There are certain books which ages well. Those books are classified as “Classics” at least I define it this way. Again, terming a book as a classic and not is completely subjective. I consider “Ponniyin Selvan” as a Classic but I also consider that to be one of the most overrated books. Just because I consider it overrated doesn’t mean I don’t like the book. I do like it and I am planning to reread it, but people out of Nostalgia overrate certain books out of proportion and Ponniyin Selvan is one such book. This book is also considered to be one of the Classics and also considered to be the best by Late Author Devan. Did this book really meet the expectation? Do I consider this book a Classic? Is this book overrated? Let’s see, please read ahead.

Title: Thuppariyum Saambu (Detective Saambu)
Author: Devan
Language: Tamil
No. of Pages: 336
Format: Paperback
Genre: Fiction-Humor.

I randomly spotted this book in a Book fair two years ago. I was aware of only this book by the Author. I have heard people praising this book and for the humorous content this book offers. After 2 years, I randomly picked this book, since I was in a “Reader’s block” I wanted to start with something light.

The book is about “Saambu” who looks like a dim-witted fellow and works in the bank for 2 decades. Saambu, thinks that he can be a good detective due to his detecting powers. He accidentally lands up in detecting a small case from his office. From, then on how he manages to be the best detective in the town forms the crux of this whole book. Each chapter in this book is an adventure of “Saambu” and how he manages to catch the criminals.

Frankly, the book was interesting for the first couple of chapters but as the chapters passed the adventures became monotonous and predictable. I assume it must have published in any of the Tamil weekly’s back then, thus the various adventures. Instead of making Saambu the same dim-witted fellow from the start to end, they could could have made some character development and still maintained the humor in it. I was fairly underwhelmed by this book.

I have purchased Part-2 of this book and I’m unsure if I will read this book in the near future. I wouldn’t recommend this book, but if you are looking for a light-hearted, no-brainer humor, you can read this book. Again, this is my opinion and if you feel different please do share your thoughts in the comment section. Let’s have some meaningful discussion. 🙂

Happy Reading 🙂

I am taking my blog to the next level with Blogchatter’s #MyFriendAlexa.