Customer Reviews

Five Point Someone: What Not to Do at IIT

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I picked up this book while in India and quickly realized that I couldn't put it down. It is the story of three friends who are at IIT Delhi...who are all below average (five point something on a 10-pt GPA scale). They quickly bond after getting hazed (called ragging) and embark on a series of adventures involving life around Delhi, girls, and how to beat the IIT system before it beats them. A great read even if you didn't go to IIT Delhi!

My first reservation when I picked up this book was whether the story and characters would be true to life on an IIT campus. My second reservation (having read a random page from the book) was whether I would be able to remain patient through the casual and colloquial writing style. The book well exceeded my expectations on both fronts. The characterization and writing style turned out to be strengths of the book.

What happens when you put together hundreds of completely different people who only have one thing in common - they have all mindlessly and goallessly topped their way through school to now live together away from their controlled environment for the first time. The sudden realization of mediocrity and the sudden freedom to choose how to live ones life brings out the best and worst in people. Reminiscing about life at IIT is most often about those stories about the bests and worsts of those people. This is one such story.

It is hard to guess if non-IITians would enjoy this book. Though, I can certainly say that all IIT undergrads who lived on campus would find it a thoroughly enjoyable read. The book is a shockingly honest narrative written by a guy with a unique sense of humor that I have come to associate with fellow IITians - cynical, crass, insensitive, asocial, lateral, imaginative, visual. Quick read. Funny plot. Very nostalgic. Can't wait to see the movie!

I started this novel in an evening after my work and just couldn't stop it until I completed! I like Chetan Bhagat's narration style...It was very fast paced, very simple-funny-down-to-earth conversations and the story was interesting...I had a very good time reading it!

The book was funny as hell...very simple writing and definitely a book for very easy reading...I read it during my train ride and laughed out loud few times...good job!

This book has acquired somewhat of a neo-cult following among some sections of the urban educated class in India, partly because this happens to be possibly the first work of fiction set in the campus setting of an IIT.

The book is fairly readable, owing partly to the fact that it is less than 300 pages long. Also the fact that it has a sprinkling of most ingredients one expects to find in a pulp-fiction thriller. For someone looking for an insight into the secret sauce of IITs and the amazing success that its students have chalked up over the decades, this is not the book. It will disappoint. The book however does, should, strike a chord with most students or near pre or post college years in India. The ending is a bit hokey, with Hari's dream downright melodramatic, as if the author realized he really did not have a proper ending to the book, and therefore had to resort to this stunt. Otherwise, you shall find a bit of everything in the novel - friendship, rivalry, intrigue, suspense, love, sex, proper Hindi movie style family melodrama, and most other ingredients that one would find in a Hindi potboiler.

If you read some of the reviews on Amazon.com you may feel the book is a lot worse than it is - and that is probably because people are either taking the book or themselves too seriously. And yes, the book does also take a dig at some of the bookworms, the "muggus" - which also may not sit too well with some "muggu" brethren. To be fair, these are also some of the same people who make it big in life, so to portray them as people-without-a-life is a tad unfair, bit that is a liberty the author takes - grant him that creative license.

In the end, take the book without any tags attached to it - read it in 3 hours or less and be done with it.

It is amusing to see one set of reviews for the paperback version (2010 version of this book) clearly (and correctly) point out the flaws and hammer the book, and to then run into this set of reviews that seem very favorable overall. As an eight point someone who graduated from the IITB campus a little over a decade ago, I am appalled by the lack of depth in this book and the incessant hammering of the IIT system and campus life in general. Sure, all IITians are ragged, all develop deep bonds with their wingies and batchmates, but my best memories are of developing and coming into my own through the early days of ragging and going on to contribute to hostel and institute life on the sport, mess, wildlife/mountaineering, and other scenes. And managing to exit as an eight point someone.

Enough said. The author's point of view is selfish even in hindsight (at least in the first two chapters, which is about all that I could stomach) and it is hard to comprehend why this book has not been panned more widely by IITians. God, or whatever passes for that, save us all from the movie adaptation.

PS. One star as consolation, reduced to zero for abominable English

I couldn't put this book down. It was fresh, addictive, unpretentious, and hilarious at times.

However, the foul language generously used is not everyone's cup of tea.

On the whole, it is highly recommended. Fun guaranteed..!!

I really enjoyed reading 5 point someone. It is not something about the IIT entrance exam or not some other personality development book. Read it just for the sake of pure fun of life on campus.

I would definitely recommend it all.

Picked up this book whike In India upon the recommendation of relative and couldn't put it down. Characters are very well depicted and provides a glimpse of college campus life very accurately ( I went to a college in UK but the scenes of IIT-D campus could easily be interchanged). Author's sense of humor is wicked, had to control my laughter amongst sleeping passengers on a packed flight back to the US.

I always wanted to read this book and I am glad that I did. Sent me back to my undergraduate days and all the mischievous things that me and my friends did. I guess those times will be one of the most memorable for most of us and we always enjoy reliving them.