Title : Resident Dormitus
Author : Vikas Rathi
Publisher : Rupa & Co
ISBN : 978-81-291-1754-0
Number of Pages : 196
Price [INR] : 195
Genre: Fiction


Synopsis : Resident Dormitus is a story of Achet, a business graduate, hailing from Jaipur and his friends who are out of college and join the big corporate world. The book takes us through the thoughts which are very profound many-a-times, cynicism and idiosyncrasies, expectations and the ironies of life, self introspection and discoveries, of these young adults.


Review : A first look at the title of the book and I thought it’s a kind of magic spell from the world of Harry Potter! Of course, Harry Potter and his friends have never uttered these words but this book sure casts a magical spell on you. It compels you to explore and gather your own insights as the characters do so during their journey in this novel.

The unique and intriguing title “Resident Dormitus’ has a profound meaning and impact which is very beautifully explained by Dev. He talks about about “an experiment conducted by Berkeley, where he summons a slave boy and merely by questioning him, makes the boy see the solution of a geometrical problem which he hadn’t even known existed, thereby proving that knowledge is resident in all human beings, yet only a few are able to realise it”, or ignite it from the dormant stage.

It’s kind of weird and amusing to find Achet, the main protagonist, devising ways and means to escape from his work, which is his first job actually. His analysis of a personality of the sender from his or her emails, or procrastinating sending replies to the mails… and if he decided to reply to someone, his response would be “by side-stepping, dancing all around and on top of the question, but never really answering it!”,  taking long smoking and coffee breaks or buying a model for his project online or outsourcing the sales of his company’s products to the delivery boy, shows his lackadaisical approach in everything.

While, Achet and his friends, delve on topics like ‘upbringing and genetics”, “the difference between doings and their own value systems”, over loads of beer and pot, you get some insights and it makes you do some of your own thinking too.

The conversation between Achet and his father on, why we construct walls (by referring to the compound wall of the house) and his response, “to keep unwanted elements at bay and to keep the desired elements within, but it’s important to know, what should be inside those walls” is pretty profound and worth pondering!

Resident Dormitus is not like a racy unputdownable thriller but it sure compels you to know more about Achet and his friends and their collective discoveries and answers to the life’s questions, and thus makes for an interesting and an enlightening read.

To know more about the author or the excerpts of the book or the buying information, check it out at http://www.vikasrathi.com/

Rating : 3.5/5

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!