Book Review of Quarterlife by Devika Rege

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Type of book: 2014, India, Indian male/American female relationship, identity, purpose, movies, media, celebrations, Indian life, caste, unspoken things, brutality, stereotypes, philosophy, friendships, chances 

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Summary:

Characters:

There are a lot of characters, but main ones I will focus on are Naren, Rohit and Amanda. I would say that Amanda and Rohit literally stole the novel. Naren is a smart man who often questioned his role and race while living in USA.  Seriously, there is very little of him in the book. Rohit is Narens younger brother who wants to discover the identity and himself, even at the cost of his friendships. He is best described as impulsive, talented, creative, and at times trying his best, especially towards Amanda. Amanda is slightly older than Rohit and I hate saying this, but she is a very typical and naive American woman, often applying American thoughts and ideas to a non American setting. She is also selfish and often can't see beyond her needs, at least early in the book. 

 
Theme:

It's amazing how life can lead humanity 

Plot:

The story is in third person narrative and sometimes from first person narrative from Naren's, Rohit's and Amanda's points of views, although other characters also pop in with their views of events. Basically Naren is the starting point of the story, and while the reader does get to hear from him, he is not as a dominant force as Amanda and Rohit. Naren, who lives a successful life in USA, starts to feel uncomfortable mainly because of race or of how he denies that important part of himself around his coworkers, which compels him to travel back to India with Amanda, a slightly younger former classmate who wants to find new paths and ways of living. While there, Amanda meets Rohit, Narens younger brother and the two begin an extremely tumultuous relationship. The rest of the novel talks of events that are going on as the reader sees India through Amanda's and Rohits eyes. The novel is very experimental, and while most of it is in third person, some of it is in first person. First part sets up the novel, while second discusses Amanda's portraiture and Rohits goals of making movies as well as a small section talking of Naren settling to work for new India. The third part is when minor and secondary characters make their voices heard. Fourth part focuses on things going on in the city as main characters wait for the parade. Fifth part is the aftermath of the parade and last part is a mysterious narrator discussing the tale.  What I found remarkable is the title and perhaps the struggles that 20 something's go through. 

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Opinion:

I am definitely sorry it took me awhile to read and review this novel. It's also kind of difficult for me to figure out my emotions towards it and whether or not it's ok to speak of them. Yes I enjoyed the story a lot and had hoped for several different endings than the ones that occurred. I also feel that one needs to be intimately connected to India to understand the finer points and points of views of other characters. I wish I could have understood more of the novel because it was such an intriguing read in terms of symbolism, nationality and what it means when nationalism raises it's head, which is something that should be discussed everywhere. So yes, big part enjoyment and confusion at the same time. 

This was given for review 

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.)