Review - Happimess

 Two things which you have to keep in mind while reading or watching any book or a movie or show based on humor, 1)Comedy is subjective. 2)Making people laugh is the most difficult thing to do.

Being a part of the literary circle, I have always had one major complain with my fellow Indian authors. They dont take risks. Most just want to take the road often traveled, and hold themselves back in delving into subjects beyond romance or at most drama. 

That is the reason anytime I find a book with a difference, specially by an Indian author, I give a half point extra for the thought and the effort that was put in. Love story with a major twist, any good mystery novel, a drama with a peculiar undercurrent are all examples of such. Good humorous books by Indian authors are rarity. You may still find satirical books available or on shelves, but crazy whacky comedy is hard to find. So, I give Biswajit half points extra even before I begin.

Happimess by Biswajit is a collection of small anecdotes, which begin practically but then Biswajit's imagination takes over and go way beyond normal.

For once, I was not very impressed with the cover. I mean its still good, but not something which would immediately attract me. Must be because I never saw the physical copy and I read it on Kindle, so totally possible physical copy would be more attractive than digital.

There is not one character in the book, except maybe the protagonist who is the story teller himself. Crazy whacky characters enter one anecdote, play their part, and leave. The book is divided into chapters where each is based on a theme. And then the chapter keeps on taking turn after turn based on that theme.

The book is an easy read. You can pick it up any time of the day and still enjoy the content. Happimess is a book that grows on you. Initially the satire and the humor seemed totally out of the loop to me, but by the time I hit 3rd or 4th chapter, I could understand Biswajit's humor and then I re-read the first two chapters again and this time I liked the jokes in there. Biswajit has tried hard to create wacky situations out of regular day to day activities, which seem weird at first of how quickly things escalate but once you accept it as the theme of the book, you start to enjoy.

On the flip side, its my personal opinion that books based on crazy whacky comedy or satire should be written in simpler english, throw in some vernacular lingo and that makes it more laughable. Using complex lingo takes away some sheen from the comic element. Also,  at times Biswajit stretches his self indulgence into his humor way above and beyond when the chapter could have ended two paragraphs earlier.

But, overall its a very nice read. Many years back I read a comedy book by Cyrus Broachs and I didnt enjoy it once. But I definitely did enjoy Biswjit's book and that should speak volumes for his efforts. I enjoyed his satires more than his "on your face" jokes, but as I mentioned in the beginning, comedy is subjective and I am sure someone would have enjoyed those jokes more than satire. 

I would have gone with a rating of 4/5, but as mentioned previously, I give one extra half point for the effort and taking risks which not many people take.

So, 4.5/5 is the verdict from me.

You can buy the book on Amazon

https://www.amazon.in/HAPPIMESS-BISWAJIT-BANERJI/dp/8194382041/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1623206552&sr=1-1