Give me
something to read and I will be the happiest. This is exactly why, even though
I am on vacation and trying to just relax with no plans to do anything else, I
still went ahead and signed up to review this book. After all, a book can do no
harm even if you are vacationing ;)
The book,
You Raise Me Up, is from the author, Arjun Hemmady, all of 25 years and
pursuing his Chartered Accountancy from the Institute of Chartered Accountants
of India. The book is about how a 27 year old chartered accountant, Aalok
Sharma meets Priyanka Mehra, a lawyer, feels attracted to her, yet something
holds him back. The book is divided into three parts – The first part is all
about him meeting Priyanka and how they become close to each other, the second
part traces his yester years, his journey through his struggles as a CA aspirant
to a young professional, his life before he met Priyanka (here, the reader
realizes why he is hesitant in committing to a relation with Priyanka) and why he acts
the way he is in the first part. The third part brings the reader back to the
present and stitches together Aalok’s life to connect the past with the present
and bring the book to a happy ending.
The life
of a CA aspirant is clearly portrayed in the book. The despair, the struggle
and the hard work to clear the exam is written so well. If you are a chartered
accountant or aspiring to be one, you can definitely relate so well with a lot
that is written in the book. I’ve seen may of my CA friends go through the
phases mentioned in the book - their struggles, hardwork, the tension build up
just before the result is announced, the dejected feeling when they didn’t clear
the exam and the exuberant feeling when they passed – I’ve in fact experienced it
all quite closely with my best friend. The life of young professionals in a
metropolitan city is sketched quite well in the book. My favourite part in the book, though, was the relation between Arjun and his twin sister, Isha
(I am a sucker for twins, so I might be partial here). It is portrayed
beautifully - no one can love you as a sibling does, no one can feel your pain
as your sibling does and definitely no one will stand by you no matter what,
like your sibling does! This book may not keep you hooked from the beginning to
the end, but it's definitely interesting and though at times it's quite
predictable, there are times when you are left wondering. I loved the book more
towards the end where there seemed to be a bit of uncertainty as to what happens next and how the story might end. But other than that, the
book is kept simple with not much surprises.
Considering
that the book is from a first time author, it is a good read. However,
personally, I would've loved if the book was slightly better off in terms of
language and flow of sentence. The book is a light read and you can finish
it in a couple of hours. All in all, if you have a couple of hours to
while away and you want to sit back and relax, this book is worth a try.
P.s: This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!
Also, you can clink on the link below to buy the book!
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