Dear Dear Readers,
It has been one month since 3 came out. Life has settled back to normal somewhat. I go to the office, come back home, play with the kids and go to sleep. I need this for the moment, for I don’t think human beings are designed to handle thousands of opinions and judgements about themselves everyday. Blogs, comments, emails, articles, reviews, interviews, events, sales figures and now even in public places, I get told how good or not good my books are, innumerable times a day. It is a lot to take in, and I am not even sure how much is really going in. But I thought I will tell you the overall consensus that is building about 3 and my books in general. After that, I will give you my personal take on it all. Let me divide it into various categories:
Sales
First of all, the sales figures. The first month sales figures for my three books are as follows:
1. Five Point Someone - 5,000 copies (new author, this was a good number)
2. One Night @ the Call Center - 50,000 copies (since FPS was already popular).
And now for 3, I just received the figure this morning for the sales last month:
3. The 3 Mistakes of my life - 5,00,000 copies.
Wow! Well, first of all, thank you! You made it happen.
I don’t know how 3 achieved 10x increase over the previous book. Maybe the first two books had become quite popular, maybe there was a long gap, maybe we had good media coverage, maybe it was the whole hype about the “#1 selling author in history” or maybe the theme this time had wider reach than the narrow setting of the previous two books. Whatever it is, it is leaving all of us gobsmacked. The book will be the highest selling book of the three pretty soon, (yes, more than FPS too) and that too by a wide margin.
Reviews - Core Readers (hardcore fans who will read all CB books)
The reviews are overwhelmingly positive. Many have insisted it is the best of the three books. I know some people have been disappointed (say 5%). Please accept my apologies, will hope to do better next time. I do want to share this. The readers who enjoy my books most are those who read my book for that particular story and go with the flow. If you have unrealistic expectations or read the story by dissecting and comparing with past works, you are setting yourself up for disappointment. Try not to do that.
I do hear the term “Bollywoodish” associated with some of my stories. As long as that is an observation, it is fine. (Good) Bollywood is about drama, plot, message, fun, emotions, action and happy, hopeful endings. I like that about Bollywood. I think most Indians do too. As one comment said, who wants stories that move painfully slow and end in despair? I don’t, and if you do - there are plenty of books in the store you will find like that.
Reviews - Fringe Readers
My fringe readers are those who do not like my books, but read them anyway. They are “I’ve read all 3 books , all are crap” variety. Why did you read the second book if you didn’t like the first? Why did you pick up the third? There are a lot of good books in the bookstore that need reader attention. If I am not to your taste, switch! Let’s have a happy parting. There is no need to behave like an obsessive ex-lover who will hate and care at the same time. Stop visiting this site, look away when you see my books in a shop and the rest will be just fine.
As expected, the fringe readers continue to have this love-hate relationship with me. My third book didn’t work for them, though they read it in the first week of release, and they couldn’t put it down while reading it.
Reviews - Critics
Strangely, the reviews were not as bad as I expected. Maybe they liked the book, or maybe they had a change of taste or maybe they realized that a few million, English speaking, educated Indians can’t be wrong. The lack of insight amongst critics (not everyone, but most) continues to baffle me. The most common observation “he is not literary” is something I said on my own site four years ago. I became bored of that observation so I said “my language is not that good” in a HT Brunch interview. Now most critics carry that observation. (Incidentally, a senior journalist from Guardian UK told me he really liked my language in the books.) I am not looking for praise, but if you call yourself a critic or an expert, you must offer some original, analytical insight about the work - good or bad, to justify your job. Summarizing the plot and repeating past interviews is not that. Anyway, less slamming for me this time, so I am happy. Thank you guys.
Speaking of critics, I do value them. But I want them to be fair, honest and open minded. I am no one to advise them, but I do want to mention a memorable speech from the movie Ratatouille.
“ In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is more meaningful than our criticism designating it so. But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new. The world is often unkind to new talent, new creations, the new needs friends. Last night, I experienced something new, an extraordinary meal from a singularly unexpected source. To say that both the meal and its maker have challenged my preconceptions about fine cooking is a gross understatement. They have rocked me to my core. In the past, I have made no secret of my disdain for Chef Gusteau’s famous motto: Anyone can cook. But I realize, only now do I truly understand what he meant. Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere. It is difficult to imagine more humble origins than those of the genius now cooking at Gusteau’s, who is, in this critic’s opinion, nothing less than the finest chef in France. I will be returning to Gusteau’s soon, hungry for more. “
My personal take
I feel calm these days. People tell me I haven’t changed after I became a celebrity, and that feels nice. It is extremely important for me to stay grounded, remain down to earth and be a good human being. I am happy about 3, as I wanted to do a story about Gujarat with all the uncomfortable topics included and I wasn’t sure if it would be accepted. I know I used the three friends combo again in 3 like FPS, and there was a reason. Religion is an extremely tough subject to handle, and I wanted to be able to do that well and so chose a character combination I had done earlier. I wanted the story to travel wide, so I put in a lot of entertainment value (which I enjoy doing anyway). What is the point of writing a story on tolerance that is read only by intellectuals who already know that? So, a Bollywood treatment is just fine to get that reach according to me. If Chetan gets slammed a bit more for it and is not called a ‘great’ author, how does it matter? But if next time a reader of 3 can see through the nonsense of politicians, then the greater purpose has been achieved.
Finally…
To be able to write on the topic of my choice is the freedom I ask of you. That is a lot more important for me than a) Beating FPS (why? why should I write to beat FPS when maybe another story needs to be written about) or b) Making sure big movies happen (if movie adaptation was my main focus, I’d never do a story on Godhra), or c) Break records everytime, or d) silence my critics. All these reasons means writing for my ego, and I want to write for my passion. There is a big difference.
Having said that, my fourth book will not be so dark. I am done with dark for now and want to do something fun. And the book will not be about three friends for sure. What exactly will it be? I don’t know.
Love lots,
Chetan
PS: I can’t reply to every comment, but I do read them all. Also, other visitors to this site enjoy reading them too. If you’d rather send feedback in private, go to the Guestbook. Comments in the blog are public, and so please don’t write personal stuff or give spoilers. And be nice.
