This is always better to read
books by the same author must be chronological order. I did the other way
round. The first book I read was Love is Vodka and then Chapter 11. His first
impression was that of a person who writes chick-lit and can write a girl’s
character with such élan that you would doubt that the writer might be a
female.
Chapter 11 is his second book and
he has already famous for his debut book, Flight to the Hilsa, about a woman
artist. He has indeed learned to portray his woman characters. In his book,
Chapter 11, the protagonist is a male and he is looking to broaden his
horizons.
He is done with his old job and
his home town where everyone seems to know him. He joins a Fortune 500 Company which
is in Gurgaon. From the time when he has stayed in Delhi during his college
days to now, it is all different.
Disaster happens when his company
files for bankruptcy or Chapter 11. He has no idea what to do and how to
behave. He is idealistic in nature but his bosses and his mentor isn’t. He has
to choose between the two. The novel revolves
around the concept of molarity and also how much the world has changed over the
time.
Coming back to the novel, it is a
narrated well. The prologue makes for an interesting read and piques the
interest of the reader. The questions of faithfulness, loyalty and above all
greed are answered and how important they are in a corporate culture. Does the
fast life means that we skip past our morality and live a life of a person who
has no values.
The clash between the old system and
the new one is written in such a way that you understand bot point of views.
Amit Shankar has tried to capture the essence of how in a corporate there is
more than just good salary. It is not 9-6 but 24x7. The book is
relatable and
the way the protagonist deals in his life is very close to reality. We all want
big houses, cars and dreams also very big.
The quandary is if we can do
anything for those dreams or humanity is much more important than that. Amit
Shankar asks some hard hitting questions with his book. Whether it is his introspection
or ours, one thing is for sure, Chapter 11 is swift, racy and a total package.
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