Love, Life and all that Jazz

Author: Ahmed Faiyaz
Publisher: Sanbun Publishers, (Rs 150)

Love, Life and all that Jazz fits perfectly into the genre of youth fiction and can be a fresh script for soft youth centric movies like, ‘Jane tu ya jane na’. It is a strongly-plotted novel with simple everyday characters. The novel invokes familiarity for the characters in the reader’s mind. One gets glued to the conversations and the description of their facial expressions. There are dialogues which tickle your funny bone and also the ones which make you ponder over the decisions you’ve made in your life.

The story is about six friends, who are from different backgrounds. The novel shows the growth of them as a group and simultaneously seeps into their individual life, showing the reader the growth of each as a person. It moves from a light and funny beginning to showing the intricacies of relationships, the alienation from the roots in a foreign land and the desperation to make it big. Despite of showing the entire struggle faced by the youth during their transition from college to work, the novel does not depress the reader, rather keeps him in good spirits.

Faiyaz shows all the jazz in not so jazzy a language. He uses crisp dialogues written in the language spoken by the urban youth. He refrains from exhibiting his knowledge of words, instead sticks to the theme and picks the words which conform to the need of the scene he is sketching. He adds glamour to the novel by weaving hilarious events such as the Goa trip and the frequent café visits. Every chapter starts with a quotation by a prominent personality which relates to the developments in the chapter, which certainly is a little different and fresh idea for fiction novels. In nutshell, it is a fast-paced, sweet novel which leaves you with a warm smile. –