my review of Reshma Anand's "9.0 and beyond"
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1sanika_dabholkar
IIT novels are the ‘in-thing’ as of now, and I really wasn’t expecting much when i picked up a copy of ‘9.0 and Beyond’. In all honesty, i mostly expected it to be a boring account of the mishaps and failures of an over aspiring IIT-ian. But ‘9.0 and Beyond’ is a raw, honest and really compelling book, making it the first one of those I had the fortune to read, in a long time. For me, the thing that makes ‘9.0 and Beyond’ the success it is, is the fact that through the book you get a glance at real life. As I read, it became clear to me that life is not all about the degrees on the wall and the pay-check in your pocket, thankfully; the real prize of life is just simple happiness.
Sincere and intelligent Ravi Shankar Iyer, our protagonist, takes the first step to realising his dreams by securing a spot at the prestigious IIT Madras. Ravi’s only desire is to leave the poverty and filth of India for good. He finds two very like minded people, Thomas and Santosh, with whom he immediately strikes a lifelong friendship. Hard work in college pays off, and the 3 of them find themselves in the glorious USA for their Master’s degree. Years later, after Ivy league colleges like MIT and Harvard, and indulgent salaries, Ravi is now successful. But he wonders whether his success equals happiness. Even though his two best mates have settled down Ravi is no closer to finding happiness. In his quest for success he winds up losing two beautiful women, and distances himself from the people he loves. Contact with his family diminishes to a mere phone call, and Ravi now calls USA his home. He is finally free from the grimy clutches of India. But trouble brews when his 2 best friends return to India. Ravi simply cannot understand why anyone would want to go back. However a chance meeting with Gayathri makes Ravi re-evaluate his beliefs about his homeland and himself.
Impact: Ravi Shankar Iyer, the protagonist of the novel, and I have a lot in common. For starters i had no inclination of living in India even a minute after graduation. Both of us had a strong fascination for the USA and we loved to see high profile degrees plastered to our wall. And most importantly, both of us like a nice, fat salary. With all of this in common, I could associate with Ravi’s dilemmas in a flash. But as Ravi takes the slow, steep climb to real success, I found my own mind-set changing. Reshma Anand (that is, the author) puts forth her epiphanies in such a brilliant way, that I started to feel my own opinions take after hers. All-in-all, ‘9.0 and Beyond’ is a real eye-opener, to what we think success is and what it actually takes to be successful.
Plot: The plot is fairly simple. There are no dramatic deaths and drastic events. Frankly, the book is not over-zealous at all. It’s simply, real life.
Dialogue: Colloquial and so very relatable, the dialogue makes you feel as though you are over-hearing an actual conversation and not reading it.
Voice: The book is Indian, American and global. If that doesn’t fulfil your criteria, then I don’t know what will.
Pace: Compelling. I seriously couldn’t stop until I was done.
Rating: It’s a 4/5 from me.
Who should read it: anyone who is in IIT, an engineering college, a degree college, settled abroad, or even those who like to read really good books.
To conclude, Reshma Anand has completely won me over with her fabulous debut novel, ‘9.0 and Beyond’!
Sincere and intelligent Ravi Shankar Iyer, our protagonist, takes the first step to realising his dreams by securing a spot at the prestigious IIT Madras. Ravi’s only desire is to leave the poverty and filth of India for good. He finds two very like minded people, Thomas and Santosh, with whom he immediately strikes a lifelong friendship. Hard work in college pays off, and the 3 of them find themselves in the glorious USA for their Master’s degree. Years later, after Ivy league colleges like MIT and Harvard, and indulgent salaries, Ravi is now successful. But he wonders whether his success equals happiness. Even though his two best mates have settled down Ravi is no closer to finding happiness. In his quest for success he winds up losing two beautiful women, and distances himself from the people he loves. Contact with his family diminishes to a mere phone call, and Ravi now calls USA his home. He is finally free from the grimy clutches of India. But trouble brews when his 2 best friends return to India. Ravi simply cannot understand why anyone would want to go back. However a chance meeting with Gayathri makes Ravi re-evaluate his beliefs about his homeland and himself.
Impact: Ravi Shankar Iyer, the protagonist of the novel, and I have a lot in common. For starters i had no inclination of living in India even a minute after graduation. Both of us had a strong fascination for the USA and we loved to see high profile degrees plastered to our wall. And most importantly, both of us like a nice, fat salary. With all of this in common, I could associate with Ravi’s dilemmas in a flash. But as Ravi takes the slow, steep climb to real success, I found my own mind-set changing. Reshma Anand (that is, the author) puts forth her epiphanies in such a brilliant way, that I started to feel my own opinions take after hers. All-in-all, ‘9.0 and Beyond’ is a real eye-opener, to what we think success is and what it actually takes to be successful.
Plot: The plot is fairly simple. There are no dramatic deaths and drastic events. Frankly, the book is not over-zealous at all. It’s simply, real life.
Dialogue: Colloquial and so very relatable, the dialogue makes you feel as though you are over-hearing an actual conversation and not reading it.
Voice: The book is Indian, American and global. If that doesn’t fulfil your criteria, then I don’t know what will.
Pace: Compelling. I seriously couldn’t stop until I was done.
Rating: It’s a 4/5 from me.
Who should read it: anyone who is in IIT, an engineering college, a degree college, settled abroad, or even those who like to read really good books.
To conclude, Reshma Anand has completely won me over with her fabulous debut novel, ‘9.0 and Beyond’!
