Book Review of 'My Stroke of Luck'

At first glance, the name of the book strikes a chord. If you have heard of Kirk Douglas, you would recall the name instantly. Else, 'My Stroke of Luck ~ Alphabet to Author' would be just another book.

I have never been a fan of books that talk about pain, sorrows, and trauma. This book by Vijay Santhanam, at first, sounded like one. At some level it is. But, there is also this element of courage, which makes the reader sit up and empathize with Vijay. The book is strewn with anecdotes from Vijay's life. Delving into personal details is not something I am too comfortable with. But in Vijay's book, I could see that the details were necessary to build context.

 
For a less practiced reader, the book may not be unputdownable. You may have to take breaks. I read the book within a few hours. I had several reasons. I wanted to know what Vijay did and how we went about doing it. Vijay warns the reader that he is not attempting to write a medical journal on strokes, but somewhere when you have gone through so much trauma, your personal experiences and the solutions that you have found tend to sound like medico-babble.  

A condition such as a stroke leaves an indelible mark on the psyche of the person undergoing it. It takes tremendous effort and courage for people to face such adversity and emerge stronger. At the age of 41, when most people would be checking out the next ladder of their professional lives, Vijay had to go back to learning the alphabet. There are very few people who can actually take such adversity as a challenge and turn it around. Each page in the book takes the reader through Vijay's waking moments when he fought frustration to convey a simple 'No' or something similar. Family plays a very important role in such situations. I wonder if Vijay did not have a supportive wife or a solid friend circle (instance, when he got Sachin's message through a friend), would his recovery been as smooth? Above all this, the core point is the will of the person to come out of any situation.

While picking up the book, I wondered what a tough task it was to even comprehend writing a book when the author could not manage to understand simple words! It is surely a commendable effort and this book must be used to inspire people who waste their lives in non-meaningful pursuits.

Often, adversity and such extreme physical conditions bring out the best in people. For example, Stephen Hawking, a brilliant physicist, was diagnosed with motor neuron disease at 21. The doctors gave him 2 years to live. At 71, he is a force to reckon with. Such is the power of inspiration.  Typos notwithstanding, the story of Vijay makes you cringe and take a resolution to take care of your health, heed all warning signs, and most importantly, learn to live in the moment. Though there were portions that were unnerving, the story went ahead smoothly. At one point, I was left wondering if Kainaz was a non-Indian...

A teeny weeny detail that put me off was the author's attempt to sell his other books! Well, some whiz would consider it a brilliant move, but I found it kind of smooth. I would want to take the effort to go and look up the author's other books and not expect the author to thrust them on my face while am reading one story.
'My Stroke of Luck~Alphabet to Author' by Vijay is a nice to read book. I rate it 2.5/5.

Here are some details:

Title: My Stroke of Luck
Soft Cover
Author: Vijay Santhanam
MRP: Rs 299 (Rs 224 on flipkart)
No of Pages: 234
Publisher: Hay House
Genre: Medical/Inspirational

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