Half Girlfriend: Book Review

To start with, the title is strange. And I guess that’s what made me reach out to it. Frankly speaking, “Half-Girlfriend” was my first serious shot for a CB novel and I kinda liked it. So let me dissect it all (right from his style of writing to the plot and the inherent loopholes in the story).

On CB’s style of writing:

OK. So ever since I can recall, right from his very first novel (Five point someone), poor Chetan Bhagat has received more sticks than he probably deserved. And ask why?

“He writes in very simple English.”

As I see, a LOT of people have issues with his narrative. He often uses clichés. His stories offer potential bollywood masala movies. And (in many ways) are raw representation of the societal customs, standards and stereotypes.  

I am not one of those arm chair intellectuals who hate  Chetan bhagat. But I am not a very big fan of his work either. I personally found his style of writing and narration pretty interesting. It is simple and sweet. In today’s time, where we live complex lives, simplicity offers an escape, and that is what Chetan Bhagat offers in his novels.

As I read his latest “Half-Girlfriend”, I did not even realize when and how he intertwined the plot and the twist and with every page, I only got all the more engrossed! He is a writer for the masses. He never promised to improve India’s English proficiency through his books! So why wouldn’t he write the he wants to?

On the story:  *****SPOILER ALERT******

Rating: 3/5

This 260 paged novel talks about how a Bihari boy (Madhav) who speaks disasterous English gets admission through sports quota in one of the top notch colleges of Delhi and meets a girl (Riya), who hails from a family of multi-millionaires. He fell in love the minute he saw her, and with every passing day, wanted more of her.

His eagerness and haste to go-to-the-next-level and make love to Riya spoils the very friendship. She eventually drops out of college, to get married to the only son of her father’s business partner and family friend (Rohan).

As years pass by, there is no news of Riya. Madhav graduated from St. Stephens’. Meanwhile he turned down the job offer with a handsome compensation from HSBC bank to help his mom run the royal school back in Dumraon, Bihar.

One fine day, she appears out of nowhere, spends a few months with him (under the pretext of helping him and work, of course!) and disappears once again, leaving behind only a letter to his dismay, which declares she has lung cancer.

I will not disclose the later part of the story as this is where the crux and the twist and the unbelievable jump in the plot reside.

Did Riya really have lung cancer? Why did she disapper? Where did she go? What happened to her?

The story hence is decent and the book can be read in 3 hours straight! His occasional bouts of humor and Indianness in sarcasm were well played.

Greasy grounds/ Weak spots in the story:

1.        Madhav, no matter how serious the situation or occasion is, only thinks and wishes to kiss Riya! All the time! Till the very end.

If “Madhav is a romantic guy” is what you wanted to convey, it could have been done even with him thinking less of those kisses!

The character could have thought more about his friendship and his girl’s comfort level, rather than forcing himself of her and ruining a platonic-happy friendship.  

I don’t know about “romantic”, but he has definitely come across as a desperate and “thirsty” stalker (If you know what I mean).

2.      The story takes a much slower pace TWICE halfway through the story.

This is like the worst you can do to a reader!

Once when he graduates and comes back to Dumraon, and second when he moves to New York in pursuit of Riya, CB seemed to have lost track of the actual story. There was too much of social work, politics, steve jobs and government bureaucracy which I felt, robbed the story of its essence.

There is not much value addition in terms of the plot in these 2 phases.

3.      Class apart

The mention of Bihari non-English speaking “Low Class” and Non Bihari English speaking “High Class” was a little too much! It’s been mentioned every now and then. Why?

The protagonist’s inferiority complex is way beyond comprehension, just because he cannot speak English! Not fair.

That is it from my end.

P.S. I love his style of writing and marketing acumen, but as far as this story is concerned, I felt CB overdid a few things (Mentioned above). All in all, it will make a good bollywood blockbuster ;-)