Shrinidhi finds that Chetan Bhagat’s latest “The three mistakes of my life” is riddled with mistakes of its own. He thinks one should approach the book like watching a Bollywood movie - entertaining but devoid of logic or reasoning. (Warning - Shrinidhi’s review has a lot of spoilers.)
Mistake Two
Page 214 of the book says they watched riot scenes on NDTV. Godhra incident and subsequent riots happened in feb 2002 while NDTV 24×7 and NDTV India were launched on 14 April 2003 (Proof)Certainly they couldn’t have seen Godhra riot scenes on NDTV-must have been some other channel but Chetan just mentioned NDTV.
Rashmi seems to actually find a lot of things to like in Chetan Bhagat’s book. She believes Chetan Bhagat fans will like this book.
What I will discuss is the small stuff which I think Chetan always gets right…
- The ambience of Gujarat and Ahmedabad in particular.
Sample lines like: Gujarat is the only state in India where people tend to respect you more if you are in businesss than if you are in service (v true!) and ‘Gujarat is a dry state.. people here get drunk on food’.
Comments
17 comments. Leave your comment »
Neeraj Prakash
Jun 4th, 2008 at 3:39 pm | #
Though Chetan Bhagat,s “Three Mistakes of My life” is superb,But at some places the story goes typically like bollywood movies.Like in the end, the whole riots narration seems more dramatic. But overall the book leaves a mind blowing impression on readers and Chetan has again proved his writing skills beyond imagination.
Chaitannya
Jun 6th, 2008 at 11:43 am | #
I think chetan Bhagat has got a pattern… Sex, boozing and friendship with a scintillating end. This ain’t gonna work. I simply did not get what the author want to send a message to the youth..
You should have sex before marriage -> “Thanks god, i am eighteen and not a virgin” -> Vidya
People should be pro Hindu and preach secularism.
Anurakt
Jun 7th, 2008 at 7:10 pm | #
“3 mistakes of my life” is nothing but just an effort to sheepwalk after the popular subjects like cricket & religion. it shows chetan’s suffering for the lack of good idea. I can imagine chetan thinking “what i should write to make it popular & to sell it to bolly-wood? yes i will write something about criket, religion and sex.” and look what he have done.
rahul
Jun 8th, 2008 at 1:27 am | #
the story lacks reality. it’s the worse part of all his collection
Rajdeep
Jun 8th, 2008 at 1:41 am | #
I think the one thing that this book got right was the impact of the earthquake and the riots on the lives of the ppl of ahmedabad (I know this since i’ve been in this city during both). As for the ending, yes it was a bit too melodramatic with half the ppl dying in a RGV movie like scene, but i think that can be spared given that the book has a nice plot and a decent pace overall… I like his hinglish writing style a lot.
Kabir
Jun 10th, 2008 at 3:44 pm | #
I think this book is great! I couldnt stop once I picked it up. Whatever you say, its entertaining, and anyway who said it is a real narration? it is just based on real events. its not a thesis or a court file. its a book written to grip readers. Yes, it is bollywood like, but why is that wrong? I would rather watch this as a commercial flick than a documentary.. i really dont understand what you people are on about.
btw, i fell in love with vidya.
Vipin
Jun 10th, 2008 at 11:53 pm | #
“3 Mistakes of my Life” is very much inspired by the previous two books…here the story goes somewhat similar to a bollywood movie…the way the story has been narrated is excellent..the story never looses pace at all till the end…but what book lacks is the something new which the reader expected of Chetan Bhagat.Overall …5 point Someone was Best..1 night @ call centre was fine…3 mistakes of my life …is below fine
Sulagna
Jun 11th, 2008 at 4:01 am | #
I’ve never been to Gujrat and have never met any Gujrati ppl. The book says, “you’ve probably heard a lot about the riots and have seen the newsreports in TV, but to witness them is something you’ve no idea about.” That’s exactly the case with me. So an account of the riots from someone who’s actually experienced it is very very touching for ppl like us..that part had haunted me for about 2 days after I’d finished the book.
It is true that it’s a little Bollywood type, still, ppl like me (Indians from other parts of the country) should know how much more horrific a riot is, than we think, and feel a little bit of what their fellow countrymen have been through.
For this reason only, I’d say this is Chetan’s best-far better than the other two.
apoorva
Jun 12th, 2008 at 2:16 am | #
well the story is very prdinary and too dramatic in th eend. though the riot part is good, its still not worth all that hype
Vamsi
Jun 18th, 2008 at 2:30 am | #
This book by chetan didnt create the enthu for the reader(atleast for me) which the other two did..I didnt like the book…and moreover he is revolving around the same topics…youth,sex,boozing…
Neha
Jun 19th, 2008 at 2:53 am | #
well..a nice buk wid nice narration..u’ll actually b hooked onto it once u strt readin…chetan has a lovely style of writing..n knws wat WE d indians as readers want….yes undoubtedly d riot part in d end is a bit melodramatic bt dis is wat we expct frm our movies too….substantial melodrama..isnt it? d only thng dat i didnt like ws d encouragemnt fr pre marital sex….n dat too..ohh my gawwd such an explaind one…shes happy if shes nt a virgin..ditchin on parents…dat dey hav bad knees n wnt come up…cmon..u takin dere undue advantage…dats d wrng message here…else…d frndshp narrated is gud…its gud to hav frnds like dem also d determination in life…..overal a nice buk…..it ws expctd frm chetan. way to go guy..gudjob.
bhaskar
Jun 23rd, 2008 at 11:33 pm | #
Absolutely nonsense stuff.
Lacks a good story-telling. It looks like a typical bollywood boring action movie.
Moreover, the pattern of sex is very similar to chetan’s other books, so doesn’t create excitement.
Totally non-readable book with a lot of boring things in between.
And the most important thing, neither of the 3 mistakes look like a genuine mistake.
ajay
Jun 25th, 2008 at 4:43 am | #
I think the book is predictable and a deliberate attempt has been made to cash in on cricket and religion…I could actually sense the marketing while reading the book…Also, the story and the characters are very similiar to his previous books especially the love story part…
viraj
Jun 29th, 2008 at 7:08 am | #
book is quite melodramatic….but the way in which the book is written is very good. the description of ahmedabad,earthquake in 2001 n finally the riots is very good n realistic. but the main theme is not new n is quite like a regular bollywood masala!!!! good to read but not worth buying n treasuring like the five point someone. Had expected much from chetan bhagat but expectations are not fulfilled this time ….
shubha
Jul 1st, 2008 at 11:30 am | #
i feel tht chetan bhagat has made a disaster with the buk nd his career as a author….aftr his sucess in five point nd one night @d call centre….he seems to be growing over-confident….wid his ideas..no doubt the writing skills is as gud as ever…bt the idea behind this buk seems senseless…..i thot it was btr watching a hindi movie for 2 or 2 nd a half hrs thn reading this novel…!!!
Ashutosh
Jul 6th, 2008 at 12:34 pm | #
chetan bhagat has come out again with an interesting and elegant novel. descriptin og earthquake and riots is superb..though a bit dramatic but it cannot take away the credit from writer.
Jitendra
Aug 27th, 2008 at 8:12 am | #
Initially the book kept the pace of a good story telling, in the middle it reached at its climax but at the last it could not hold the reader. I think the end is more hyped & dramatic.I would gave 3.5 out of 5 pt scale to this book.
Appreciate his narrating & describing skill.Waiting for more action from him.