Name: The Not People
Author: Sonara
No. of Pages: 260
Genre: Fiction
Price: Rs. 250/-
Published in: 2016How did I get it? From the publisher.
The blurb of the book says:
‘The Not People’ is an odyssey of faith, a plunge of deep belief into the heart of the ones who have ever dared to love unconditionally. When Parineeta decides to call it quits, her relationship with beau Atharv, with whom she had voyaged through unnumbered experiences in an ordinary life, she was sure as hell about never wanting to see him ever again, even if that meant smothering her core voice that screamed out to love and endure. Winds of change begin gushing only after a protracted length of time; almost close to a decade since their separation. She is now not so youthful anymore and Atharv’s status is unknown to her. Will she give in to her heart’s calling and set out to seek her only love? Would her intentions be bestowed by blessings from above? Will it ever rain again, as it had when she had returned once, to meet her dying mother? Are Parineeta and Atharv really, just ordinary people or Not…?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Sonara (Soni Arasu) has served the Armed Forces and is a Director at ARK (Act of Random Kindness social welfare society). She is an avid blogger and is zealous about lettering her thoughts about the hinterlands she subsists in. Her resilient beliefs mirror the concept of pursuing one’s core candidly. A quintessential gypsy at heart, she has voyaged most parts of India with her husband who is a serving officer in the armed forces and her son, Aries.
MY THOUGHTS:
Cover: It shows the view of a busy road from inside a moving vehicle on a rainy day. Writing: Many, many words not at all used in daily vocabulary has been used. At times, it felt as if the author is trying to show off her knowledge of words. At several places, sentences and thoughts became repetitive. Demarcations between events were missing.
Plot: The story is about two soulmates, madly and deeply in love, defying societal norms of marriage and having a live-in relationship.
The book started well. The female protagonist, Parineeta, lost her mother and she was seeing her family after a decade. She is the only living child of her parents but chose to be disconnected from them all these years; seemed utterly self-centred to me. Atharv, her beau, portrayed as a loving, caring and considerate guy. Then suddenly, they were moving base from Northeast India to South India via road. So one-fourth of the book was about their road trip. They are not financially well-off, but they could afford the de-route road trip and build a house in Ooty. Then their handyman in Ooty lost his family and village to tsunami, so another one-fourth went into their experience in the affected parts volunteering help. What was mentioned in the blurb happened only when the book was coming to end. Parineeta tells Atharv to not come after her, so he doesn’t. Then suddenly the story moves eight years ahead. Parineeta conveniently ignored her lonely and aging father till the end. Then she comes back. Didn’t like it.
I give “The Not People” 1 star on a scale of 5.
Natasha'z Points To Ponder 
Borah’s review of the book seems to be a paid one. Paid to play the author’s effort down for reasons best known to her. Starting from the cover, which is a still through a still window of a room, beautifully capturing a vague image of a few people, till the end, NOTING HAS BEEN APPRECIATED. I don’t even think she has ever written a book, coz the way she has criticized the use of words, again shows her level of learning. Atleast the efforts put in by the author in writing this novel could have been appreciated somewhere, anywhere. As regards the protagonist, Parineeta, events of her childhood have moulded her into her current self. Questioning the where-withal of her move with Atharv, the economy bit instead of focusing on the journey as in the book is suspect. Yes, the book seems to have been set during the 2004 Tsunami and depiction of moving ahead 8 years didn’t come across as far-fetched . The book brings out the actual realities of the character which is definitely not a picture perfect setting. A fairly good piece of literature has been ripped for apparent by the wrong reasons. ‘The Not People’ may not be a classic but its totally worth a read sans regrets !
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Oh boy! You really have taken this review personally. I am glad that you loved the book but well, I didn't. Most of us love to watch movies and criticize them all the time, but majority of us are not movie-makers, are we? Similarly, it is not necessary that a reader needs to be writer too so as to say why they liked or disliked a book.Also,I feel how words are used determine the quality of writing, not what words are used. If you take the liberty of doubting my level of learning, I take the liberty of doubting the number of good books you have actually read.I was sent the book for an honest review, I gave it. You loved the book, you wrote a wonderful review. Period. It's time that we move on to other books now. Take care 🙂
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