Book Title: The Speaking Ghost of Rajpur
ISBN: 978-81-930991-0-0
Author: Priyonkar Dasgupta
The book is based on the adventures of Shoumu, his brother Shoumik, his cousin Joy, and their friends, who happen to meet during the summer vacation. The title is a little misleading as one may expect it to be a ghost story, which it is not.
Shoumu is the narrator, who along with his elder brother has visited Joy's house in order to spend summer vacations. As you read through the book, you come to know that Shoumu is tempted by the adventures which Shoumik and Joy narrate to him about themselves, and in the meantime, tortured by their taunts. He wants to join their group and to achieve that, tries his best to prove his courage. Thus begins the story of 'The Speaking Ghost Of Rajpur'.
As the story unfolds, they run into a mysterious affair, which they are determined to uncover, even in case the adventure costs them their life (which almost happens towards the climax).
The story takes you on a journey to your own childhood, those little adventures that seemed gigantic, with bit of shy and subtle romance here and there (but that angle never dominates the storyline). You can relate to almost any character, and feel the real joy of reliving those moments.
Some pros & cons:
- Great use of language, but more often the author has used very long sentences which may not go well with the type of audience he might be expecting. Many sentences need to be fragmented. The language usage is fine but seems superfluous at times.
- Incredible description of every place they visit and each person they meet.
- Editing is above average, but some words have been used needlessly. They could have been skipped.
- Wherever Mom and Aunt have been used as proper noun to refer to the respective people, the first letter should have been capitalised.
- Instead of repeating 'Cousin Joy' many times, simply Joy could have been used.
- The characters of the novel are kids aged between 13-17, but most of the times the narration doesn't fit that age. It seems too mature for that age.
- Punctuation should have been given a bit more attention. Comma has been skipped a number of times, which may lead to confusion when complexed with the long sentences I already mentioned.
- The book would have been better if it were just half of what it actually is. The story proceeds lazily and feels like a disappointment at times.
In spite of everything, I'd like to recommend this book to anyone interested in young adult fiction. The lacunae are well compensated by other features of this book.
Rating:
Plot: 3/5
Characters: 4/5
Style: 4/5
Editing: 3.5/5
Climax: 3.5/5
ISBN: 978-81-930991-0-0
Author: Priyonkar Dasgupta
The book is based on the adventures of Shoumu, his brother Shoumik, his cousin Joy, and their friends, who happen to meet during the summer vacation. The title is a little misleading as one may expect it to be a ghost story, which it is not.
Shoumu is the narrator, who along with his elder brother has visited Joy's house in order to spend summer vacations. As you read through the book, you come to know that Shoumu is tempted by the adventures which Shoumik and Joy narrate to him about themselves, and in the meantime, tortured by their taunts. He wants to join their group and to achieve that, tries his best to prove his courage. Thus begins the story of 'The Speaking Ghost Of Rajpur'.
As the story unfolds, they run into a mysterious affair, which they are determined to uncover, even in case the adventure costs them their life (which almost happens towards the climax).
The story takes you on a journey to your own childhood, those little adventures that seemed gigantic, with bit of shy and subtle romance here and there (but that angle never dominates the storyline). You can relate to almost any character, and feel the real joy of reliving those moments.
Some pros & cons:
- Great use of language, but more often the author has used very long sentences which may not go well with the type of audience he might be expecting. Many sentences need to be fragmented. The language usage is fine but seems superfluous at times.
- Incredible description of every place they visit and each person they meet.
- Editing is above average, but some words have been used needlessly. They could have been skipped.
- Wherever Mom and Aunt have been used as proper noun to refer to the respective people, the first letter should have been capitalised.
- Instead of repeating 'Cousin Joy' many times, simply Joy could have been used.
- The characters of the novel are kids aged between 13-17, but most of the times the narration doesn't fit that age. It seems too mature for that age.
- Punctuation should have been given a bit more attention. Comma has been skipped a number of times, which may lead to confusion when complexed with the long sentences I already mentioned.
- The book would have been better if it were just half of what it actually is. The story proceeds lazily and feels like a disappointment at times.
In spite of everything, I'd like to recommend this book to anyone interested in young adult fiction. The lacunae are well compensated by other features of this book.
Rating:
Plot: 3/5
Characters: 4/5
Style: 4/5
Editing: 3.5/5
Climax: 3.5/5
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