Seduction by Truth by Mukul Kumar: a review

Some books catch your eye by just the title. Seduction by truth by Mukul Kumar was one such. The next thing that struck me when I saw the book was the cover. It showed exactly what the blurb had to offer. But did the book actually live by the expectations? You have to read the whole book to know that. Here's what the blurb says…

About the book- Shiva is good looking, an irresistible talker, well off, lives in Delhi's poshest suburb, is a dutiful husband to the attractive Akriti, and a perfect father to their little son. So why is he the picture of disenchantment? It could be that not uncommon human condition: boredom that sometimes accompanies fidelity. In Shiva's case, the discovery that Akriti has already found distraction with someone else frees him to look for excitement on his own- but with a mind conflicted between Dharma and desire. Which path to follow? He embarks on a journey to empirically explore different options- the sexually vibrant Sana and Mary, to name just two- but at the end of it, winds up with more questions than he started out with. To confuse things further, Akriti continues to occupy a tender place in his heart; a woman first and a wife later. A story, part reality, part legend, that dared the modern reader to solve mankind's oldest puzzle: marriage.

The premise of the book spoke a lot to me and thus the expectations went further high up. To begin with, I somehow felt that this particular book doesn't cater to a wide range of an audience per se. It's about the couples who are married, separated or to be married. The whole backbone of this book is spread on as the author puts it, “mankind's oldest puzzle: marriage”. The clean and simple way of writing and narration made it simple for me to read the book in one sitting without any break.

Now that is something I like in books. Which keep you hooked to the end. The way the whole concept is dealt with is really good and everyone should read it. Shiva as a character have been portrayed very cleverly with typical traits. This makes sure that you feel, as a human being, that Shiva is someone right beside you. There are legends mentioned in the book which can be used to draw comparisons and that's something that is very well thought of. I also liked how all the women in Shiva's life has been crafted in the book.

For the cons, I would like to mention that I believe the book had one too many facts which the urban reader might not prefer reading much. Also, the book could've been written with much more vibrancy in it than there is. There were a few parts which I felt could've been ignored while some needed a bit more explanation. Grammatical errors there weren't any and that's a good sign for me as a reader. All in all the book had a good flow to it and is surely an one time read for the audience. For me, it's 3.25 out of 5 looking forward to reading more of the author's works.