G226 E-Reading Book Review of When Strangers Meet...by K Hari Kumar

Name of Book: When Strangers Meet...

Author: K Hari Kumar

ISBN: 9789380349930

Publisher: Srishti Publishers and Distributors

Type of book: India, 1990s-2011, stranger, subway, story, father-son relationship, studying, living through mistakes, Indian culture

Year it was published: 2013

Summary:

What happens when an irritating but lovable wise-cracking 'Stranger' called Iyer meets a frustrated and arrogant teenager, Jai, on a fateful day in a congested room at the metro station? Catastrophe!!!
Meanwhile, Pathan never had the pleasure of happiness in his life yet he thanked Allah for every second of it...

Abandoned by fate and friends, surrounded by responsibilities and poverty... This hard-coated man from the city of Delhi knew only thing and that was to keep faith in Allah... Now he is set on a journey to turn around his fate...

The tale from the Iyer's past will change Pathan's present and Jai's future... And trust me...
Sometimes all it takes is a stranger's tale to change the track of your life...

Three Men... One fateful day... and a Story of a Lifetime...

The Stranger is coming this May... are you ready to receive him? ;)

Characters:

The main characters would be Jay and Iyer, although Pathan plays a very small part in the book. Jay is a teenager determined to rebel against his father who wants him to learn mathematics, while Jay wants to work either in animation or else as an actor. Iyer is a stranger from Tamil part of India that tells Jay an eerie story of dreams gone wrong and parents scorned. Iyer is best described as easy-going, at least when we meet him, overweight, jovial and very friendly, while Jay is sullen, ambitious and selfish. Pathan is dedicated to faith and wants to do the best he can for his family.

Theme:

Strangers have big potential to change our lives.

Plot:

The story is divided into three parts and is from three points of view; the first and third are from Jay's and a little from Hussain, while the second part is the stranger's story and how he ended up the way he did which is told in first person narrative. What I also liked is learning bits and pieces about the Indian culture, although translation of Indian phrases for those not from India or don't know the language would have been nice.

Author Information:
(from goodreads.com)

url https://www.goodreads.com/DaStoryteller
born in Cochin, India January 03, 1989
gendermale
websitehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K_Hari_Kumar
twitter usernamekathaharik
genreFiction, Thriller, Drama
influencesDan Brown, Paulo Coelho, Albert Camus, Stephen King, Roald Dahl
member sinceJanuary 2013

K.Hari Kumar is the 24-year old author of WHEN STRANGERS MEET.. He's also an international award nominated Photographer and independent filmmaker who has worked in over twenty television commercials, directed 6 short films and two documentaries (one for an international artist).

The Stranger's second short film 'The Man who loved me' was a commercial suspense thriller on homosexuality. The film was selected at the IFF 2011, Melbourne. His debut novel 'When Strangers meet..' is an adaptation of his first short film 'My name is Iyer'. The book has already sold out it's first edition within one month of it's release and has been featured in many presitigious Indian channels of print media.

His debut novel is a fast paced 'entertainer' that talks about father-son relationships from the viewpoints of three different strata of society and how the Story of one Stranger inspires the lives of the others.

When he's not writing or travelling, he works with his father in a small farm in the South Indian countryside where he lives with his parents and three cats.

You can meet the stranger on www.facebook.com/kathaharik
or
www.about.me/thestranger

Opinion:

At first I wasn't too sure what to expect, except that the story sounded interesting. When I began to read it, at first it went slow and for me and I couldn't help but notice a few grammatical mistakes that the author has made. However, the stranger's story was pretty interesting thus I was able to finish it in a few days. There is also an interesting twist towards the end. For me its a fast and enjoyable read where you never know who you're going to meet or how their stories will impact your life. I also felt that Hussain's story wasn't fully integrated into the main story. The main focus is between the stranger and Jay, while Hussain played a very small part. But still great potential.

Quick Notes: I would like to thank the author for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this book. 

4 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)