The Imperative Subterfuge: A Review

‘Hitler v/s Gandhi’ is a theme many people have contemplated. Instead of just stopping there, popular satirist blogger Rickie Khosla goes ahead and weaves an entire novella around this interesting premise. It was indeed interesting seeing serious fiction from a writer whose humorous works you have been acquainted with. The title of the book is quite intriguing and that along with the Nazi Swastika on the cover illustration makes one curious and want to pick up the book.

The language is quite good and at the same time the prose does not become as heavy as to intimidate the reader. The work is richly sprinkled with memorable lines, especially on political philosophy. The characters are really well etched and the reader can easily relate to the emotions of the characters. The story maintains a steady pace and the book can be finished in one reading.

The series of events have been plotted quite meticulously and lends an air of plausibility. However personally I am more inclined to agree with Leo Tolstoy that individuals are just pawns in the flow of history and do not really deserve the importance some historians place on them. But any opinions on these matters cannot be anything beyond mere speculations. So personal prejudices aside I fully appreciate the alternate history plotted by Rickie Khosla.

The story could have been much more compelling if the author had taken the point of view of a single character and created an intense conflict running through the novel. Currently the story is laid out like a jigsaw puzzle with things falling in place one by one as we move along. That is an interesting style as well and I am partial to that style as a writer but as a reader I think I prefer the other style.

Many of the characters make brief appearances and one wishes one could have seen more of them. This definitely has scope for a much bigger novel where these characters are explored as well. This book is definitely worth a read for anyone who is in to reading books by current day Indian authors and I would rank it close to top of the pack.

Details of Book and Author

The book link is The Imperative Subterfuge

The author's blog is Who cares what I think?

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