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Dork Trilogy #1
Dork: The Incredible Adventures of Robin 'Einstein' Varghese
Alternate cover for this ISBN can be found here
In April 2006 Robin ‘Einstein’ Varghese; a stupendously naïve but academically gifted young man (he was ranked 41st in his class); graduates from one of India’s best business schools with a Day-Zero job at the Mumbai office of Dufresne Partners; a mediocre mid-market management consulting firm largely run by complete morons.
Varghese finds that he fits into the culture remarkably well. Or does he? Through a stunning series of blunders; mishaps and inadvertent errors; Robin begins to make his superiors rue the day they were driven by desperation into hiring him.
With things going spectacularly wrong in his professional and personal life; will Robin manage to achieve his short-term goal of being promoted to Associate in under a year? Will love conquer all and will Gouri walk with him through Dadar Department Stores with her hand in the rear pocket of his jeans?
Dork: The Incredible Adventures of Robin ‘Einstein’ Varghese is for all of those who’ve ever sat depressed in cubicles…and wanted to kill themselves with office stationery. Especially that letter opener thing.
Join Robin as he navigates his first insane year at Dufresne Partners in this first volume of the Dork trilogy.
In April 2006 Robin ‘Einstein’ Varghese; a stupendously naïve but academically gifted young man (he was ranked 41st in his class); graduates from one of India’s best business schools with a Day-Zero job at the Mumbai office of Dufresne Partners; a mediocre mid-market management consulting firm largely run by complete morons.
Varghese finds that he fits into the culture remarkably well. Or does he? Through a stunning series of blunders; mishaps and inadvertent errors; Robin begins to make his superiors rue the day they were driven by desperation into hiring him.
With things going spectacularly wrong in his professional and personal life; will Robin manage to achieve his short-term goal of being promoted to Associate in under a year? Will love conquer all and will Gouri walk with him through Dadar Department Stores with her hand in the rear pocket of his jeans?
Dork: The Incredible Adventures of Robin ‘Einstein’ Varghese is for all of those who’ve ever sat depressed in cubicles…and wanted to kill themselves with office stationery. Especially that letter opener thing.
Join Robin as he navigates his first insane year at Dufresne Partners in this first volume of the Dork trilogy.
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 19, 2010
50 people are currently reading
669 people want to read
About the author
Sidin Vadukut
7 books282 followersSidin Vadukut is a journalist, columnist and blogger. He has an engineering degree from NIT Trichy and an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad.
In a career spanning around a decade he has made automotive parts, developed online trading platforms, almost set up a retailing company and had a sizeable portion of a tree fall on his head. He is currently an editor with the Mint business newspaper.
Sidin lives in New Delhi with his wife, two PlayStations, four laptops and a desktop computer. He blogs at http://www.whatay.com.
Twitter: twitter.com/sidin
In a career spanning around a decade he has made automotive parts, developed online trading platforms, almost set up a retailing company and had a sizeable portion of a tree fall on his head. He is currently an editor with the Mint business newspaper.
Sidin lives in New Delhi with his wife, two PlayStations, four laptops and a desktop computer. He blogs at http://www.whatay.com.
Twitter: twitter.com/sidin
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 252 reviews
November 10, 2010
Much against the advice of friends, I picked it up on a whim whilst travelling in India as I fancied reading some Indian fiction this year. I should have just listened to my friends.
I tried my best, I tried even using strategic breaks in between to finish it off but I couldn’t bring myself to read any more than about 100 odd pages. For all practical purposes I have abandoned it. Yes, it is really that bad.
First off I don’t think you could call it a book even if you stretch your imagination by a light year. It doesn’t fall into any known definition of a fictional book: There is no narrative trail, no plot, no characterization or for that matter not even a purpose for this book. The writing is traumatizing when not unbearable. For instance words like 'nonchalantly' and 'earnestness' are peppered casually throughout the paragraphs; it makes you feel like you are reading a junior school essay written by a student who has been highly impressed by the MS word synonym suggestion for the word cool. Personally, I've never come across an Indian or a non-Indian for that matter who uses nonchalantly so casually.
The protagonist Robin Varghese is perhaps the most dumb, egotistical, misogynistic, distasteful character I have ever encountered in a book. I can’t even imagine that such a person exists, forget relating to him. From a watchman who for some reason shooes him away to his colleague who dislikes him everyone is a 'Bastard' to him. In the meantime, he rejoices stealing hotel towels and quietly wanks off (literally!) at who appears to be, according to his own admission - the love of his life. God save her really! Frankly, I would like to meet someone who has made an entry in their diary saying they wanked off at their love interest, or perhaps a writer who would deem it fit to use for one of his characters. Utterly disgusting!
The rest of characters, if one can really call them that are vague cardboard sketches that only exist inside the narrator’s mind. There is nothing to suggest that they are or even could be real. Horrible characterization is one thing, being hopeless at research is another. The book doesn’t even get the facts right.
Check this: Somewhere the book implies that illegal Indian migrants in Uzbekistan were responsible for investigation in/by EU!
Uzbekistan isn’t a part of European Union. Neither would European Union bother about industries operating elsewhere nor does EU a common labour immigration policy! That's basic general knowledge if you expect yourself to use Uzbekistan in your fiction. Further point of interest that we all know here is Uzbekistan is one of the countries where emigration is more of the problem than immigration. It has not yet signed all the conventions of the UN charter on labour immigration . It was famously forced to ratify minimum age of labour last year or the year before. The point being no one gives a damn about labour or immigration in Uzbekistan. (Someone should send a card to the writer and the Penguin editing team)
Anyway, half way through, I can't think of single thing that is good in it. Clearly it’s been big mistake I picked it up. I’m embarrassed to have read it till wherever I did but I don’t see any other choice but to abort it. Sidin Vadukut joins the esteemed Shoba De as my abandoned authors.
Finally, I'm not aware how it's been received in India. I can’t believe one would find it funny by any measure. It’s not my book, I suppose it’s the sort of the book for someone down the street or even down the timezone, where people might want to read it and sit around talking how funny they had found it. I gave a single star as that's the least one could rate here.
Avoid.
To my shock I learnt that this is just the first segment; that, there is a trilogy planned. Someone should stop him.
I tried my best, I tried even using strategic breaks in between to finish it off but I couldn’t bring myself to read any more than about 100 odd pages. For all practical purposes I have abandoned it. Yes, it is really that bad.
First off I don’t think you could call it a book even if you stretch your imagination by a light year. It doesn’t fall into any known definition of a fictional book: There is no narrative trail, no plot, no characterization or for that matter not even a purpose for this book. The writing is traumatizing when not unbearable. For instance words like 'nonchalantly' and 'earnestness' are peppered casually throughout the paragraphs; it makes you feel like you are reading a junior school essay written by a student who has been highly impressed by the MS word synonym suggestion for the word cool. Personally, I've never come across an Indian or a non-Indian for that matter who uses nonchalantly so casually.
The protagonist Robin Varghese is perhaps the most dumb, egotistical, misogynistic, distasteful character I have ever encountered in a book. I can’t even imagine that such a person exists, forget relating to him. From a watchman who for some reason shooes him away to his colleague who dislikes him everyone is a 'Bastard' to him. In the meantime, he rejoices stealing hotel towels and quietly wanks off (literally!) at who appears to be, according to his own admission - the love of his life. God save her really! Frankly, I would like to meet someone who has made an entry in their diary saying they wanked off at their love interest, or perhaps a writer who would deem it fit to use for one of his characters. Utterly disgusting!
The rest of characters, if one can really call them that are vague cardboard sketches that only exist inside the narrator’s mind. There is nothing to suggest that they are or even could be real. Horrible characterization is one thing, being hopeless at research is another. The book doesn’t even get the facts right.
Check this: Somewhere the book implies that illegal Indian migrants in Uzbekistan were responsible for investigation in/by EU!
Uzbekistan isn’t a part of European Union. Neither would European Union bother about industries operating elsewhere nor does EU a common labour immigration policy! That's basic general knowledge if you expect yourself to use Uzbekistan in your fiction. Further point of interest that we all know here is Uzbekistan is one of the countries where emigration is more of the problem than immigration. It has not yet signed all the conventions of the UN charter on labour immigration . It was famously forced to ratify minimum age of labour last year or the year before. The point being no one gives a damn about labour or immigration in Uzbekistan. (Someone should send a card to the writer and the Penguin editing team)
Anyway, half way through, I can't think of single thing that is good in it. Clearly it’s been big mistake I picked it up. I’m embarrassed to have read it till wherever I did but I don’t see any other choice but to abort it. Sidin Vadukut joins the esteemed Shoba De as my abandoned authors.
Finally, I'm not aware how it's been received in India. I can’t believe one would find it funny by any measure. It’s not my book, I suppose it’s the sort of the book for someone down the street or even down the timezone, where people might want to read it and sit around talking how funny they had found it. I gave a single star as that's the least one could rate here.
Avoid.
To my shock I learnt that this is just the first segment; that, there is a trilogy planned. Someone should stop him.
February 24, 2010
This book’s popularity is spreading like fire. If you are even vaguely in touch with the world of books by Indian authors, there is no way you could have missed this book. The Dork, Sidin Vadukut’s debut novel, is about Robin ‘Einstien’ Varghese’s transition from a B-school graduate to an associate in a business consulting firm. Einstien is a typical naive-and-stupid guy who can be found in every batch of every single college that exists on this earth. He is the kind of guy who sports thick framed glasses, has oil dripping down his hair, has a stupid grin stuck on his face all the time – you know who I am talking about, right? This guy can be found in every movie ever made on college boys and girls. BTW, that description is entirely mine, Vadukut does not give us a glimpse of how Einstien looks like.
The book takes the form of journal entries by Einstien. He has a habit of writing down the activities of the day where he treats his Diary as a confidant. He pours his heart out, bears his soul and is totally honest with his Diary. Through his journal entries, we get a glimpse of how Einstien’s world is, through his eyes, of course. The book starts with the journal entry for the day when Einstien gets a job – Day Zero job, mind you. It then goes on to show how he manages to goof-up at every point in his life, how utterly unaware he is of the world around and how innocent and naive he is. We have some hilarious incidents which include alcohol, a huge plastic duck and some puking. Another such incident has Einstien trying to solve the storage space crisis to store one lakh ball bearings. There are some smart-ass characters who are Einstien’s bitter enemies and some who he sympathizes with because they are not as smart as he is. Bring in a love interest and we have all ingredients for an interesting dorm story.
I bought this book after I read about it on Jai Arjun’s blog. His thoughts on the book:
Shameless plug: we both enjoyed the book hugely. The trope of the unreliable narrator is something I usually associate with serious literary fiction, but Sidin pulls it off very convincingly in a fast-paced comic narrative. His protagonist Robin Verghese is magnificently clueless about what’s really happening around him.
I have always found his reviews very helpful. I read We need to talk about Kevin after I read his review and I am grateful to him for introducing me to this book. But, this book…. I don’t know what he is saying. Unreliable narrator? We see through Verghese the moment he opens his mouth, I mean his first journal entry. The reader knows that what Verghese thinks about himself is not necessarily true. Is that what he means by unreliable narrator?
I am confused about this book. If it is supposed to be hilarious, then it is not. I probably laughed just once while I read the entire book. Satire?I think not. Are we supposed to laugh at Robin Verghese? I don’t find him funny, but irritating. Are we supposed to sympathize with him? I can’t because he irritates me. A literary master-piece which is disguised as a light-weight book? If that is so, then I totally don’t get it. There are quite a few positive reviews, so it must be just me.
The book takes the form of journal entries by Einstien. He has a habit of writing down the activities of the day where he treats his Diary as a confidant. He pours his heart out, bears his soul and is totally honest with his Diary. Through his journal entries, we get a glimpse of how Einstien’s world is, through his eyes, of course. The book starts with the journal entry for the day when Einstien gets a job – Day Zero job, mind you. It then goes on to show how he manages to goof-up at every point in his life, how utterly unaware he is of the world around and how innocent and naive he is. We have some hilarious incidents which include alcohol, a huge plastic duck and some puking. Another such incident has Einstien trying to solve the storage space crisis to store one lakh ball bearings. There are some smart-ass characters who are Einstien’s bitter enemies and some who he sympathizes with because they are not as smart as he is. Bring in a love interest and we have all ingredients for an interesting dorm story.
I bought this book after I read about it on Jai Arjun’s blog. His thoughts on the book:
Shameless plug: we both enjoyed the book hugely. The trope of the unreliable narrator is something I usually associate with serious literary fiction, but Sidin pulls it off very convincingly in a fast-paced comic narrative. His protagonist Robin Verghese is magnificently clueless about what’s really happening around him.
I have always found his reviews very helpful. I read We need to talk about Kevin after I read his review and I am grateful to him for introducing me to this book. But, this book…. I don’t know what he is saying. Unreliable narrator? We see through Verghese the moment he opens his mouth, I mean his first journal entry. The reader knows that what Verghese thinks about himself is not necessarily true. Is that what he means by unreliable narrator?
I am confused about this book. If it is supposed to be hilarious, then it is not. I probably laughed just once while I read the entire book. Satire?I think not. Are we supposed to laugh at Robin Verghese? I don’t find him funny, but irritating. Are we supposed to sympathize with him? I can’t because he irritates me. A literary master-piece which is disguised as a light-weight book? If that is so, then I totally don’t get it. There are quite a few positive reviews, so it must be just me.
February 23, 2010
Well, writing a blog and writing a book is as different as speed dating and marriage. I liked Sidin's blog and hence ordered this book online, got it yesterday and read it in one sitting. Again the same theme so famous in this decade - IIMA graduate and his life , IIMA graduate author writes, IIMA graduate authors reflection and probably a peep into his own life... Common guys, now its becoming a cliche.
If u like masala movies, then u will like Dork. All those guys singing the 3 idiots anthem will love this book. BUt if u are one of those rare ones, who swear by pulp fiction, and saw sin city 3 times just to hear the dialogues, or are enchanted by one scene in Kill bill where Uma displays her HuttoriHanso,..u will find it ok.
When I love a book or an author, I read some sentences twice.. while I read Dork in a single sitting after skimmig through a lot of pages.. I guess RC training for IIM Entrances helps in reading fictions about IIMA grads. ;)
If u like masala movies, then u will like Dork. All those guys singing the 3 idiots anthem will love this book. BUt if u are one of those rare ones, who swear by pulp fiction, and saw sin city 3 times just to hear the dialogues, or are enchanted by one scene in Kill bill where Uma displays her HuttoriHanso,..u will find it ok.
When I love a book or an author, I read some sentences twice.. while I read Dork in a single sitting after skimmig through a lot of pages.. I guess RC training for IIM Entrances helps in reading fictions about IIMA grads. ;)
September 29, 2013
Mediocre story with a clichéd plot. The narrative is shockingly bad. The language used is least impressive. Overall I would rate this book 1 star out of 5
December 15, 2010
(1 point something out of 5)
An okay read to accompany your travel. This is the first of the trilogy on the adventures of a management graduate, who is stupid, irritating, somehow funny, obnoxious, but somehow makes a lot of things happen around him. The main character is very nicely developed but you don't quite connect with him, which I had expected before picking the book. However, considering the character's scale and nature, the story flow is mostly okay, barring few chapters where things proceed abruptly. I somehow think that it would have worked well if the author could talk a little more about other characters and the main character was a little bearable.
Overall, you can read the book if you want, it's a light read anyway. But it's fresh in comparison to dozens of books released in India every month by IIM and/or IIT alumnus about IIM and/or IIT. The diary style works well too.
Be forwarned, there's nothing hilarious or literary in the book. You would not connect with, agree with, or laugh at the characters, rather you will be irritated or disgusted, or at the most, you will sympathize. I won't go for the other two books of this trilogy. Sidin's tweets are better than the book, IMO! :)
An okay read to accompany your travel. This is the first of the trilogy on the adventures of a management graduate, who is stupid, irritating, somehow funny, obnoxious, but somehow makes a lot of things happen around him. The main character is very nicely developed but you don't quite connect with him, which I had expected before picking the book. However, considering the character's scale and nature, the story flow is mostly okay, barring few chapters where things proceed abruptly. I somehow think that it would have worked well if the author could talk a little more about other characters and the main character was a little bearable.
Overall, you can read the book if you want, it's a light read anyway. But it's fresh in comparison to dozens of books released in India every month by IIM and/or IIT alumnus about IIM and/or IIT. The diary style works well too.
Be forwarned, there's nothing hilarious or literary in the book. You would not connect with, agree with, or laugh at the characters, rather you will be irritated or disgusted, or at the most, you will sympathize. I won't go for the other two books of this trilogy. Sidin's tweets are better than the book, IMO! :)
April 27, 2014
To err is human. I erred BIG time when I bought this book. What should I write about this book...wait a minute...let me recall the story...the book is an absolute crap. I thought the book would be a fun read, but I was wrong, the book has nothing to offer for an average reader like me. The writing is awful and so is the character Robert 'Einstein' Varghese in the book, throughout my read I was just aimlessly cruising around the pages and finally manage to finish it. Too bad the site doesnot allow me to give half star. PUKE PUKE PUKE this is what I feel exactly after reading the book. :(
March 19, 2010
This one was a disappoint. Sidin's blogging prowess influenced my purchasing decision and I ended up fighting boredom to finish this book. The book is funny in pages, attempts a humorous narration of a grad school boy's experiences while he wades through his consulting job.
Reasons the book failed for me:
1. Attempt to hold the workplace & job as punching bag became a typecast
2. My brush with Chetan Bhagat's 2 States & 3 Idiots made this an overdose of the 'Post school experiences' stories
Reasons the book failed for me:
1. Attempt to hold the workplace & job as punching bag became a typecast
2. My brush with Chetan Bhagat's 2 States & 3 Idiots made this an overdose of the 'Post school experiences' stories
July 8, 2010
Sidin... Stick to the blog !
January 30, 2018
I have not read a lot of books narrated from a boy’s perspective. One reason could be that when the story is about a boy, bashing women becomes natural and almost unavoidable. Be it movies or books, when it is seen from a man’s point of view women are shown to be cranky, moody and unpredictable. I am not denying these point but as a woman, I don’t want it rubbed in my face as a point of humour. However, surprisingly that wasn’t entirely the case with Dork. Though the writer has shown the protagonist’s girlfriend to be a little unpredictable sometimes but other than that the lady was cool. So, I am glad that book does not indulge in too much of women bashing.
I bought Dork because it was a peek into an IIM’s life at a consultancy firm. With newspapers going gaga over the pay package of IIM’s I was a little curious to know what kind of a job do IIM’s actually do. Dork not only gave me a glimpse of an IIM’s work environment but also at how IIM’s must be thinking after graduating from highly esteemed universities.
Points I Liked About Dork
I tried. I tried my best to come up with at least one point that was good about the book but I couldn’t. It was a real struggle to finish this one. I am probably not the writer’s target audience. So, this book is not really for me. I finished it only because I paid for it.
Points I Did Not Like About Dork
Narration: Though Vadukut’s writing was much better than a lot of writers on the Indian turf, the narration of the story seemed abrupt and disjointed. I am not sure if this is how men write in their diaries. Vadukut gave a decent description of what transpired during the day for Robin but despite that, I felt that the ‘diary entry’ concept did not work well for this book. At least not for me. The book would have been much better had it been just a first-person narration instead of a diary entry.
Occasional Laughs: My brother read this book before me and highly recommended it saying that it was hilarious. As I started reading the book, I was waiting to laugh my guts out but sadly that didn’t happen. No doubt, Robin Varghese leads an interesting life and some of his encounters are funny but not rib-tickling amusing. It takes more than just drunken blunders to make me laugh.
Final View: The book is purely for management students who can relate to the writer’s experiences at a workplace. I could not relate to the writer and so I did not enjoy this book. Not my kinda book.
Originally posted on AlphaGirlReviews.com
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I bought Dork because it was a peek into an IIM’s life at a consultancy firm. With newspapers going gaga over the pay package of IIM’s I was a little curious to know what kind of a job do IIM’s actually do. Dork not only gave me a glimpse of an IIM’s work environment but also at how IIM’s must be thinking after graduating from highly esteemed universities.
Points I Liked About Dork
I tried. I tried my best to come up with at least one point that was good about the book but I couldn’t. It was a real struggle to finish this one. I am probably not the writer’s target audience. So, this book is not really for me. I finished it only because I paid for it.
Points I Did Not Like About Dork
Narration: Though Vadukut’s writing was much better than a lot of writers on the Indian turf, the narration of the story seemed abrupt and disjointed. I am not sure if this is how men write in their diaries. Vadukut gave a decent description of what transpired during the day for Robin but despite that, I felt that the ‘diary entry’ concept did not work well for this book. At least not for me. The book would have been much better had it been just a first-person narration instead of a diary entry.
Occasional Laughs: My brother read this book before me and highly recommended it saying that it was hilarious. As I started reading the book, I was waiting to laugh my guts out but sadly that didn’t happen. No doubt, Robin Varghese leads an interesting life and some of his encounters are funny but not rib-tickling amusing. It takes more than just drunken blunders to make me laugh.
Final View: The book is purely for management students who can relate to the writer’s experiences at a workplace. I could not relate to the writer and so I did not enjoy this book. Not my kinda book.
Originally posted on AlphaGirlReviews.com
Follow me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest
July 11, 2011
I liked reading some of Sidin's blog entries and JAM articles so i decided to pick up this book. But this book is a total let down - page after page of mindless, repetitive stuff with a tone that almost chokes you after some time.
Moreover, i remember reading an email fwd very similar to this story and the EOQ part where he orders some fractions of ball bearings just about proves it. I am not sure if Sidin himself is the author of that blog entry that eventually became a mail fwd.
There is no way you would want to pick up this book unless you are what the title of this book says - Dork!
Moreover, i remember reading an email fwd very similar to this story and the EOQ part where he orders some fractions of ball bearings just about proves it. I am not sure if Sidin himself is the author of that blog entry that eventually became a mail fwd.
There is no way you would want to pick up this book unless you are what the title of this book says - Dork!
July 17, 2015
I'm a bit of a book snob you could say, and read books written in English by Indian authors only if they're someone I know of, or if a friend recommends a book to me. This one was recommended to me by a friend, since I was looking for an easy read to keep up with my book challenge. So yes, it definitely is an easy read, but frankly, I was quite disappointed that we could have books like these published today! The language and the content both felt below mediocre and I finished the book feeling no wiser- in terms of learning something new, or being lost in the story or characters or emotions of the book. I really wish I won't have to read any more of such books again.
September 25, 2012
"I do not know why I took so long to read this book" - this was my first thought when I started reading this book. I have enjoyed Sidin's humor on his blog and on twitter and the book was up to a good start.
Not even 10 pages in, I was regretting my decision to pick up this book and my resolution to complete a book irrespective of if I liked it or not.
The book has some nice humor thrown in here and there and it was great. But overall the whole, MBA graduates and their jobs and their quest for love is really stale and boring.
Not even 10 pages in, I was regretting my decision to pick up this book and my resolution to complete a book irrespective of if I liked it or not.
The book has some nice humor thrown in here and there and it was great. But overall the whole, MBA graduates and their jobs and their quest for love is really stale and boring.
September 29, 2010
Initially funny, I kept giggling for sometime. But after a while the dorky treatment started grating on my nerves. I plodded on hoping that there would some deviation, some show of genius which I thought I could discern in the first few pages.
It was a HUGE disappointment, given all the reviews and feedback on the book.
It was a HUGE disappointment, given all the reviews and feedback on the book.
October 12, 2012
I like what Sidin Vadukut writes. He is India's one of the finest humorist but his office humor is only limited to a blog post after 500-700 words it becomes a drag. A lot of office and corporate life made this book dull, very dull.
March 18, 2012
Hackneyed plot,over-the top situations and absolutely no promised Lol moments :(
July 1, 2012
Really disappointed...
I like Sidin's blog and his columns for Mint, so I had always wanted to read the book.
But, this is not worth ones time...It is absolute crap.
I like Sidin's blog and his columns for Mint, so I had always wanted to read the book.
But, this is not worth ones time...It is absolute crap.
July 5, 2012
Didn't really enjoy it. The humour seemed old. It was more like a corporate version of 'five point someone'.
November 16, 2012
The author tried to be funny, but I didn't find so. The protagonist - not a believable character. One can't be that stupid.
November 28, 2012
Easy to rate. One of the worst books out there. Don't get the hype. Chetan Bhagat is about a 100x better.
September 29, 2013
Though it is a short read its fun while it lasts,tad too much Consultancy jargon.
June 7, 2013
Hrmmph!
July 13, 2013
Miserable because of the oversimplified characters. Over the top plot. Actually make that a forced plot. A wannabe coming-of-age story. Please avoid.
August 1, 2013
Sidin's twitter timeline and blog are far more humorous. The book on the other hand the less said the better.
September 3, 2014
I loved Sidin's blog and the sense of humor he has. But this book was a disappointment. I am still a fan of his writing, though.
April 15, 2015
horrible! not my cup of tea, for sure. couldn't cross the first 50 pages. not worth wasting time upon I'd say.
April 8, 2012
http://iandbooks.wordpress.com/
It is a perfect light reading book when you really do not wish to worry about literature or history. “Dork: The incredible adventures of Robin Einstein Varghese”, is a new age chick lit that leaves you laughing and wondering about consulting business as well. I should not be saying that Sidin Vadukut has followed the style of Chetan Bhagat but still there are many similarities in authors as well as writing.
This book is about a management graduate who gets into a job in consulting industry and his whole life seems to be a series of goof-ups. The preposterous way of him getting a job, the way he ends up in wrong situations at wrong time, the complete absurd-ness of doing consulting work but most of all his confidence in himself that never goes down. When you read about a character who is facing trouble all the time, you normally feel sympathetic towards him but in this case, the author has not left a single good thing about him. In fact, I felt bad when he actually tastes success through another series of goof-ups.
I am not sure whether I should call it my fortune or mis-fortune but I have not seen this aspect of the industry in my career. I was trying to find out something good about the industry in the whole book but it was satire all along. Some of the episodes in the book really stand out. The idea of using excess ball-bearings to create a memorial of a dead dog who died due to ball-bearing is absurd and really innovative. The interview of Einstein in the end is horrible and hence extremely funny.
I feel that there must be a lot of Robins out there. It will be fun to meet some of them sometime.
It is a perfect light reading book when you really do not wish to worry about literature or history. “Dork: The incredible adventures of Robin Einstein Varghese”, is a new age chick lit that leaves you laughing and wondering about consulting business as well. I should not be saying that Sidin Vadukut has followed the style of Chetan Bhagat but still there are many similarities in authors as well as writing.
This book is about a management graduate who gets into a job in consulting industry and his whole life seems to be a series of goof-ups. The preposterous way of him getting a job, the way he ends up in wrong situations at wrong time, the complete absurd-ness of doing consulting work but most of all his confidence in himself that never goes down. When you read about a character who is facing trouble all the time, you normally feel sympathetic towards him but in this case, the author has not left a single good thing about him. In fact, I felt bad when he actually tastes success through another series of goof-ups.
I am not sure whether I should call it my fortune or mis-fortune but I have not seen this aspect of the industry in my career. I was trying to find out something good about the industry in the whole book but it was satire all along. Some of the episodes in the book really stand out. The idea of using excess ball-bearings to create a memorial of a dead dog who died due to ball-bearing is absurd and really innovative. The interview of Einstein in the end is horrible and hence extremely funny.
I feel that there must be a lot of Robins out there. It will be fun to meet some of them sometime.
November 6, 2010
Sidin Vadukut is one of the few, intentionally funny writers in India, who manages to capture the subtle nuances of urban Indian humour delightfully well. Our regional prejudices, (CWG Tweet - Welcome Srilanka, am Malayalee and both of us don't like Tamils or from the book - Einstein's mom goes, 'we should have sent him to a South Indian institute where he wouldn't have been influenced by spoiled north Indians!), educated middle-class attitudes are nicely satirized in his columns and blogposts, while a lot of it is there in the book, I was disappointed by it. I enjoyed Einstein's inflated sense of self-importance, as even while having access to only his point of view, I could see what other's thought of him and laughed along with them, but only for a bit. After the first few chapters, despite Vadukut's flair for humour, the book fails to make you laugh. It is like this, when you meet a Dork for the first time, you laugh and snigger at him behind his back with your friends and colleagues, after a point, you get sick of this person and he begins to get to you.
October 30, 2014
Brilliant, funny, like a breath of fresh air!
The contemparory writing with a huge sense of humor plus relates the current economical situation.
Loved the book and will definitely recommend it
The contemparory writing with a huge sense of humor plus relates the current economical situation.
Loved the book and will definitely recommend it
January 25, 2025
Robin 'Einstein' Verghese is a part-time narcissist and full-time management consultant. This book is basically his diary entries that capture the dramatic twists and turns his life takes after he graduates from one of India's best B-Schools. The writer is unapologetic about Robin's self-indulgence and is humorously delightful about his insecurities. Robin is an annoying Indian man who is often sexist and mostly mediocre at his work. But the book keeps you hooked as there's always a sense of unpredictability around the corner with Robin. Especially when he gets drunk and also when his ego is wounded.
Pick this up for a light, entertaining read (I got done in less than 4 days).
Pick this up for a light, entertaining read (I got done in less than 4 days).
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