Writing a coming-of-age book is no easy task. In fact, it is one of the most difficult tasks in the world, along with writing comedy. And when an up-and-coming author tries this genre so early in his career, it’s time we sit up and take notice. Here’s our review of Eighteen: The End of Innocence, written by Sudham.
Eighteen: The End of Innocence is set in 1990s South India and tells the story of a group of teenage boys and girls whose lives are as simple and as complicated as their own could be in 1980s India. ninety.
So, be prepared for plenty of throat-choking moments that are a chunk for anyone who had a typical childhood, adolescence, and coming of age in the shiny new India that was the period between 1970 and 2000.
So there is Holi, there are crushes, there are extraordinary experiences with the other gender, the initiation of people into the vices of smoking, drinking and all that. And all this immortalizes a warm and innocent time in which many of us grew up and few have forgotten.
This is the book the younger generation should read if they’re wondering if the ‘you had a good childhood if you remember these’ memes really make any sense. Those memes make sense and yes, the decades between the 1970s and the late 1990s were amazing.
While the book covers the mundane and the exciting in 200 odd pages, it does a successful job of portraying the life and times of children growing up at that time, something many may not know today.
The characters are quite believable and the instances too. Teens today should definitely read this book to get a feel for what life was like for teens just a decade ago. After all, wouldn’t it be surprising for them to learn that concepts like a “blank call” were the norm of the day back then? in the age of missed calls, Sudham decides to backtrack to blank calls.
What draws you to the book are the characters that are pretty close and I’m sure many will connect to or recognize those characters from their own mildly interesting past. What keeps you going is the colorful, rhythmic writing style that deserves a place up there.
You will love this book if you are a retro fan. Trust me this time.