Hey everyone! I am here yet again with a new book review. I hope after reading it, you'll find it interesting and put it on your wishlist if you are a reader. So here the review is:

My past few reads had been very intense, emotionally toilsome almost, so I wanted my next one to be something light and funny. Thus I picked up English, August. And honestly, I don't think I could have made a better choice. Agastya Sen has freshly become an IAS civil servant, and must reimagine his life that until now had been torn between Delhi & Calcutta, for his new posting is set to take him to a small Bengal district called Madna. Agastya is unabashedly priveleged- the governor's son, a London returned English mouthing brat, who prefers August to Agastya, and carries his western records wherever he goes. In this case, to a downtrodden rural town he couldn't have cared lesser for. Agastya is the kind of character you begin to despise from the surface, but soon, with the chance of a more profound insight, tend to grow fond of, strangely endear him even. At his assigned government quarter he creates a secret life that nobody else must know of but him - a means of escape, really, from his soul sucking job that keeps him away from being his usual cosmopolitan self. And so he resorts to smoking joints, masturbating, day drinking, all whenever deemed convenient and necessary, apart from using humour as a coping mechanism and his only voice of reason. Downright sarcastic and subtly condescending, Agastya doesn't hold himself back when it comes to saying inappropriate things, and being able to delve into his mind is what makes this book a complete laugh riot. In one scene, Agastya sexualizes the act of worshipping to Shiva, and though too problematic, I couldn't stop giggling at it.

Upamanyu's way of unfolding the workings of government offices in the 1980s felt accurate and believably plausible. And boy, isn't the man a hilarious joke - machine, releasing himself from his naughty thoughts by making his characters think and speak them. Also, the story isn't entirely frivolous. There are moments of deep-seated introspection and a sense of self-discovery sieved upon the book throughout, which, by the end, made it immensely gratifying to read.

Thank you for reading and supporting. See you soon in the next blog. Have a fantastic day ahead!