Book Review: Diary of a Wimpy Kid - A comic genius!

After reading some serious books like “Book of Life”, “The Selfish Gene”, “Monk who sold his Ferrari”, etc., I was on the lookout for a light and funny book, a book that makes me laugh and lifts my spirit. I saw the Wimpy Kid book on display at a local bookstore – the frontispiece looked quite promising, so I picked up the book to read. I am not an impulsive person, not by a long shot, but this was one impulsive decision that paid off handsomely!

This book, called a “novel in cartoons” is simply a journal of a fictional middle school kid named Greg Heffley. In his journal, Greg describes his exploits with some funny illustrations. The author, Jeff Kinney, started off this series as a comic strip on a website - in the form of individual journal entries. After the initial success, he took the individual entries and put them together in the book format. There are four books in this series, and I have listed them below, in descending order of my rating:

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw
Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules

The Wimpy Kid books are one of the funniest books I’ve read in recent times. The books are mainly targeted for kids and teenagers, so they are very simple and easy to read. One of those books where you don’t have to think, but just read and laugh out loud! Another thing to note in this book is Greg Heffley’s character. If you read between the lines, you will notice that Greg always maintains a positive outlook towards life. Any time something doesn’t work out, which will be the case mostly, he will not be disappointed or discouraged. He just says “too bad” and moves on. He does not feel jealous or hateful or anything of the sort. Too bad he is just a cartoon character – only if we humans could emulate him!

If you have a comic bent of mind, this book is a must-read. This simple “novel in cartoons” will have you rolling on the floor laughing! You may also learn a lesson –a lesson probably more powerful than the ones mentioned in “Monk who sold his Ferrari”!