BIRTH : A DISCRETE RECITAL

Book Review: Birth

Well! Well! Well! I get a brand new book, start reading it, feel disgusted with its valiant narrative and have the urge to put it down. But, something in me pushes me to give it a shot and now I am glad to have read something like the book “ Birth’” by S. T. Gulik. The book has bold and explicit language.

Talking about the book, the story is set in the future, around 2100 AD and has all the possibilities which currently we cannot even imagine. The author surely has a wild imaginative mind to have created something of this sort and bringing it to the world who I am sure is not so welcoming to such an explosive change yet. The protagonist, Max Quick is a common man who likes slumbering around when there’s nothing significant to do and is filled with vices. The story begins with the description of him waking up after divine disturbance which allows him to live even without one of his vital organs. However, if we look on the glass-half-full aspect of his character, we find him to have a great presence of mind and also he is an animal lover. He is against the cruelties done to the innocent animals by scientists in the name of development. He also owns a weird pet who is obsessed with his master and vice versa. There are some unrealistic narratives and some sci-fi anecdotes too which makes the book even more readable. The mention of futuristic society is sometimes over-the-top but on the other hand somewhat realistic too given the present condition of our planet. The world is getting to doom with wars occurring between various sects of mutated humans and Max is the one who somehow brings down the rate of destruction. His presence of mind is something which helps him most of the time. The ways in which the planet is getting destroyed and the story of Max which unfolds is worth a read.

There are various terms being used in the story which are described in appendix at the end of the book. To enjoy the story more, it is recommended to read the appendix first before digging into the main story. I would like to quote a line which forms a part of appendix : “ Death is seen as a trans-formative gift from God, even an honor since that is God’s way of saying you achieved perfection”. I found this quote very insightful and also learnt a lesson that it’s not wise to judge a piece depending on one’s own pre-acquired perception.

For this book, I would like to say that some readers may not like it while others may due to the narrative style. However, if you are one of the readers susceptible for a new style of story-telling, then definitely, go for it !

Happy reading !

You can read this book Here!!