by Anupama Krishnakumar
[box]Paritosh Uttam’s ‘Dreams in Prussian Blue’ and Amrit N.Shetty’s ‘Love Over Coffee’ are two of the three books published by Penguin under its ‘Metro Reads’ series. The Metro Reads are meant to be ‘fun, fiesty and fast reads for the reader on the go’. Anupama Krishnakumar reviews the two books, which have dreams at the heart of their plots, are attractively designed and are definitely fast-reads. [/box]
‘Love over Coffee’ by Amrit N.Shetty is your typical combo of love, work and friendship with a dream thread running through out. It’s the story of Anup, his love interest, Rajni, and his friends, all of them working in an IT company. Anup, who often finds himself out-of-place in the IT industry, dreams of marrying Rajni and aspires to become a writer. However, the plot and the characters of this novel, which at many times reads like a movie script, leave much to be desired. At the end of the book, you are left with a vague feeling that there is something missing. It is perhaps the plot that at many points seems to lack a grip, giving a feeling that there is something wanting. Much has been crammed into the last few pages of the book, while a sizeable portion of the novel moves rather slowly.
The book is OK to the extent that it gives you a peek into the workings of the often rosy-outside-thorny-inside IT industry. But, it could have helped if the language and construction of the novel were not so much in the style that rules the burgeoning blogosphere. ‘Love over Coffee’ is definitely not for serious literature lovers. Pick it up only if you want something that demands less of your attention and at the same time, is ‘time pass’ stuff.
The pages of ‘Dreams in Prussian Blue’ are filled with dreams – there is the slightly eccentric and talentedMichael who dreams of painting his way to fame despite the cruel fate that befalls him. He paints a series of paintings hinging on the theme of ‘dreams’. Then there’s the smitten and strong-headed Naina who dreams of living a life for Michael and his aspirations. She drops out of college for the life that she dreams of living with ‘Mickey’, a life where she would be in a way ‘responsible but not accountable’. There’s also the cunning and loathsome Abhinav who dreams of a life with Naina and would stretch to any limits to get her.
The author has done justice to the characters of Naina, Michael and Abhinav and even those with a smaller presence. They have been clearly thought over and sketched perfectly.
Some pages into the book, you will find yourself getting familiar with them, just as if they are your neighbours or you have known them for a while. And somewhere between, you will find yourself taking sides with one of them, drawing upon untold but surely apparent reasons emerging from the different incidents in the novel. It’s the kind of book where the theme, plot and language work together wonderfully well. It has love, colours, drama, and an assortment of human nature and emotions that, when you put down the book, after you have read it to the last page, it leaves behind a sense of quiet satisfaction. The language is simple yet catchy because the words play about beautifully and effortlessly, conjuring up the scenes in front of your eyes. The plot is racy, the story itself is packed with emotion which is subtly played over the length of the novel. Here’s a book that is full of promise and a writer to watch out for. Do grab a copy of Paritosh Uttam’s ‘Dreams in Prussian Blue’. You wouldn’t be disappointed.
