Revolution 2020 by Chetan Bhagat: A Review

BOOK TITLE: Revolution 2020

ISBN: 978-8129118806

AUTHOR: Chetan Bhagat

GENRE: Fiction/ Based on events.

NUMBER OF PAGES: 296

FORMAT: Paperback

SERIES / STANDALONE: Standalone

REVIEW BY: Dhivya Balaji

https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/20539669-dhivya-balaji

HOW I GOT THIS BOOK: On loan from a very friendly neighbour.

REVIEW:

          Chetan has always been an author who knew the pulse of India’s youth. Like his previous offerings, this book too does not include any elements of fantasy, over the top action or unbelievable scenarios. Again, the protagonists are youth. And again, the author offers realistic story setting.

          This story follows young Gopal (the narrator) who is brilliant but does not fare well in education, living with his widower father, who soon leaves him due to multiple disappointments, Raghav, a brilliant, righteous young man who has ambitions in politics, and Aarthi, who has a long lasting love on the way ward Gopal instead of the good guy.

          Being friends since kids, Gopal finds himself forced to the bad path due to a combination of circumstances. When he tries to be righteous, the world mocks him, and when he turns way ward, the world shuns him. But Gopal survives the hardships and becomes the young director of a college and university.

          He befriends all sorts of people but still nurses his love of Aarthi. Across all his troubles he still yearns for her. Meanwhile, brilliant boy Raghav gets into a good position, and a reputable job. While he too, is a good candidate to get the hand of the leading lady.

          What follows is a story of success, betrayal, politics, and ultimately, love. There is also sacrifice, belief, trust, intense emotions in a typical Indian youth drama. But individual details of the story should not be analysed. It should be seen as a whole. And any typical judge of character would quickly jump to conclusions over the characters from page 1.

          But the author’s beauty lies in the weaving of the tale, developing a small spark into a readable 300 pages. An acceptable tale of love, and the feel of loss is fine in a story for light read. But if people look to gather something or expect some miracle, the book only gives a sour aftertaste. The good guy is bad, bad is the new good. Remove sensibilities from the bit of the story to read it without a sigh.

          After all, there is only so much that can be expanded to a 300 page novel. This is the sort of book that you get tired in about the first fifty pages but still plough on in the hopes of finding something and understand the plot somehow. So read away, enjoy. But go for it one time, expecting a movie that gains a 43% in rotten tomatoes rating.

 

WHAT I LIKED: The realistic story line. The author only says what is really happening.

WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER: Predictable story line, self sympathising narrator who tries to justify actions.

VERDICT: Go for it if you like the author.

RATING: 3/5

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Chetan Bhagat (born 22 April 1974), is an Indian author, columnist, and speaker. Bhagat is the author of bestselling novels, Five Point Someone (2004), One Night @ the Call Center (2005), The 3 Mistakes of My Life (2008), 2 States (2009), Revolution 2020 (2011), and What Young India Wants (2012). All the books have remained bestsellers since their release and three have inspired Bollywood films (including the hit films 3 Idiots and Kai Po Che!). In 2008, The New York Times called Bhagat "the biggest selling English language novelist in India's history". Bhagat, an alumnus of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi and Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, is seen more as a youth icon than as an author. Time magazine named him as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. Bhagat writes op-ed columns for popular English and Hindi newspapers, including the The Times of India and Dainik Bhaskar, focusing on youth, career and issues based on national development. Bhagat voices his opinion frequently at leading events. He quit his investment banking career in 2009, to focus on writing.

EDITIONS AVAILABLE: Paperback

PRICE: 140

BOOK LINKS: http://www.amazon.com/Revolution-2020-Chetan-Bhagat/dp/8129118807