Recently I read this book as a recommendation from a friend. Seeing as my extended essay topic revolved a lot about the role of conflict in someone’s life, I thought this would be a perfect supplementary read. To be honest, I was extremely disappointed with the book. There were so many components of it, which I will elaborate on, causing me to dislike it greatly.
Firstly, I have always been one to HATE books that jump perspectives. I don’t see how authors expect us to grow alongside characters if we are constantly torn apart from the character before we get a chance to develop a sound understanding of them. I understand it is a relatively short read so it is hard to witness huge change, but then I think another mistake of the author was just the sheer number of characters. So many of them did not play a vital role and I cannot imagine the magnitude of change would be very much if they were removed. Each chapter was basically from a different characters perspective, and that too not even on the same issues! It felt much like a stream of consciousness recording than a narrative.
Alright, I though perhaps the first issue is something more to do with my taste rather than an issue with the book itself. But the issue of just how the story was written is something that stayed with me. It was this weird mix of a third person narrator, but looking at issues from a first person point of view. A narrator in essence should be an ominous bystander. I felt so torn between trying to see things from a birds eye view and finding myself caught in the action, it felt like this limbo state between being in and out of the story.
That all being said, I must say that the snapshots of the teacher Garuda, actually resonated with me. Over the course of the book, I actually saw progress and development. At the end, I was given closure and an understanding of the role that his character played in trying to highlight the flaws in the education system.
