Book Review: ‘The Asocial Networking’ by Dhiraj Kumar
by Shibesh Mehrotra on Jun 5, 2012 • 6:55 PM 1 CommentLanguage: English
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9789381115879
Pages: 320
Price: 195.0
So what do you hate something deeply? It might be an idea, a person, the government or even the aliens who tried to abduct you in your sleep. Do you ignore that inner voice or do you fuel the fire? Dhiraj Kumar chose the latter and decided to write a book to address his feelings about social networking (although it’s mostly Facebook, from beginning to end, with Twitter and LinkedIn sprinkled in at random intervals for good measure). But don’t get me wrong, it’s not all that bad.
The book is a collection of articles exploring the various ways in which we interact with the social network. There is no doubt about the fact that he captures all of those with aplomb. It would be very hard to not find an article with which you can’t relate to. On the other hand, the intrinsically sarcastic tone of each article makes it a pain when you are read at a stretch. Three articles down, you would start showing signs of turning into a reader who is very aptly described in the disclaimer of the book, i.e., “…bear with me on this perhaps-nauseating and perhaps-sensory read.”
Throughout the book, Dhiraj has managed to address a number of situations, which every other FB addict faces on a daily basis. The only problem here is, these articles would have had greater impact if they had been on another medium. What he tries to do is compress it into a book. Personally, I would have been more interested if they had been in a column or a blog on a weekly basis. This would give me time to understand his feelings, interpret the message and wait eagerly for his next piece. Here, when you’re reading them in continuation, the novelty drains out and all you’re left with is a bad aftertaste for what could have been very useful ideas.
Still, considering the fact that it is his first attempt, he does moderately well in saying what he probably waited a long time to say. Pick it up if you have the time and patience to sift through the sand. Who knows, you might find a diamond.
Rating: 4.5/10
More Details:
The book on Facebook: ‘The Asocial Networking’
The author on Facebook: Dhiraj Kumar
If you find the book interesting, buy from Amazon or Flipkart here:
1 comment
Harsh Joshi says:
Jun 16, 2012
My take on ‘The Asocial Networking’
http://www.ltgtr.in/2012/06/asocial-networking-book-review.html