Home » Books » Book Review : Chetan Bhagat’s The Three Mistakes of My Life

Book Review : Chetan Bhagat’s The Three Mistakes of My Life

3Mistakes

The hype around Chetan Bagat’s new book ‘The 3 Mistakes of My Life’ is understandable. His previous works, Five Point Something and One Night @ The Call Center are runaway hits. They still dominate book store top ten lists in fiction across the country. 

 

And indeed they are well-written, simple and interesting stories with the right message to appeal to today’s youth. Five Point Something inspired other campus stories including Above Average, Watch Out We Are MBA, Anything For You Madam etc. So it is natural to have huge expectations from ‘The 3 Mistakes of My Life’. And that was the only mistake of all Chetan Bhagat Fans. Like mutual fund disclaimers this is true – past performance is not an indicator of future returns. 

 

I finished ‘The 3 Mistakes of My Life’ in 3 hours. The first thought after reading it was that the author seemed confused. I was at a loss to what the author wanted to convey. The book is full of stereotypes and not in the same league as the first two books. The book is about 3 friends and is set in Ahmedabad with a detour to Australia. It has popular themes like friendship, love, cricket, religion and business to make it a masala book. But it is not different nor presents any new perspective. Even if you do not read this book, you are not at a loss. 

 

The 3 Mistakes of My Life just seemed to be a good marketing title. All the three are not mistakes in true sense. Of the three, two do not seem to error in judgement – but everyone needs to make those errors to grow up. And one mistake is repeated again and again, which does not make it a mistake but a habit. 

 

The book grabs the life and colors of Amdavadi life in a very beautiful manner. The book will be popular in Ahmedabad as people can relate to it better and already Chetan Bhagat, Sudha Murthy are very popular in Ahmedabad. Also Big Bazaar’s Depot and other books stores are heavily promoting the book which has an attractive price tag of Rs 95. 

 

The 3 Mistakes of My Life is readymade for Bollywood. Already, Chetan’s other books are in different stages of production in Bollywood and this is next in line. 

 

Overall, the book is not extraordinary. However, Chetan Bhagat has made his place in Indian publishing history. And even great masters sometimes fail to live upto their usual high standards. It happens. Anyway, we are with you Chetan!

 

Further Reading:

 

Rashmi Bansal’s Review on Youth Curry 

 

LiveMint.Com Review

 

 

16 Responses

  1. Kapil
    |

    The character “Govind” reminded me of Nirav. for some strange reason I could see a connection between the two characters.

    overall the book didn’t excite me enough as Five Point Someone. and yes, I agree I didn’t know what he was trying to get at by the end.

  2. Swami
    |

    That’s the mistake you are committing. You read this book with a preoccupied mind that compared the previous work of author with the latest one.
    I got a clear message from this one though I understood it already. The message is

    1. One should not keep a stiff mindset about people. Govind considered Omi & Ish mindless before they became partners. But both of them contributed in one or other way in business.
    2. One should not consider human beings to be a tool to get something. The choice of including Omi in business was to get his shop inside temple. Govind cursed Omi in narration at one point or other, whenever he got a chance. For him, Omi was just a mean to do some work. He needed people not friends in the business. Given a choice, he would have taken some intelligent stranger in business rather than Omi and Ish. Later they became the integral part of venture.
    People, either as partners or employees, should be trusted first. Businessmen with ‘USE & THROW” mindset can not be successful. This comes into their personal life, also, very easily.
    Thanks

  3. lavin
    |

    Confused is the one word review for the book.
    Absolutely agree on that with you.

    Bhagat has tried to squeeze in a lot of morals for the reader. I guess he was confused whether or not to touch deep politics, and so was seen publicizing his book on the entrepreneurial front.
    After finishing the book most people realise the 4th mistake.

  4. P.Y.MURALEEDHARAN
    |

    PYM says,
    WOrth to read,take you to the
    hurdels of life,
    message-may be true or not,
    However the is will deliver good experiences to the new business partners,

  5. anurag
    |

    The book s really good,its no use comparin it wid the others,all 3 are intriguing and mind-dazzling in their own way,wat i really learnt from this book is that der is a lot of hype that exists in today ‘s community reagardin de ‘caste-wars’,mr bhagath has given us a beautiful insight into dis from another perspective,we should appreciate his boldness for that,apart from that the character govind’s mistakes are quite relatable to today’s youth,overall de book was worth readin 3 cheers to u mr bhagath

  6. abhishree
    |

    this book is great . i have not finished the whole but till where i read the story is going perfect i want to mee the athor of such a fabulous book can i get your e mail

  7. Shashi
    |

    Yet to start . First book ‘ Five Point Someone ‘ is simply FANTASTIC.

  8. no matter wat one says,the adjective “confused” needs necessarily to be attributed,once one finishes off the entire reading,and i think in this context the majority of the people who have read would far outdo the minority,and lastly,one really can’t turn a blind eye to his faults,no matter how big a fan you may be.Even,i believe all those who have blogged here are somewhere great fans of him,myself being one.But,he could have delivered much more for sure,anyways u like it or not,u always have to go through the works of great people,this being no exception!

  9. SHIBANI
    |

    Hiiiiiii!!!!!!
    Ur buk was realy awsome chetan. I finished it in a day. Gr8 work. hope u bring such more stories for us. bst wishz olways der wid u. OL THE BEST.

  10. Amit Singh
    |

    I have gone through the book and I find it really very interesting.

  11. Chirag
    |

    According to me, those of you not liking 3 mistakes are world’s best readers….
    Don’t read CB if you don’t like, you best readers…. CB rocks…