Pankaj was kind enough to give me good feedback on my first book, so when I learned that he had just recently published a novel, I was very interested in reading it. There are few kinds of books that sell in India and most of them leave me thinking that the fiction market is just overcrowded and focused on shallow love stories that are easy to read and entertain. But thankfully, Pankaj’s book had a certain depth and vulnerability in the characters that immediately hooked me to the story. Depth is a side-effect of pain and suffering, and that is very well-crafted in both Fiona and Soham’s individual journey. The essence of the book lies in the struggles, emotions, and eccentricities of the main characters.
I know it becomes very easy for most readers to separate the characters from the author, but being a writer myself, I know most writers express themselves through their characters. So, it’s very natural for an author to tell a story by means of characters; a story that he has, in some weird alternate universe, already lived. This book also tells me that Pankaj is true and authentic to his writing. He isn’t trying to corrupt his readers with the use of flashy twists, shiny words, and frivolities. He remains dedicated to telling a story between two people who have experienced the cruelties of life, and at no point does he stray away from the plot.
Pankaj also did a good job of world-building through his descriptive style of writing, down to the nitty-gritty details. A few pages down, I had a fairly good idea of where this story was based and the alternating timelines. However, in spite of the very valid descriptions and backstories, I couldn’t relate with the characters as much as I would have liked, but I did understand them, and that’s all I need to justify why I loved this book. This was an introspective and thought-provoking read! Well recommended!
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Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2020
- Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2017
- Reviewed in the United States on March 2, 2018
- Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2017
- Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2020
Top reviews from other countries
- Siddhartha KrishnanReviewed in India on October 14, 2020
A Masterfully Written Ode to Melancholia!
There goes a saying, "Our pleasures are shallow, our sorrows are deep". The undeniable attribute of melancholia, is that, it is slow and lingering. Unlike happiness it is never in a hurry to leave. Pankaj Giri's novel, therefore, is a slow burn and deliberately so, which makes it feel like an ode to melancholia. It's the story of Fiona and Soham and their traumatic past that is unwilling to give in to their resilient present, which hangs by "The Fragile Thread of Hope". It’s a tale of love, loss, loneliness, regret and the power of hope. Loss is imminent but the baggage that it ensues often leads to regret and ruthless melancholy. The story moves at its own pace but cleverly leads to gut-wrenching moments of loss, which leaves the reader in a daze.Siddhartha KrishnanA Masterfully Written Ode to Melancholia!
Reviewed in India on October 14, 2020
The first thing that strikes you about the book is the investment into its characters and that each chapter is dedicated to a specific character testifies the effort that has gone in. The characters are well-sketched, especially the leads, Fiona and Soham, and the author jumps timelines to unravel their arc. Another unique aspect of the storytelling is the use of delusions and dreams in vivid prose with the atmospherics playing an important role in them. Like this other-worldly experience that Soham goes through in a hospital in Bangalore after a ghastly accident, "A cool breeze caresses his cheeks, Soham finds himself on a chair in front of a wooden study table. Bright light streams in through the transparent panes of the window in front of him, blurring his vision. Observing the balustrade of the balcony beyond the window, he recognizes the place—it is his room in Gangtok”.
The writing has a rich poetic vein about it which shows in the author’s choice of words and formation of sentences. There is a languid flow to it all. The other commendable aspect of the writing is its symmetry displayed through some clever use of analogies. As a writer I can vouch that this is not an easy task but they are critical to help the reader visualize a scene in their mind. Only skilled writers can pull this off with aplomb. The following is a good example—"She walked past a streetlight, a swarm of moths hovering around it like a gang of flirts".
In May, 1886, Anton Chekhov once famously wrote to his brother Alexander, who was harbouring literary ambitions, “In descriptions of nature one must seize on small details, grouping them so that when the reader closes his eyes, he gets a picture. This is where the author excels the most as he expertly transports you to places. The following description of a bike ride in Gangtok is a good example, "The farther away the mountains were, the more their colour seemed to drop from green to blue and then lighter shades of blue. Dark clouds looming above the hilly horizon were on the verge of swallowing the setting sun".
Melancholy, undoubtedly has its own charm. It is strangely seducing and entertaining in its own way and this book is proof of that.
I will recommend the book to all dreamers, brooders, wanderers and eternal romantics. For its well-sketched characters, poetic prose and attention to detail, I think the book is a must read. I will give Pankaj Giri's masterfully written "The Fragile Thread of Hope" a 4.5/5.
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- P. MortimerReviewed in the United Kingdom on October 31, 2017
A beautifully descriptive and atmospheric character led story about family, love, loss, grief, regret, loneliness and hope.
- Surbhi DasReviewed in India on October 22, 2018
Tear-jerking, heart-rending and Melancholy!
- Anindita BanerjeeReviewed in India on August 16, 2020
Hope has to be the home.
I have mixed emotions after I finished with this book and I am still searching for composure before I can prepare my mind and order it to direct my fingers to blend out some words for the praise of this book because in every way this book has proved that. This piece of a work has left me jerked and teary eyed and I had every intention of abandoning this book because I had this thought intensifying that why am I reading it which is pricking me thus and haunting me, bringing in me the my suffering past and for it I am still suffering? I was detecting every bad conclusions as I was progressing in this book but then a realisation dawned on me that if Soham and Fiona force themselves to cling on to the fragile thread of hope, why can't I? This book should own a Booker prize for fiction someday but the readers around the world may only see the author's perspective in bringing out the haunting images in this work but if life had only happy moments to offer then would us, the human beings have valued each other? That's why I brought out the positivity from this book, carried on with it thinking that life will give devastations as an exam of Destiny only to mark out that are we beings still holding on to hopes how much fragile may it be compared to the giant tragedies which life offers us? The mastery of this book is so deepening and thought provoking that it cannot be reviewed and this book has to made to send to every household so that in this disstressing time it becomes the weapon of those lonely people who we, the us forget to care about and they have to take shelter on the Biblical motif of As one is born alone, as to die alone. As a reader like mine, who have real difficulties in articulating her thoughts, this book both became a challenge and lesson to carry on with this travesty termed as life. The book is so complete and so fulfilling in it's own depth of chatacterisation that the plot has no loopholes and it ends in a complete circle. The vulnerabilities of the characters has been so deftly carried forward that it has been proved, when in the pits if distress, whether be it a man or a woman, one had cry their hearts out, jerk and has to move ahead, beacause the famous saying Time and Tide wides for none is always at large. I cannot agree with one issue with the author that the culture depicted in the book could have been brought out in a more happy light. This book may become disturbing as it may jeringly leave a being empty from the insides and may force out waters down the cheeks, but quoting the author I will say that this 'bittersweet' journey had to be taken as at last/at the end this will remain as a cherished gift forever to adore till the us breathes. The strength to believe in the Supreme Entity has been Meticulously woven in every word if this Master art and that view has made a reader like the relieved. I have agreed with the author that the belongings of a person cannot justify his/her soul and the materialism has to be given up a day as because memories hold on. Sometimes the thing we admire the most becomes the trajectory of all the glooms, that is nature here at her most wonderous form never stops to lash and smashes millions of love. Some of the modern techniques in this book has been successfully etched out. My mother always says that after every bad, there is a good and this book proves the meaning and I will continue to believe in it. I give my best regards to the author for his future endeavours.Anindita BanerjeeHope has to be the home.
Reviewed in India on August 16, 2020
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