Customer Reviews

Five Point Someone: What Not to Do in IIT

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I picked up this book on my summer trip to India after reading all the hoopla it created there. Boy, was I disappointed! The story has so much potential and is clearly worth telling, but the execution...is miserable! Its success in India is just a celebration of mediocrity. The writing is so bad that it actually irritates. There are virtually NO descriptions to stimulate imagination and the book CRIES out for an editor! Take this literary gem "now i am no Einstein, or something"...and you wonder how such utter butchery of the English language made it past an editor's pen. I understand that it is supposed to reflect the colloquialisms of "Hinglish" and to tolerate that for dialogues is fine... but when used in descriptions by the author, it stinks of banality. There is no character development, no one to empathize with, and stereotypes rule. I read somewhere that he spent 3 or 4 days trying to write the lovemaking scene between Neha and Hari... and when i read the single sentence Mr Bhagat uses to describe it, i was convinced that he must have taken 12 years to write the book if a single sentence of such mediocrity took 3 days to write.
That he is an IITan, doesn't speak well for the IITs. In fact, judging by his language, his Five point grade in IIT is probably a stellar performance. On the other hand, the IITs don't teach creative writing!

The idea is neat and long overdue, but the execution is terrible...this book reads like an elementary school kid's attempt at a short story. The style is primitive, the situations seem forced (like a formula - a book about growing up must have ingredients A,B,C,...), and I am not even commenting about certain axioms the author assumes regarding the equations between GPAs and relationships. There could not be a bigger disadvertisement for Indian writing in English.

Well, the writer had potential, but alas, this book is as mediocre are it gets. The particularly harsh rating is, because, the book has a very good premise and the writer has potential. But i guess the market forces combined to give this utterly dismiss-able book.
Surprisingly,this book has been on the best seller list in India for over 2 years now and the writers new book on Call centers in India, is supposed to be the next best seller.

Well, if the writer tried to be more than superficially smart and thought through some issues, spend time to chart the character development of his protagonists, and rise above displaying the quirky exoticness of "Hinglish", then maybe he would have delivered a satisfying read. But this is just a LAME attempt

This is the kind of book that you read and forget about quickly. I cannot tell how accurately it portrays life in IITs, but it sounds convincing enough. It has an interesting story, but the writing is too simplistic, even amateurish. Often it reads like like it was written by a college student for a few of his friends to share a chuckle with. The characters aren't fully fleshed out, and it misses numerous opportunities to make good book out of it. As we say in India, it is nothing more than a 'timepass'.

I am a little surprised by the harsh reviews that some people are giving this book. Granted its not exactly a masterpiece but I dont think that was ever the author's intent (if I may say so myself). Its meant to be taken lightly, a few laughs and a tickle here and there is all it warrants. I think its a fun ride and anyone who has ever been to college in India will somewhere identify with it. As far as it being on top of the bestsellers in India, well, mediocrity has never been deprived of the top shelf, be it books, movies, cricket or politics. Enjoy the book!

I loved this book. I read it last nite and m glad i bought it. I m no fan of chetan bhagat but i must say that his humour is first rate. Its a bit grey but wat the heck, it suits the place where i live, India. And wats beyond me is people giving this book ONE star?? are they plain crazy or were they thinkin they r readin a shakespeare? Agreed, its not a masterpiece, but honestly, i wasnt bored for even a nanosecond while i was onto this book. I could completely relate to the charcters though i m not even from IIT, remotely. A word for Mr. Bhagat: i loved ur book man! But honestly, can we not have a film on this pls! A book is ok- but a film? Time to rethink and put ur talented mind to work on the next book and not a film, a bollywood, that too.
Aarthi.Chandru

I finished reading this book a month and a half back. This book is acquiring 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 it 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 the 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 "ghota-totas" 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 bookwithout any tags attached to it - read it in 3 hours or less and be done with it.

Here is the synopsis of the book and author fromthe book site:

Set in IIT, in the early '90s, Five Point Someone portrays the lives of the protagonist Hari and his two friends Ryan and Alok. It explores the darker side of IIT, one in which students- having worked for years to make it into the institute-struggle to maintain their grades, keep their friends and have some kind of life outside studies.

Funny, dark and non-stop, Five Point Someone is the story of three friends whose measly five-point something GPAs come in the way of everything-their friendship, their love life, their future. Will they make it?

Chetan Bhagat graduated from IIT, Delhi in 1995. He then did an MBA at IIM, Ahmedabad, from where he graduated in 1997. Bhagat currently lives in Hong Kong and works at a prominent US investment bank. Apart from writing, Bhagat also has a keen interest in yoga.

Some reviewer writes "The book highlighted how the system can thwart creativity, and hold people back from reaching their full-potential."

Yeah, that's the basic premise of this book. It's blasphemous. Plot is simple - professors are stupid and out there to get you. Hardworking students who study and then run this world later are stupid. Only creative people are the underperformers and slackers who chase girls and find ways to kill time.
This book is so shallow and mediocre, I am surprised how such trash can get published and then climb charts. It may be a reality of our times when no one wants to read credible stuff. Popularity of this book displays how literature is dying and being replaced by banality.

Forget the fact that IIT's have produced some of the most talented people of our times - scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, ceos. Some of leading authorities in advanced specialities work at IIT's. No forget all that. Just few slackers who mug up and then enter IIT's are the creative folks.

Stuff in this novel can be summed up by any typical Hindi movie. I read this novelon suggestion of my brother who is a teenager. No wonder he liked it. In the world of MTV's and immediate gratification, no one wants to think anymore.

Granted, no one expects a new author to be a Shakespeare as one reviewer has put it. However, one does expect a decent plot, well developed characters and a rudimentary amount of style.
This book has got nothing among the above but a lot of hype surrounding the way it has been marketed.
The plot is shallow, a celebration of slackers in the world who are portrayed as the wise ones. The whole point of the book, the story and the marketing and associated success points in one single direction - mdeiocre stuff will grant you success, hard work is for fools. Unfortunately, I don't buy that.
Want something good to read that has come out of India, try early Vikram Seth, Rohinton Mistry or Jhumpa Lahiri.

I just don't understand the hype surrounding this book. A weak plot, insipid style and non-existent depth. It is not even mediocre, it is poor.
Too bad we can't rate it zero.