LAST MAN IN TOWER

So...i have been reading.I just don't make the time to post reviews.That's going to change very soon.Its funny how every book I pick up has a small story attached with it.Its funny how every book i am hesitant to pick up at first ends up being the one I like the most.The same happened with Last Man in Tower.I had delayed picking up the book.Having read Adiga's 'The white Tiger' and his second book 'Between the assassinations'.....I wasn't too keen in reading this one.Not that I don't like his work.In fact The white tiger was an enjoyable read.However ' Between the assassinations' did not quite live up to my expectations.Also I had begun predicting his style of story telling.So when the book was first released I totally ignored it.Then there were reviews in newspapers which caught my attention.On my next visit to the bookstore I picked up the book and carefully scanned it,but put it back promptly as I had decided to not buy it.Then a few months passed and I was looking for something good to read on one of my trips out of town.Walking the streets in another city,I came across these street book hawkers and each one of them was waving Adiga's 'Last Man in tower' in my face.Now I dont believe in signs and all that stuff,so I walked past them too.The same day I stopped for lunch in a small cafe with a bookstore by the side and there at the entrance was the same book staring at me .I could not ignore it anymore and so picked it up and having nothing better to do in a different city I promptly began reading it.To my surprise I stopped only after finishing the book in two days.I loved it and that prompted me to write this small review.

Those of you who have read Adiga before would know that he never paints a rosy picture and prefers to tell the story as it is in all its gory details,he tells us about the India he observes.Last man in tower is about a housing co-operative in Mumbai called Vishram and its residents.Dharmen Shah, the property developer wants to redevelop it into a stack of luxury apartments.H0wever there is a group of residents in the building who look beyond Shahs lucrative offer and vehemently oppose the redevelopment plan.Shah is not a man to give up easily and tries every trick in his book to lure these people till each one of them slowly gives in.But one man remains unconvinced and holds on to his memories in the building and refuses to place a price on them and he is the retired teacher Yogesh Murthy and so he is the Last Man in tower.This story becomes a little darker towards the end . Adiga speaks about how money changes all equations.How all relationships,friendships crumble .How each resident has a story and a past which is a major factor in influencing their decisions.There are so many beautifully etched characters besides the residents of the building and as you read the book you become a part of their lives,standing by,watching the story unfold.

When I put down the book,I was left with mixed feelings but most of all it left me with a lingering feeling of reading a good story after a long time.