Elephants in the Room by Suraj Laxminarayanan – Review

Suraj Laxminarayanan’s latest (and the debut as well) novel, Elephants in the Room, has left me stunned, puzzled as well as satisfied. I have finished the novel yesterday and I am truly fascinated by the imagination and subtle thinking that the novelist has weighed in in his very first novel. It covers the events of merely four days; however, the details that have been in the focus in his writing, Suraj has penetrated various layers of narrative and he has been successful in getting the attention of the readers – perhaps more than he might have expected. Let me also tell you that the novel is voluminous and it requires efforts to be read completely.

Unexpected turns and brain-pushing twists are not there in plenty to keep the readers in a dismay like Nolan’s movies. However, as many as are there, have been plotted very eloquently and in a balanced way so that it creates a very tactical impression on the mind of the reader. Elephants in the Room is basically about a bank robber, a case gone wrong type of robbery which does not take place as planned – rather the gangs of the robbers have wars and they create a pandemonium in the bank.

In the novel, big and small events have been stitched together to create a whole piece that you can enjoy as a thriller fiction with a few sentimental or the sighs of relief, that I can put in my words. Otherwise, there are scenes of ghastly murders and crimes inside the bank which must not be read by the children under 14. For comic relief, the names of the characters must be funny for may readers – Bada, Chota, Nari, 800, 801, A1 and so on… sounds quite interesting, doesn’t it? Many critics have pointed it out and it is so tempting that even I could not hold back…

Well, the novel is a little stretched and it runs up to 89 chapters. Something that you don’t often find these days. While the authors are writing microfiction and giving quick pleasing reads to the readers, Suraj Laxminarayanan has decided to step up and offer something which sticks around for a while and you feel like reading a classic fiction but with modern thinking and modern story. It comes with a simple language and an interesting story with crime, stunning word-depictions of inner thinking and everything that a curious fiction reader would love to read. You can surely light up your study lamp this weekend – get a copy of Suraj’s Elephants in the Room and do read it as soon as you can! We are all in for this one!

Get a copy from Amazon India – Click here

review by Shilpa for The Book Blog