After a long time, I read something from the genre of rom-com, at the behest of my new-found book club iBrowse. I must admit that it was refreshing and fun experience.
"One Day" by David Nicholls tells the story of two friends who share a love which is always masked in the confines of friendship. Its the kind of romance possible only if there is an intense attraction and affection in both the parties, but one of them doesn't want to commit. While such a relationship can be really fun with a lot of mixed signals and the hope an unattainable love as a reward, it can stretch unproductively for years, with no conclusion whatsoever in sight.
In the plot of the novel, Dexter, the boy, is the one who is too busy having "fun" to be in love. He always wants to avoid reality for a little longer by travelling the world like only the rich can. Where-as, Emma, the girl, is left behind to face reality all on her own. Being the smart woman that Emma is, expressing her intellect through being-funny, her beloved's laughter is extremely gratifying for her. His laughter makes her feel better. But that isn't enough. She needs to gain back her self-respect before demanding love.
Working her way through odd-jobs, will Emma claim her place in the real world? Will Dexter finally acknowledge his love and return? That's for the reader to learn.
For me the highlight of the book were the one-liners like "You can't throw away years of your life because it makes a funny anecdote" or "saying yes would be like caving in, and Emma knew from novels that you should never cave in to marriage", which embellish the story. Through them the author establishes himself as the "king of the contemporary". The low point was the tragedy at the end. It made the story, which had the potential for being very close to the long, hard struggles of real life, seem banal and trivial in comparison to a single, abrupt event. To me, the story was beautiful even without the introduction of unnecessary drama.
However, I liked the way the ending was handled. It made me reminisce the moment I fell in love. For this, I thoroughly enjoyed the book.
My Review:
Rating : 4 ( out of 5, 5 being the highest )
I recommend: For a fresh contemporary look on love and friendship
Next work of the author on my wishlist: "Starter for Ten" for another interesting story
"One Day" by David Nicholls tells the story of two friends who share a love which is always masked in the confines of friendship. Its the kind of romance possible only if there is an intense attraction and affection in both the parties, but one of them doesn't want to commit. While such a relationship can be really fun with a lot of mixed signals and the hope an unattainable love as a reward, it can stretch unproductively for years, with no conclusion whatsoever in sight.
In the plot of the novel, Dexter, the boy, is the one who is too busy having "fun" to be in love. He always wants to avoid reality for a little longer by travelling the world like only the rich can. Where-as, Emma, the girl, is left behind to face reality all on her own. Being the smart woman that Emma is, expressing her intellect through being-funny, her beloved's laughter is extremely gratifying for her. His laughter makes her feel better. But that isn't enough. She needs to gain back her self-respect before demanding love.
Working her way through odd-jobs, will Emma claim her place in the real world? Will Dexter finally acknowledge his love and return? That's for the reader to learn.
For me the highlight of the book were the one-liners like "You can't throw away years of your life because it makes a funny anecdote" or "saying yes would be like caving in, and Emma knew from novels that you should never cave in to marriage", which embellish the story. Through them the author establishes himself as the "king of the contemporary". The low point was the tragedy at the end. It made the story, which had the potential for being very close to the long, hard struggles of real life, seem banal and trivial in comparison to a single, abrupt event. To me, the story was beautiful even without the introduction of unnecessary drama.
However, I liked the way the ending was handled. It made me reminisce the moment I fell in love. For this, I thoroughly enjoyed the book.
My Review:
Rating : 4 ( out of 5, 5 being the highest )
I recommend: For a fresh contemporary look on love and friendship
Next work of the author on my wishlist: "Starter for Ten" for another interesting story
Lovely reading your thoughts on the book. I personally went through a lot of Emma's pain and heartache with Dexter's crazy run around with so many 'other' women.
ReplyDeleteFelt like beating him on the head and saying 'Hey' guy, here's your diamond!'
Anyway then there would be no book right? :-)
The terribly unexpected jarring finish really shook me to the core and the film must make that part a tear jerker for sure.
Enjoyed it thoroughly and I too would give it a 4 out of 5!! <3
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