BOOK REVIEW
Title: The Angel’s Share
Author: Satyajit Sarna
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN No: 9350293331, 9789350293331, 978-9350293331
Price: INR 250/- (Paperback)
Book Blurb:
Zorawar Chauhan lives two lives. In one, he has the big money corporate law job he used to dream of. To the young lawyer, the world tenders an endless promise of wealth and privilege.
In the other life- the one in his head- he is haunted by the ghosts of a past from which he is not yet free. He relives his life on the colourful campus of the National Law School, Bangalore, playing football, getting stoned, getting into trouble and falling in and out of love. And above all, he remembers the loss of his friend, the charismatic Sasha Kapur.
The Angel’s Share is a story of loss and wisdom – dark, funny and relentlessly honest about youth and ambition.
The Angel’s Share is a story with multiple hues; the dominant shade is yellow, the color of sunshine, fun and friendship. The underlying crimson of tragedy and heartbreak seeps into the lives of the young law school students of National Law School, Bangalore. The major part of the story takes place at the law school. The memories of the campus and its surrounding areas stay with Zorawar Chauhan, the main protagonist of the story, and fill his heart with bittersweet emotions intermittently.
The friendship between Zorawar and Sasha Kapur is evident from the way he talks about Sasha, “We simply acknowledged that he was cheerfully insane and loved him for it, a uniquely jagged piece of the puzzle that was our lives.”
The author has presented a scary picture of the students’ lives on campus of the law school; hopefully there is more fiction than fact here. The story is gripping and its characters eclectic and very interesting; Zorawar, Sasha, Malaika, Amlan, Seshadri, Kelkar, Raghav, Kiran and Jennifer, to name a few.
I am aware that it’s a story but the characters are so real and their feelings so accurately and sensitively described that I re-lived their trials and tribulations. I found myself praying for a miracle for sweet Jenni, and also for Zorawar, nobody should live with such a burden of guilt and introspection. I had mixed feelings while reading the book and was left with a dull ache in my heart at the end.
I felt that the language used by Sasha, Zorawar and his friends at times was pretty scandalous. The excessive partying and drinking aside, the core of the book is vulnerable and sensitive, it envelops your heart in a soft bubble of varying emotions. The angel’s share was not justified; the young law students’ lives were torn apart and some of them couldn’t come to terms with this upheaval.
I give it 3.5 stars.
Sounds like a fascinating book, Sulekha. I was mindful of how close to home it was for you – given where it was set! 🙂
Exactly, it was a bit unnerving reading about the campus life 🙂 The story touched my heart, very emotional and tragic.
okay, this review and the book actually struck me for a few reasons:
1. First of all, that cover design is quite stylish and meaningful, compared to some of the more recent ones that I have seen from Indian authors.
2. The story actually seems to be engaging… a morbid fascination for me, from my point of view.
Did you have any gripes/grouses with proof reading and editing?
Thanks for visiting and leaving such a lovely comment. The editing and proofreading here are good, no issues there.
Seems like an interesting read! And what a neat review. I’m learning to write good reviews and this is a motivation 🙂
Thank you so much for your sweet words, I am learning to write reviews too.
Sounds interesting! Hope I am able to read it too 🙂
Hope the same, thanks