Apr 08, 2015 07:49 AM
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Though the blurb of the book The Chaos Within says that it is the story of five friends, it is in fact story of six friends. These six friends meet up after ten years at a college reunion. Five of them have been conventionally successful. The sixth one happens to be a loser. He blames the other five for his failures. He is all set to take a revenge. He has come all prepared for the same. It is when he raises the gun at his five successful friends that their chaos within surfaces.
The writing is simple and amateurish. The first hundred pages of the book are boring. The same stuff which we have read in numerous novels set in colleges. Nothing about studying but all about drinking, romancing and peeing. It is believed that the novels and films reflect social scenario of that era. If that happens to be true I am really worried about the alcohol consumption and drug abuse amongst the youngsters. Moreover I do not know any college in India which has a ball room.
That apart the character sketches of the friends during their college times are too plain. They are too blunt. However the author manages to cut out razor sharp personalities when it comes to their lives after college. I wish she had devoted some more time to breath life into the characters when narrating their college incidents.
I was also able to point a few spelling mistakes. On page no. 41 across is spelt as acroos. On page no. 123 comes another misspelt word convivtion.
The best part of the book is the confessions which the conventionally successful friends make towards the end. Though stereotyped this part of the novel manages to strike a chord with you. It is for this part that I liked the book. Most importantly it carries a social message that everyone has his or her set of problems in life. It also tells us that instead of blaming others one should shoulder his or her responsibility.
The Chaos Within is an easy read. Don't expect too much from it and it will not disappoint you.
