My Friend Sancho — Reflections

I have three things in common with Abir Ganguly.

I'm a journalist, a Bong and spend most of my earnings on books and music. But it ends there and I seriously start ruing the fact that other than the journalist bit, I don't have much in common with Abir's creator Amit Varma.

And I'm sore that I'm an unsuccessful blogger. Having been a very early convert to PCs and the like (early 90s), I started blogging in 2004. But the total visitors I've ever had to my blog are possibly lesser than the views of Amit Varma's immensely readable blog scores in one second.

Now that I have expressed my interest, lets get back to the task of talking about the book My Friend Sancho. I didn't tell you, did I, that Abir is the protagonist
in this book.

A fairly racy read, I finished all 217 pages of it in one go. While it took me about two hours, I'm certain if this wasn't after office, I'd have finished it earlier.

Varma's debut novel, is realistic in so far as its characters and events are concerned. In fact, it's a perfect example of how a simple incident (a brief as the book mentions) can be turned around to a chain of events aka a story (novel).

While the premise is just perfect, it's what it leads to a little fantastic. Or is it my 'domesticated' bias? While I'm sure any young man (and this is when I turn gender-insensitive) who has experience such pangs will identify with, the characters seem uni-dimensional.

And by the end of the book, even after we are privy to snippets of Abir's 3,000-word feature, do we get the full picture of Mohd Iqbal or what really happened that day? This is where the book fails.

However, if you're prepared to take off your thinking cap (and stop thinking like an editor on the crime beat) this book is a good read which doesn't tax your intelligence too much.

You don't need to think. Just loll in bed with this book.

The only time you need to think is at the end — which is open ended. In these days of options, the author provides you with three separate endings, before the book ends. You are welcome to pick yours.

 

PS: I think the book has the potential to be made into a play/radio play. Just pay attention to Abir's exchanges with the lizard. Can't see it as a film though — the essence would be lost.