Scarlet Letter and 5.someone

I had read two very contrasting books recently. Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and 5.someone by Chetan Bhagat. I knew Scarlet Letter was a classic. I had read somewhere recently that Classics are those that every one talks about but no one reads! Well, I have been into classics for the last 1 year. On a whim, I picked up Scarlet Letter.

Scarlet Letter is full of amazing prose that flows like a river in spate. It vividly depicts the two contrasting protagonists whose hearts are so entwined but are in writhing pain and unable to express. It was really a great reading surprise. Pearl (Hester's daughter) is literally a gleam of hope and cheer while Hester is as resolute as a rock!

OTOH, I picked up 5.someone from the neighbourhood library for easy travel reading. It is a pretty adventurous choice considering that I had thrown away 'One night @ call center' by the same author not wanting anyone else to suffer it in future! I must say that 5.someone is marginally better and reads like one of those orange tinged pot boilers you find on the sidewalks or in railway stations. To be fair, its fiction is reasonably well narrated holding the reader and the book in good grip. But, the language is lacklustre with little subtlety and everything too explicit leaving nothing to imagination. It feels as uncomfortable as being caught off-guard in rain on a cold day leaving readers/characters in complete discomfort. It is not as bad as his first book, but, it is not that great either. By Time magazine's book review benchmark, it is a mere 'SKIM'.

More on "Through the Looking Glass", "Tipping Point", "Huckleberry Finn" etc. later in a future post. Cheers!