The protagonist is about to turn forty, belongs to a rich and affluent family, lives a luxurious life but feels discontented because he believes that the world is ruled by fake moral values and suffocating bondages. He leaves everything and migrates to Kolkata to live a creative and meaningful life. He goes through many funny experiences in Kolkata in his quest to know what the real meaning of life is. He meets Debolina, an upscale prostitute, who loves to listen to his poems while making love. She tells him about many truths of life and finally he has the panacea for his confusions and doubts.
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I would like to start this review by thanking the author for his patience for my review of the book. I received this book few months back and though it is a short book, it took me some time to get to it. But in these few months, I have managed to read the book twice!
Poetic Penetrations is the story of a man in his 40s, who is fed up of his lifestyle. He wants more for himself and more for his life than he has. With dreams of starting afresh and giving his life a new direction, he moves to Calcutta. With poetry on his mind and space to nurture his art, he hardly expects the turns his life takes. With a prostitute on his side and a brat student, his journey of self-discovery is what this book is about.
Let me get the not so good things about the book out of the way first. There are a couple of silly plot holes which are pretty much ignorable as are the typos. None of these are big issues that will ruin the reading experience. For the readers who a very particular, these may feel irritating at times. Other than that this book has no other pitfalls.
The author’s language is simple yet it does not read like common tongue which was a big plus for me. I have always felt that there is some grandeur in telling a story using simple language yet not resorting to a complete slapdash language and the author proves my point in his book. The characters are another complimentary aspect of the book. They are very well fleshed out and I particularly liked the character of the prostitute. She is someone who has taken charge of her life irrespective of her situation. She has quite a bit to contribute to our protagonist’s journey.
One of the main reasons I picked up the book is because it is set in Calcutta/Kolkata – my home town. For those who live outside their birth places, it is always a treat to catch a snippet of their hometown even if it is through someone else’s eyes and even if it through a piece of fiction. There are places where the author has managed to capture Kolkata’s essence. But I wanted more of what really makes Kolkata the city that it is. Overall, I don’t think the setting had as much influence over the story as I had expected.
Review Copy received from the Author
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