA
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