ARA Review by L1th3rl+and of The Next Door Raghu

[L1th3rl+and]

[Following is an OnlineBookClub.org ARA Review of the book, The Next Door Raghu.]

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3 out of 5 stars

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When, by dubious means, five-year-old Raghu passes the qualifying examination for a prestigious school, his problems have only just begun. A tiny boy, with low self-esteem, from a lower middle-class background he lacks the skills, social, academic and sporting to succeed with peers who all seem to possess all these qualities.

Raghu, however, has talents of his own, and soon employs his cunning, and his sharp brain to ingratiate himself with the best and the most powerful children in his class. Together, they create a gang which, once it has beaten (literally) their arch-enemy, becomes the most powerful force in the class – not least due to the wily cunning of little Raghu. Together they embark on a number of adventures, the most significant of which, leads them to find a way of escaping the confines of the school to enjoy the freedom of the countryside beyond.

As the story proceeds, Raghu, initially the tail of the beast they call their gang, becomes a guiding force and grows into a heroic figure no longer despised by his neighbours, but celebrated by them.

The Next Door Raghu is a fun-filled, roller-coaster of a story, joyous, optimistic and life-affirming. It is a celebration of this one boy, and his eventually emergence, butterfly-like from the cocoon of his early life. Despite his subservience, his deviousness, his sycophancy and his trickery, he extols the values of friendship and loyalty and, when his moment comes, and his special talent saves the day, he is modest and generous.

The story is rich in delicious characters, Shianti, his overwhelming, attention-seeking and domineering mother; Rapul, his weak and ineffectual father with his acute, (and embarrassing) bowel condition, his food-hoarding, food-stealing Aunt and his many human and animal friends.

It is not, however, a book without problems for the reader. To begin with, this group of five-year-olds are unlike any the reader will ever meet – their maturity, their range of language, their prowess in sport and learning, their altruism – even the nature of their friendship – is far too sophisticated for children of their age. I found myself reading the book as if it was part of a modern-day mythology (to which end, the writing style helped) but it was definitely an obstacle to overcome. Similarly, I had to double-check that this was intended as a book for children. The vocabulary, sentence length and sentence structures employed would exclude many children in the 5-11 age range. Consider these two examples on the first page:
‘The cold and unforgiving steel rods of the child basket jackknifed and wedged viciously into hapless flesh.’
‘They relentlessly pursued their voyeuristic endeavour.’
Reading aloud or sharing with an adult may work better.

Stylistically, there is an over-abundant use of adjectives, often three or four at a time, and very few nouns escape qualification. There is also a tendency to a repetition of words and phrases, often very close together, and to run-on and complex sentences, which would pose a problem for young readers.

For these reasons, I am unable to rate this novel as 5/5 stars, but the qualities I’ve noted raise it far above 2/5.

After a lot of thought, I have rated this novel 3 out of 5 stars but, despite the criticisms, it was a pleasure to read and its optimistic, often funny, and always delightful nature left me with a smile on my face, and lingering memories of the delightful (and not-so delightful) range of characters. It deserves, and I am sure it will find, a wide range of readership.

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