True Crime
The Write Place
October 2018
Paperback
600
A true crime fiction, the debut one by Suraj Laxminarayanan, Elephants in the Room is a story of random robbers colliding inside the bank they have come to rob... very much happens in between and that is the very soul of this novel!
Elephants in the Room is the debut novel by emerging novelist Suraj Laxminarayanan. He has been contemplating and making this novel perfect for the last four years and it is finally here – a novel by him! With this debut, the novelist has announced his arrival as a serious author writing true crime novels. Hang on, not only that, the author has also thrown his hat in the ring with a sure conviction – he has written almost 600 pages in his debut novel and these pages describe events which spread only up to 4 days; so, what do you think, readers? Surj Laxminarayanan has tried his best to offer an unconventional but interesting piece of fiction in his very first attempt and we need to read this carefully…
It begins with a few street thugs and pickpockets planning for something big and they finally come final at a point – to rob a bank. However, the idea meets joke of God and the plan goes chaotic – because it has been pointed out by many book reviewers in India earlier, I will not give away the plot entirely. I will keep my review strict to the aesthetics of the novel and not the actual content of it. The story of Elephants in the Room is centred around a bank robbery which becomes a hunting ground for many. Some lose and some win. Ultimately, the outcome is strange and readers will be surprised!
Length of Elephants in the Room is certainly an issue of discussion and maybe debates as well. When the authors have discovered a shortcut to fame – writing a few pages of romantical or even semi-pornographic fiction, why do the authors like Suraj even care to go beyond 300 pages? Well, the answer is quite simple – they have things to offer rather than offering a one or two hour of sensual-textual entertainment. Elephants in the Room is a complex novel, unlike what many of the colleagues in the writing industry offer to the readers. Suraj has taken the risk of going beyond the grid in his very first work. Readers might find it extraordinary or even ordinary – it all depends on the reading they do.
As far as my reading is concerned, except for some occasions, the novel has been gripping and interesting. The events have been described in the moments and every bit of the hour has been captured with minute detail. The readers who have been reading the novels of the authors of golden age or the authors of a different league will certainly resemble what I thought after reading the first few pages.
Let the readers decide what do they make out of this 600-page novel. Readers are the ultimate mark of reception and they have the last authority. As far as my opinion is concerned, I will certainly invite all the readers to go through this novel because I have found it to be interesting, thrilling and certainly a true crime fiction with occasional derailing… All the best!
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review by Vishal for Book Reviews Lab
