Saturday, May 11, 2013

Book Review: The Homing Pigeons

"The Homing Pigeons" is a love story of two people meeting, leaving, meeting, leaving and eventually meeting again! Much like the 'homing pigeons' who are known to return to their own place irrespective of the location they are currently in. Metaphorically, the two protagonist in this book, Aditya and Radhika, go through the same motions till they meet (again). Although the title is apt for such a story, the cover page, isn't. It simply depicts pigeons flying in random directions without a destination. I would have preferred a more creative cover page. But, as they say, never judge a book by its cover!


Target Audience:
1. Youngsters looking to read relationship based novels
2. Corporates affected by recession (not that this book gives an option, but you will enjoy for sure)
3. Readers who enjoy non-linear / parallel narration.

Plot: "The Homing Pigeons" is about the stories of Aditya and Radhika - 2 stories running parallel. You meet a guy named Aditya who works as a 'gigolo' to satisfy his 'clients'. You then meet a woman named Radhika who is not sad when she loses her husband but is instead happy to own his materialistic possessions! But all's not bad with the protagonists and their life. Situations made them go that route. And those situations are described in the book. Aditya is actually a promising youngster who loses his job due to recession and lives with his working wife. He met a woman, Divya, in a bar and that meeting changed his life for the better (in terms of money) and worse (in terms of career decisions). Radhika is a small town girl whose parents gave her away to foster parents, who in turn, returned her back to real parents. How the twain meet - forms the crux of the story.

Writing: The narration is non linear. You get too know a part of Aditya's life followed by Radhika's life. Initially, they are as different as chalk and cheese. Your instinct (and the book title) reminds you that their stories will meet at one point. But that's not the point here. It's how smoothly the stories meet that makes this book worth reading. However, I felt the end could've been made a little melodramatic. Also, the stories are moving between the past and present. The writing is simple and easy to understand (a common trait by Indian authors to increase their target audience). People who know me, know that I have a thing or two for witty one-liners. Here's one from the book that's apt - "This response is as dumb as Microsoft Office help; it gives  you the most logical answer that makes no sense"

Relevance in today's times: Recession is relevant, even in today's times - ask those who are still struggling to get back in the career race. Relationships, or the fall of it, is also equally relevant. "The Homing Pigeons" captures the various reasons for the fall of relationships, (regrettable) decision made based on situations and its repercussions. The author has smartly involved two of the most sensitive issues (recession and relations) and churned out a book that's pleasant to say the least.

Overall, based on the story and parallel narration with past and present running together, this book is a worthy page turner. It's a wonderful and promising start from the author Sid Bahri. Narration is truly the differentiating factor here and is, in itself, worthy of a buy. 

My Rating: 3 / 5

11 comments:

  1. I love non linear story telling. There was this Malayalam non linear novel where the name of protagonists are same! But the story as per your synopsis is very different.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Harish, there are now many Malayalam movies with non-linear narration. I am starting to enjoy such movies..

      Delete
  2. Though I write a lot of love posts, I want to write a love story but I don't like reading it. Something is seriously wrong with me. Also, half way through the post, I saw the technorati badge and I was too excited to read further. I took a pause and read the post then. Congrats, way to go Binu. Yet another impressive achievement. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. On the contrary Saru, I feel you can write a wonderful love story yourself - and am sure you will enjoy reading it too!

      PS: Am truly humbled by Technorati recognition :)

      Delete
  3. Sounds like a promising book. But I am not really fond of Indian readers. The witty one liner is good :-)

    I have preordered the Inferno from Dan brown from flipkart, really looking forward to it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jenny, Indian authors are coming up in a big way.. And will be a force to reckon with, in the near future. Also, since they write abt stuffs we can relate to (more often than non-Indian authors), we enjoy reading it too..

      Let me know your thoughts on "Inferno"..

      Delete
  4. Wonderful in depth review as always, Binu. Non linear narration sounds interesting and so does the plot. Recession and relationships are definitely two points that are interwined with the lives of most of the youngsters today. That and your positive review makes the book compelling enough to be taken up for a read.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Arti.. The author is woven a story around recession and relationship and the final product is quite interesting..

      Delete
  5. Dear Binu,
    My apologies for not being here sooner to thank you for your review. I appreciate you taking out the time to review my book.
    Thanks
    Sid

    ReplyDelete
  6. Dear Binu,
    My apologies for not being here sooner than today. Thank you for taking the time out to review the book. Much appreciated
    Warm regards
    Sid

    ReplyDelete

All yours..

wibiya widget

You might also like

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...