THE MULTITUDE OF RIPPLES
by
Vaachakmitra
Blurb
The novel is a first person narrative of an entrepreneur who struggles to make sense of his life. He reconstructs his memory while recuperating from a nervous breakdown. The distortion in his narrative is not only the manifestation of psychopathology of his mind but also an exploration of human values. The novel demonstrates how optimism incorporates meaningful semantics even in the face of psychopathology. The dualism of hope and pathos creates a touch of absurd, almost reminiscent of Kafka and Camus.
My Review
The year was 2001. I used to work
as a Marketing Consultant, for ailing organizations severely in need of a
revamp. I remember being approached by
an organization with its branches in various Indian cities, literally pleading
me to bring one of their sickest branches back on its feet. It was a risk; a
grave risk. It was a risk, not only for my reputation as a consultant, but also
for my ego. What if I fail? What if it is already beyond repair? What if
salvaging is the only option left? And more importantly, what if I fail?
In order to counter that many
risks glaring at me right in the face, I knew I had to take a few risks of my
own; and take risks, I did. I went to that branch office, met each one of their
staff members, fired every one of them and hired a brand new team- except a
couple I thought I could use to the organization’s benefit. By the end of the
first two months, the branch filed its best result ever with a clean profit
margin of 250%. My risk had paid off.
The reason of my boring you with
my accomplishment was not to boast of my accomplishments, but to emphasize the
fact that not every risk pays off. Some do, some don’t.
At the onset, I would like to
applaud Vaachakmitra (that’s the author’s pseudonym), for taking a huge risk by
choosing an experiment like ‘The Multitudes of Ripples’ as his maiden act. Did the
risk pay off? Let’s try and find out.
The reason I called ‘Multitudes
of Ripples’ an ‘experiment’ is because that is what it is, and at one too many
levels at that. The book is completely autobiographical, where the writer takes
the readers through his entire life journey, right from the childhood to the
later years as adult. Why then, did he decide to set it in a fantastical city
called Mohmayi, is beyond my comprehension.
The narrative, I found to be
unnecessary stretched and tedious. To cite an example, I do not see any need to
go into a detailed, parenthetical explanation every so often. It only ends up
making the read ‘difficult’ for the reader. I wonder what prompted the writer
to go into that much of ‘telling’! Was it because he wasn’t sure of his writing
being good enough to be easily understood, or he had doubts about the ability
of the readers to make sense of tough reads like this one? Either way, I would hold
the publisher responsible for this. It should have been the job of the editor,
to take off all those unwarranted peripherals and replace those with easier,
shorter words. The editor clearly hasn’t done his job, as has not the
proofreader. The grammatical errors and typos are abounding throughout the
book. By the way, is there a reason for 'Multitudes'? Multitude is plural in itself; why add extra 's' to it?
I’d say ‘The Multitudes of Ripples’
could have been a path-breaking book, but the monotonous, soporific narrative
ended up making it an achievement-to-finish-it
kind of read.
I give the book, 3 out of 5
stars.
Disclaimer: I had received a paperback copy of the book by the author via The Book Club, in return of my honest and unbiased review.
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About the Author
The author is a research scientist by training. He is a technical consultant who works in an advisory capacity to the pharmaceutical industry. He specializes in intellectual property, technology up gradation and information technology. He is a science writer specializing in theoretical and philosophical foundations of modern scientific thought.
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