Life is a Bitch

by Asmit Rathod

Life has a nasty habit to become confusing and complicated at times. Kumar is not spared from this austerity of life either. The twists and turns of his life eventually push him to the edge. And being on the, Kumar is left with only two choices.

Either, Fall or Fly.

"Life is a Bitch" tells the story of Kumar's life and the choices he makes, in most intriguing fashion; leading towards a single inconceivable truth of his life-Our lives.

200 pages, Paperback

First published June 9, 2015

About the author

Asmit Rathod is a New Zealand citizen, currently living in Australia.

He has acquired post graduation degree in Journalism and Mass communication.

He is passionate about writing and intends to make writing as his full time career. His focus of writing is life in general and human relations in particular.

Apart from writing fictions he is fond of writing Poems/ Gazals as well, which he posts at his Facebook profile on a regular basis. His poems can be read at https://www.facebook.com/asmit.rathod

"Life is a Bitch" is his debut book which dwells in to a brand new concept of life, derived from his observations and experiences acquired through extensively travelling to various countries and by meeting hundreds of people of various nationalities.

Currently he is working on two projects.

The first project is a fiction titled “Incomplete manuscript", which is a love story of a middle class girl from Banaras. He intends to publish this book in English as well as in Hindi.

The Second project is a horror/ thriller film script, tentatively titled "Anhoni". Author is very much keen to make entry in to Bollywood as well.

He has recently created his website where he will be blogging regularly. He can be reached through his website http://www.asmitrathod.com

Reviews

[Kamal Paneru · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review Point: 3.25
Author: Asmit Rathod
Publisher: Frog Books, Imprint of Leadstart Publishing Pvt. Ltd.
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 978-93-52013-21-10
Edition: First, 2015
Page Count: 200

Platform:
Kumar is a truck driver by the curse of his bitch destiny and drives truck all over the country. Rajveer who just comes India from Singapore, meets Kumar luckily and goes Agra in his truck. Rajveer slightly takes interest in his life and Kumar narrates his life step by step. Kumar took birth in a middle class family and as grew learnt lession from the life. Book is divided into two parts. First part is narrated in India while other one in Singapore with continuity of the story. Kumar also has a beautiful wife Shonali and a dog named Pluto. Why Kumar, truck driver keeps Pluto with him all the time? How he met Shonali? What made him feel life is a bitch? Who changed his life with new social lesions? To know answer of all these questions, lets read Life Is A Bitch.

Strength of the Book:
Story of a real common man with oddity is picked up for the narration. Characters are beautifully crafted and linked with each other. Curiosity in the mind of readers to know Kumar’s life arises as the story matures. Each and every scene is well described. Problems of a person who is loyal for his principles and pressurized by his responsibilities, for the survival in his professional life are define in much better way. Teaching to Kumar by a professor by relating to real world is amazing which makes readers to learn really new things for the survival in the toughest world. As story matures it turns to be more interesting. Second part of the book is really admirable and amazingly knitted. Ending is amazing done by leaving smile over the face of readers.

Weakness of the book:
Flow of the story is not equally spread over the book. After every couple of chapters narration goes down and makes readers to skip the pages. Narration is not that much effective in the first part. Too much Hindi dialogues are written which really leave negative impact.


Conclusion:
Author Asmit Rathod has presented a good book to the readers to let them have a glance over the problem of a common man. Title and cover page of the book completely suit to the narration and theme. This book is best way to teach how to keep your loyalty with you in the adversity of life. Book really touches the heart of common man living in the society of greedy professionalism.

Reviewing Point:
3.25 out of 5

Review By:
- Kamal Paneru

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[Md Akhlaq · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bad day can be set aside as just that, a short-term incident, something to be discarded rather than internalized, a stepping stone to greater things. Doing this requires mental strength, but that strength can be developed.


"Life is a bitch" a story of a very reticent kind of protagonist named Kumar.

Story revolves around his curse life and his shattered dreams with lots of fluctuations and title can define this plot that what about the story is. Cover also resembles to the plot and character's outline.

Ups and down in the life of a truck driver. Another important character is Rajveer who examine Kumar's life closely. Very thoughtful and engaging plot. According to the story nothing is co-incidence everything depends upon our behaviour.

First person narration in which Kumar narrating his life to Rajveer. Rajveer arrived from Singapore , why he came from all the way ? Read the story to know.


Language ia simple and easy to understand. Fast and balanced pace. Much Hindi lines and kind of phrases are used which is actually a good thing at the point of entertainment , this story made me laugh a lot so a humorous plot. A unique and entertaining story. Good characterization.

Relatable to the ordinary lives and for the youth.

[Doctor · Rating 3 out of 5]

A considerably engrossing story. It has the tone of a keen observer of everything around the protagonist. A learner, he learns the treacherous ways from a man in the society. And then his idea of a beautiful world was missing in his life. Repeated knocks from the society forces him to resign himself into the life of a recluse on he beautiful Mandrem beach in Goa. Unending indulgences both in drinks and himself ends when he finds himself as the last pupil of a Sociology professor. Partly from this eminent contact and partly from excess leisure, drinks and self-indulgence he finds his way into the mainstream social life, which had once taught him by its selfish, devious ways one thing - 'That, life is a Bitch.' p.73.
After a good beginning, the story loses steam by the fifth chapter, mired by a philosopher's generalizations. Fortunately it gathers momentum soon after. It shows signs of urgency, suspense.
This is one beautiful book which has as much finesse in its thought and language as there are confusions. There are uncountable errors in the area of usage, the English Article -a, an, the. And huge editorial lapses.
I award this book three stars; I received it through 'Giveaways.'

[Aishwarya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book from the author in exchange of a honest review.
This book is an eye opener. It is about a truck driver who speaks fluent english and owns a dog instead of a cabin cleaner for his truck. On being interviewed by a journalist from Singapore his story is unravelled. This book emphasises on the tendency of life to push us to our limits where there lies only 2 options- to fall or fly!
I recommend this book to one and all.

[Sreevatsa.haritasa · Rating 4 out of 5]

**Got this book in a Giveaway**
Nice Plot...Asmit makes us also to anticipate the way life takes its path with respect to Kumar.
Most of the paragraphs were so true which revealed the facts about society and life.

Well done Asmit. Kudos and thank you...!!!

[Divya · Rating 4 out of 5]

**I received this from a Goodreads giveaway.**

A fast paced book about the realities of life put in a very simple and interesting way. Loved how there was no unwanted characters and topics to divert from the main story and drag the book. Short, simple and sweet.

[Honey & Anjali · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title of the book literally cracked me up. It's so appropriate because Life is a indeed a b*tch.

This story is about a common man, Kumar who happens to be an ex call center executive and is now a truck driver.

Kumar was an arrogant person but life, for better or worse, has changed him into what he is today. The author has done a good job in making the main protagonist relatable by giving us an insight into Kumar's life and his struggles and how life has treated him.

Though he comes off as rather whiny sometimes, he's also willing to take chances and turn his life around rather than just sitting around and sulking. But it doesn't help that every minor inconvenience in his life makes him rant. It's more like listening to a teenager than a mature adult which makes him annoying to some extent.

The writing style is fine  with minor mistakes here and there, nothing too distracting. The language is easy which makes the book easier to read. The cover is good but it could have been better. The plot isn't something new and it often feels like we're reading someone's journal rather than an actual story because all we get is the main protagonist and his life problems which gets tedious after a while.

It is good though that the book is about an ordinary person going through daily life problems and even though he rants and blames life, he doesn't give up and keeps going anyway which is something we should all learn from. We all whine about our problems but only few people are willing to do something about it.

It was interesting to have a protagonist who was both an optimist and a pessimist depending on how hard life was treating him. Though there wasn't much character development and I was hoping to see that.

[Pink Wine]

Well, ofcourse "Life is a bitch", why else do you think it would be called 'Life'. Right? The author has presented an extraordinary view of Kumar's perspective towards life and how his life turns out fatal yet he decides to 'give up!' Oh yes!!

Kumar is a middle-class person with needs and dreams. Now, why I mentioned needs with dreams, they are two very different phenomena yet they are interlinked with one another in every step of our lives. We need to achieve our dreams but our basic needs of family, society and self compels us to achieve the other and our little dream is packed in a box and shipped to some other century. That's painful, right... yet the truth! I believe we all must have grown up with a little packet of dreams in our head fondling with our desires but unfortunately, most of us must be stuck with something which we had entirely dis-tasted all our lives.

We all face ups and downs of life, some deal with it and some give up. Kumar almost gave up when life gave him the first shock at work and taught him the lesson of getting used by the other for personal benefits but he broke into pieces when the love of his life left him due to her family circumstances. That incident changed him as a whole and he went away to live the life of a nomad. During his nomadic venture he experienced metaphysical change within himself and shared his experience with a stranger. Other than the stranger mentioned in this book, I was the other stranger engrossed in his perspective towards life and was desperate to reach the final 'Kumar' that was yet to come towards the end of this book. That is perhaps the reason that I finished this book by the blink of an eye. I was the journalist sitting with this random person speaking fluent English yet driving a truck of national permit and sharing his traumatic life.

In the fast-paced life from job to home and home to job, we always forget to see what's beyond that perspective. That's why people go on holidays and then feel sick of coming back to this hectic lifestyle. Kumar took a permanent break, we all do. We all at one point quit and sit and think "I had enough, what to do next". Kumar went through a depression period where he choose an entirely different path and walked along it. In this process, he realised that life happens to you and how you deal is already assigned in destiny but whether you accept it or not is your decision.

Nicely and simply written with a twist of 'Hinglish', very rare in books these days yet very playful. After-all the emotions that could be explained in Hinglish is very impactful.
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Ratings: 3.7 stars

[Sujit Srinivasan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The cover shows an image of a man along with a dog (bitch) , both are assumed to be crossing a tramp truck , the title "Life is a bitch" gives an idea that the story is about a person who is facing setbacks in life and is life is been treating them badly and with a possibility of hating every bit of it.

The plot is shown as a man Kumar narrating his life's story to Rajveer who has arrived from Singapore admits of a journey. The story shows how an hardworking and enthusiastic call center executive Kumar eventually ends up being a truck driver how life treats him or in other words how he narrates how life treated him as a bitch. Or even a a stage of thinking about committing a suicide.

The language used in the book is simple English and easy to understand. The narration is also above par since the way the plot is something which is of the past and is narrated to a second person, I felt a little confusing in certain areas.

It gives reader an idea of things that life can treat you really bad , and everyone has a story to tell may be fighting a battle internally.The distinctive nature of the characters is appreciable.

[Ashima Jain · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the story of a common man who finds himself bewildered with the social evolution of mankind. He thus chooses to steer his life in a direction that is, albeit, quite unconventional. Nonetheless, it leads him to a fair amount of self discovery which in turn makes him successful.
The book has potential to provide a deeper meaning to life. However it needs a strong round of editing for the story to leave an impact and sound less like a lesson in philosophy.
There are numerous errors all through the book. Every few pages, one may be inclined to discontinue reading as the language is badly written. There are also obvious punctuation and spelling mistakes, all of which are enough to put one off.
Note - This was a giveaway copy and was delivered over 2 months after the giveaway results were announced. There was no response from the author upon querying regarding reasons for delay. Ultimately I got a response from the Goodreads team who informed me that the publisher was running behind schedule and would take another 20 days to deliver. The author/giveaway lister should have communicated this delay beforehand.

[Divya Ramnath Bandodkar · Rating 3 out of 5]

My Take-

I received this book through Goodreads Giveaway.

The story is engaging one. The suspense about Kumar’s life keeps the reader hooked on to the book. The language is simple and easily understandable. The story ends on a positive note giving out message to the readers.

‘Life is unpredictable. God has planned your life in advance. The failures, hurt, pain and suffering are just temporary phases. There is always something wonderfully awesome waiting for you.’


Likes-
Kumar’s success.
The manner in which Kumar’s parents supported him during his worse days of life.
Professor Gomes and his talks.



Dislikes-
Excessive use of Hindi dialogues.
The chapters could have been named.
The story has been narrated in Rajveer’s and Kumar’s point of view. The readers could easily get confused with the narration. A different font type could have been used, instead.



I rate-

Cover- 2/5
Story- 3/5
Characters- 3.5/5

My overall rating for Life is a Bitch is 3/5 stars.

[Priyanka Jani · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book as a goodreads giveaway and thanks to the author for this lovely book.

If you're looking for a different story, looking for a new author, then this book is just for you. This book has somehow surprised me, simple yet unique and interesting story. There were a lot of errors and it needs a good amount of editing. But overall it's a good book and I would recommend it to everyone.

[Mounika Lakkakula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Firstly,I thank the author Asmit Rathod for sending me a copy of this book through Goodreads First reads-Giveaways..My sincere apologies for the late review..It's an interesting read.Through Kunar's narration of his life,the author deals about the aspects of life and the social evolution taking place in the world..Strange ways of life has been shown wonderfully..I enjoyed reading this a lot..Thanks to the author again..

[Anish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Received this book via goodreads giveaway.
Witty, Humorous and delightful.

A griping tale to the end however it got a bit confusing to as who was narrating the story at times.
Named chapters would have helped.

[Mayank Kashyap · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good attempt.

[Mutturaj · Rating 5 out of 5]

Life is a bitch is wonderful book,It is a story of man who search for the meaning of life.
I recommend every one to read this book.