Book Review: The Long Road by Dr. Vivek Banerjee

The Long Road: Journey is the Destination
By Dr. Vivek Banerjee
Cedar Books
Link on FlipKart

Four days back I started reading The Long Road, Dr. Vivek Banerjee’s debut novel. And now that I ended it, I have also ended up ordering three more copies of this book as a gift to my friends. I have rarely done this for any other book, and my reasons for this special treatment are as follows.

The Long Road is the story of young doctors pursuing Post Graduate in medical sciences. It’s the love story of Rahul and Sarika which goes through many challenging times and phases. It’s also a parallel story of Dr. Hina, a girl from a very different background who goes on to achieve something which not many from her circumstances could; yet almost gets defeated against her personal challenges. The story also captures Ranjiv’s and Sagarika’s life stories – each equally fascinating and full of life than any others. On the surface it may look like a maze of characters, but this is where the author’s real talent is proven and this is what makes this book equal to four books. Each character has been given enough thought to develop and by the end of the book we forget which one of them was the prime one. The Long Road takes readers on a virtual long road passing through the lives of each character; each unique and complete in itself.

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The Long Road’s characters are so real that we connect with them instantly. We feel a personal connection with each character as the story moves. We feel an anger when Sarika dumps Rahul on a rather trivial issue, a sorrow when Rahul meets with an accident, butterflies in our stomach when Rahul gets close to Rita, shock when Sagarika discovers unexpected about her husband, and a great relief at the end. Often we get a feel as if things are happening in front of our eyes – this is where the first time author has proven his prowess. The environment of a hospital and the characterization of the scheme are very appropriate. For example, when young lady doctor Hina is on her first duty, a nurse who is 15 years old in the hospital gives her a ‘motherly smile’ with empathy. The author has been highly successful in weaving sense and sensibility in even the minutest details. The description of environment around the characters is appropriate – e.g. the visual description of the hospital main gate when Sarika goes to join her college for the first day. The novel also has a lot of dramatic moments, for example the day when terrorists attacked Mumbai. When I started reading this portion I felt that it would be too bold and adventurous to include as part of a love story, but ended in admiration. Situations are sensible and complementary to make the most of the things on hand.

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If I have to give suggestions to the debut novelist, I felt the second half of the book had been slightly hurried. Some very critical events happened in the second half and slowing down the pace a bit at those places would have been better. Also, I felt the front cover was not exactly bringing up the idea of ‘The Long Road’ properly, though it indicated a love story under the covers. The length of the book was very perfect and never did the reader get to feel heavy – author has been a good strategist on this front.

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When my wife read The Long Road, she commented that it was like Chetan Bhagat’s (whose fan she is). But I found The Long Road much more sensible, less controversial, and more appealing to heart than attempts to gain some easy popularity which young and restless new Indian authors have tried too often. I am sure Dr. Banerjee has added to the list of quality read from new Indian writers in English.

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I have not read many books making the rather neglected life stories of doctors in the medical profession as their theme. I thank Dr. Vivek Banerjee for bringing out some real challenges in their lives, something which perhaps only a doctor like him could do. I have myself been able to get a peek into their lives and their hardships – the challenges of their profession taking much toll on their personal lives and also of their close ones. I really congratulate Dr. Banerjee for this book – it was long needed and is highly appreciated.

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It has been a delight to read The Long Road. The characters from his book will always remain personal to me, and a sequel of the same may not be a bad idea. I would eagerly wait for the author’s next book.

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- Rahul

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.P.S.: Except this post, Book Reviews on this blog have been pushed to 10 years back on the Calender, which you can browse through from the right hand side menu. These days I am reading more than I write, or truer, writing less than I read, and I didn’t want this blog to become my Book Review Blog, which is http://rahulreads.wordpress.com

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