In a Nutshell: A short story collection about “ordinary people confronting extraordinary circumstances.” Literary in feel. Diverse in content. But somIn a Nutshell: A short story collection about “ordinary people confronting extraordinary circumstances.” Literary in feel. Diverse in content. But some stories didn’t suit my reading preference, and the slice-of-life writing style isn’t a favourite of mine.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This collection has fifteen short stories across 300 pages. While there is no author’s note introducing his intent or the theme, the blurb states that these stories involve “ordinary people confronting extraordinary circumstances”, where the characters lead us to wonder if we shape the future, or is it the other way around. This theme is adhered to diligently in the stories, though it isn’t always done justice to.
The title comes from the epic quote by Heraclitus (also mentioned at the start of the book): “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.” It’s a great way of representing the situations in the stories, where a character might face a similar quandary for the second time in their life, but their reaction differs, and changes the course of their trajectory. (The above quote reminded me of a favourite quote by Canadian poet John Barton: “You can never step into the same book twice, because you are different each time you read it.” How true is that!)
Most stories are from the male perspective, which is common for a book by a male author. (just as most women authors tend to have female protagonists.) But to my surprise, a couple of the stories do come from women characters’ points of view, and even handled well. The timeline, plot, and setting varies across the stories, and the descriptions are always vivid.
The writing approach is a combination of literary and slice-of-life. As such, the plot progression isn’t in the typical start-middle-end style, but somewhat random. Though each story has a clear focus, the tales often go meandering through various topics and backstories on their way ahead. A common plot structure for many stories is that it begins in the contemporary timeline when the main character is older and facing a conundrum, then the character goes reminiscing into past memories of a similar conundrum or a related person, and at random, resurfaces in the current timeline, and ambles and rambles a little more before the story reaches the end. So the timeline is, at times, tough to keep track of.
Some of the tales weren't really my kind of stories, being too “macho male” in approach, or having certain triggering content related to animals. The endings were also a mixed bag to me. Though they never felt abrupt, they also didn’t offer satisfaction or closure in many of the cases.
As always, I rated the stories individually. Most of the stories ended up around the 3-star mark, meaning I liked them but they didn’t blow me away. These were the few that touched or crossed four stars: ...more
In a Nutshell: A literary fiction novel about a woman who finally learns how to deal with her unresolved grief. Slow and poignant but also rambling (iIn a Nutshell: A literary fiction novel about a woman who finally learns how to deal with her unresolved grief. Slow and poignant but also rambling (in both its meanings.) Might be a good read for the right reader, but not my cup of tea. (Should have known better, considering it is a Booker-longlisted work.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Plot Preview:
When Marianne was eight, her mom went missing, leaving behind a distraught husband, a forlorn daughter, and a newborn son. As the years go by, Marianne struggles to make sense of her grief, and tries to understand what might have gone through her mother’s mind in her final moments. When she discovers a medieval poem named ‘Pearl’ and sees its theme being similar to that of her life, she tries to see her life and her pain through the poem’s lens of loss and healing. The story comes to us in Marianne’s first-person perspective.
I have a fondness for Irish writers. I have a dislike for Booker books (whether winner or longlisted.) I have a soft spot for literary fiction. I shun books that wallow in misery. I love character-oriented books. I avoid novels that are heavily prose-dominated. So this novel could have gone either way. Unfortunately for me (and the book), it went the way it shouldn’t have.
The plot begins with Marianne’s visit to her village for ‘The Wakes’, an annual trip she makes in the hope of seeing her mother again. She then starts reminiscing about her past, going back thirty years to when her mother disappeared and leading us through the interim period: her childhood hurt, her teen struggles, her adult uncertainty.
The book starts off strongly, with a poignant depiction of Marianne’s grief, her confusion about what might have happened, and her struggle to let go of the trauma and to live in the present. Until the narrative was focussed on Marianne’s childhood, I was invested in the story. But once the teen years start, the plot goes the typical way, trudging down the standard pitstops of teen rebellion such as drugs and alcohol and self-harm. I hoped for Marianne to come to her senses soon, but her adulthood seemed to be a series of one bad decision after another. Basically, it was like telling us that once you have trauma in your childhood, there’s no way of living a normal life personally or professionally.
The book depicts 1970s England and its atmosphere in a true-to-life manner. There are some interesting quotes at the start of every chapter, each taken from an Irish fictional work or folklore. The themes of grief and coming-of-age are seen throughout the book. But these come to us in an endlessly rambling manner. It was like listening to one long self-pitying story. I hoped that the ending would make things better, and it did, to a great extent. The parting chapter was beautiful and bittersweet, with some thought-provoking poetic lines.
Because of the first-person narration, we don’t get to know the other characters as intimately as we know Marianne. I’d especially have loved to know more about her father Edward and her daughter Susanna. It was interesting to see how Marianne always referred to her father as “Edward” but her mom was “my mother.”
The titular ‘Pearl’ has a strong presence through the book. ‘Pearl’, poet unknown, is a 14th-century poem that is considered one of the most important surviving Middle English works and has elements of allegory and dreams. It is present only in a single manuscript at the British Library in London. I read up a summary of the poem in order to better understand its role in this book, and this prep helped somewhat.
I found it interesting to learn that this novel has been forty years in the making. The author used to cycle past a broken-down house in the same village as ‘Pearl’ is set. She then invented characters for the house and began working on this novel. But perhaps the extended writing period created this meandering prose with minimal plot. (Then again, this was longlisted for the Booker, so whom am I kidding! It must hold at least some literary merit for prose lovers!)
I completed this debut work only because I had to complete it. This wasn’t written for us plot-aficionados. The introspective parts where Marianne wonders about the what-ifs and what-might-have-beens are the best. The parts about teen rebellion and going off track in adulthood are boring.
Basically, this is for those lit fic lovers who rejoice in Booker-type books, who value prose over plot, who believe that merit-worthy stories are necessarily dark and gritty stories that delve into human misery. The whole book is essentially segments of musings and introspection, so make sure you are in the right (prose-loving) mood if you intend to pick this up.
2 stars.
My thanks to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for providing the DRC of “Pearl” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book. Sorry this didn’t work out better.
In a Nutshell: A collection of literary flash fiction focussed on women’s experiences in this male-dominated world. Lyrical writing, poignant situatioIn a Nutshell: A collection of literary flash fiction focussed on women’s experiences in this male-dominated world. Lyrical writing, poignant situations, a bit too slice-of-life for my liking. The endings were somewhat hit-or-miss for me, but there’s no denying the impactful themes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hollay Ghadery is an Iranian-Canadian poet-author writing in multiple genres. She has earlier penned a memoir and a poetry collection. This is her debut short story collection, with the tales being of flash fiction length.
This collection contains thirty-three stories, most featuring women in the lead. There’s no author’s note to introduce us to the theme of the collection but the blurb offers a good clue. The key word is ‘fantasies.’ This makes the theme sound light-hearted, but the stories are full of varying emotions, and often more moving than entertaining. The collection is highly literary in essence, keeping the narrative focussed on the character and their ruminations.
We often escape in fantasies when reality becomes too much to handle. The main characters in these stories follow the same habit, escaping into the realm of perceptions and assumptions and what-ifs while dealing with something unpalatable in their reality. This means that the structure of the stories is quite fluid, where a character’s contemplations diffuse across the imagination and the actual within a matter of moments. The fantasies often delve into an introspection of the past, so they go meandering across various timepoints as the character mulls over the present situation. Basically, if you need a traditional story-telling format, you won’t necessarily find that here.
Though a short book at just 92 pages, the proceedings aren’t quick. Each story creates a thought-provoking experience that cannot be zoomed through, though most of the tales are between 1-3 pages long. Often, the author confidently reveals only minimal details and leaves us to figure out the rest by ourselves. Sometimes, it's just one sentence near the end that changes your interpretation of the entire story. So it’s certainly not a book you can read at surface level.
Most of the stories depict girls and women in varying situations, facing a struggle the best way they can. This struggle could be something trivial or life-changing. I liked the concept of having women-centric stories, even when a woman wasn’t necessarily the central protagonist.
The author is a poet, so it is not surprising to see vivid and lyrical writing. The descriptions are such that even in such brief tales, it is easy to picture the scene. A few of the stories make use of her Iranian heritage as well – I liked these better as the cultural struggles felt more relatable.
Not all is hunky-dory, though. A few stories had too many characters at the start, which, considering the extremely short length of the stories, made them difficult to process. By the time I figured out who was who, the story was almost over. Some of the stories were too abstract for me, as they pushed the ‘slice of life’ approach to a whole new level. (I often struggle with this style, so this might be more of a ME problem.) The endings in many stories were a little abrupt for my liking. Slice-of-life always feels like a tiny episodic glimpse into someone’s life, but in such sudden cut-offs, it feels like the power supply got disconnected before we reached the end of an episode. Lastly, some of the stories had content that was not to my reading taste, though the stories themselves weren’t bad.
As always, I rated the stories individually. A majority of the stories fell within the 3-3.5 stars range, which means I liked them but they didn’t blow me away (often due to their endings.) These were my top favourites: ...more
In a Nutshell: A collection of graphic short stories that focusses on the overlap between the observable and the occult. This was too metaphysical andIn a Nutshell: A collection of graphic short stories that focusses on the overlap between the observable and the occult. This was too metaphysical and experimental for my liking, so take this review with a pinch of salt.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This graphic novel was originally published in Spanish in 2019. This English translation by Andrea Rosenberg is due to be released in September 2024.
The book contains twelve stories that, though not interlinked, have some bearing on each other while still staying independent in their own content. There is no overarching plot, but there certainly is a common theme: self-discovery. The stories focus on the sense of feeling lost, of being summoned by the unknown, of discovering one’s identity under a mask. There is a recurring motif of a character feeling that someone is watching them when they are asleep. While experiencing this sensation, they try to figure out who/what is calling to them, why they can’t make sense of their immediate reality, and who they truly are at their core.
Each of the above aspects reveals how abstract this collection is, and unfortunately for me and my practical Capricorn head, I don’t do abstract. Even when stories go into the surreal, I prefer seeing some sense in the nonsense, which rarely happens here. There is very little dialogue across the stories, so when some characters across multiple stories resemble each other, it is tough to figure out if they are the same person or if the resemblance is yet another random mystery of the universe.
The world in which the stories are based is strangely oxymoronic, feeling primitive yet futuristic. The belief system seems primeval while the lifestyle seems to belong ahead in time. The set comes a full circle when the last story ends at the same place as the first begins. But don’t imagine a circular path because of this coincidence. It is more akin to a random scribble that crosses over an earlier line than the completion of a narrative loop.
This line from the novel best represents what I felt while reading it: “Something's trying to communicate with me but I can't understand the language.” Well, I understood the written language, but I didn’t get what the book was trying to communicate. As there are twelve stories across 150 pages, each tale gets hardly a few pages to create an impression. The only story that I liked was of the widow who feels comforted by a strange presence in her house. I found this the only subplot with a proper flow, even when it didn’t offer closure at the end. The rest go so meta that it feels like having a weird fever dream. (or maybe, multiple little fever dreams.)
The illustrations do save the book to some extent. The art style is different in each story. The colour palette shuffles between B&W, monochrome green, and earth-toned. The sketches match the mood of the story. If the book was intended to serve as a showcase of the author’s artistic talent and range, it functions quite well.
Basically, I didn't understand the point of the whole thing. It might work for someone who is more in touch with the higher consciousness, but I am of a more earthly bent of mind, and hence this book went above my head.
My daughter read this along with me. Unlike me, she IS of a philosophical disposition (she certainly doesn’t get it from me!), and enjoys reading books that delve into the subconscious and the metaphysical. She liked this book better than I did and found it thought-provoking, but what she enjoyed the most were the illustrations as the graphics emphasised the surrealness of the content.
In short, this book might work for the right reader, one who would enjoy an exploration into unknown realms of the mind and the occult. I wasn’t the right reader.
2 stars.
My thanks to Fantagraphics for providing the DRC of “Ocultos” via Edelweiss+. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book. Sorry this didn’t work out better.
In a Nutshell: A soothing read about a woman’s journey towards healing. Romance present but not as the prime focus of the story for most of the way. AIn a Nutshell: A soothing read about a woman’s journey towards healing. Romance present but not as the prime focus of the story for most of the way. A nice option for those who enjoy feel-good women’s fiction.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Plot Preview:
Holly has not been resumed her job since a brutal attack some months ago left her with PTSD. The travel company she works for can’t wait anymore and fires her, but not without forcing her to take a mandatory “gardening leave” by utilising their free-annual-holiday-for-employees option. Holly chooses to go to a new retreat not so far from her place, so that she can rush home immediately in case things don’t work out. But at Pinewoods Retreat, she discovers that she isn’t the only one who needs healing, that it is better to resolve past trauma with the support of others, and that “gardening leave” can sometimes turn into literal gardening. The story comes to us in Holly’s third person perspective.
In a Nutshell: A contemporary fantasy featuring a ghost in the afterlife. Unusual plot, interesting characters, powerful themes. Unfortunately, the wrIn a Nutshell: A contemporary fantasy featuring a ghost in the afterlife. Unusual plot, interesting characters, powerful themes. Unfortunately, the writing style didn’t work that much for me. But to the right reader, this should offer much to ponder upon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Plot Preview:
Mal Caldera. Twenty-seven. Half-Spanish. Ex-rockstar and rebel. Estranged daughter of her Catholic family. Selfish. Newly dead. Does Mal regret being dead? Not really. Her only concern is that her younger sister Cris, who is now alone with their overly religious mother, should know that Mal didn’t kill herself. As the other ghosts are busy enjoying the afterlife, Mal finds a reclusive medium named Ren and attempts to convince him to get in touch with Cris. But as Ren and Mal come close to each other, Mal realises that her life had offered her some options that she no longer has. The story comes to us in Mal’s first person perspective.
In a Nutshell: A contemporary coming-of-age novel, though the main characters are middle-aged. A good debut work, but somewhat uneven in execution. ThIn a Nutshell: A contemporary coming-of-age novel, though the main characters are middle-aged. A good debut work, but somewhat uneven in execution. This book didn’t gel with me for various reasons, but it does have its merits and ought to work better for the right reader, preferably a Jewish one.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Plot Preview:
Twins David and Marty were pretty close in childhood, but have been estranged since many years. They live almost contrasting lives. Marty, who now goes by Mayer, is a Talmud scholar married into a rich rabbinic family from Brooklyn. David lives a hedonistic life, focussed more on material enhancement than on spiritual development. When their mother dies and the brothers come together to plan a funeral, they are totally unprepared for the shell-shocking revelation in her final missive: she was not Jewish. And as per Jewish law, if your mother isn’t Jewish, neither are you. This obviously impacts Mayer much more than David. Mayer’s only solution is to convert to Judaism before his wife finds out, and hopefully convince her to marry him again as their marriage is no longer valid. With the earliest date he can get for the conversion being a week away, David suggests a road trip n the interim, with their mom’s ashes in tow. The story comes to us in the limited third person perspective of the twins.
When I read the blurb of this book, I was quite intrigued by the concept of a faith crisis. Who are we after we are stripped of the religious identity given to us in childhood? Food for introspection! But somehow, the execution of the plot and the character development didn’t click well for me. I have read a few Jewish fiction books, and enjoyed them all. This one is going to be the first exception, to my utter regret.
In a Nutshell: There are some beautiful moments herein, but on the whole, it was a mixed read for me. If you are prepared for a whole load of suspensiIn a Nutshell: There are some beautiful moments herein, but on the whole, it was a mixed read for me. If you are prepared for a whole load of suspension of disbelief, this will work better for you. And if you enjoy cutesy + emotional books, this might even be a winner.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Plot Preview:
Somerset. When Amelia is found unconscious with no discernible pulse on the mudflats outside her home, it is almost a miracle that she survives. When her younger sister Lexi rushes over from New York, she finds Amelia in the hospital but with false memories of being happily married to someone named Sam. Neither Lexi nor their mother have any knowledge of a ‘Sam’ in Amelia’s life. Determined to help her sister, Lexi ropes in a local vet named Nick, who bears a striking resemblance to the non-existent Sam and gets him to recreate some of Amelia’s dream dates with Sam, in a bid to help her “remember”. But (as you might have rightly guessed), Lexi soon finds herself falling for Nick. Can they have a future together when Amelia thinks she is married to him? The story comes to us in Lexi’s first person perspective.
In a Nutshell: An anthology of lesbian romances set around Christmas. A good collection for the right reader. Unfortunately, many of these weren’t my In a Nutshell: An anthology of lesbian romances set around Christmas. A good collection for the right reader. Unfortunately, many of these weren’t my kind of romance stories, so please take this review with a pinch of salt.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This anthology has eleven stories of Sapphic love connections written by lesbian fiction writers. I never pick up a romance anthology because the genre is a mixed bag for me. What made me opt for this book was one magic phrase in the blurb: “Curries in India.” A lesbian love story set during an Indian Christmas? The curiosity of this Indian Christian was immediately piqued!
What worked for me is the intent and the approach of the collection. The collection is diverse in terms of inclusivity as well as cultural setting, with the stories being set in Australia, England, India, Jamaica, South Africa and Germany amid other locations. Most of the stories, except one (which is about Chanukkah), are set around Christmas time. The themes are also varied, with some stories being lighthearted and other being more sombre. Authenticity of voice is not an issue at all, thanks to the background of the authors. The beautiful cover is the perfect representation of the heterogeneity of the tales.
Where the collection didn’t suit my reading palate is in the writing style and romantic content of a few of the tales. The tagline promises a ‘flirty’ anthology, so I knew there would be oodles of romance herein. But many of the tales had almost insta romances, and one even went too steamy – both of which aren’t what I enjoy reading. Moreover, there is a distinct YA flavour to quite a few tales, again something that isn’t my cup of tea. Because of the YA and insta love factor, the emotions felt somewhat superficial and light-hearted, even when the plot itself was emotionally charged.
As always, I rated the stories individually, but most of the tales ended up on the mid-range of the scale, not because the tales were bad, but because they didn’t suit my reading preferences. My favourite story was Sheryn Munir’s ‘Mask’, which not only was a touching story of closeted lesbian feelings but also had a beautifully representation of an Indian Christmas celebration. I relished the experience of seeing a Christmas tale where holiday food included delicacies like mutton cutlets, fish fry, onion salad, and rose cookies. The traditions of family carol singing and exchanging Christmas sweets with all neighbours – Christians and otherwise – also finds a mention. Indian Christians rarely get a fair representation (if at all we are represented) in fiction, even by Indian writers, so this story made me feel seen.
All in all, this isn’t a bad collection, but I wasn’t the right reader for it. If you enjoy more YA-style romances, and don’t mind insta attraction, you might like this better. I am just going hit the midway rating for this one as the lack of connect was mostly due to my romance-reading tastes.
3 stars.
My thanks to Ylva Publishing and NetGalley for the DRC of “Language of Love”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
In a Nutshell: A twisty fantasy-horror short story. Plenty of surprises and also shocks. Too gross for my taste! But might work better for the right rIn a Nutshell: A twisty fantasy-horror short story. Plenty of surprises and also shocks. Too gross for my taste! But might work better for the right reader.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Story Synopsis:
Starr, a newcomer to town, is appointed by a dangerous crime boss to be a bodyguard to her ghoul. The ghoul however turns out to be atypical for her kind, having awareness and control of her surroundings. I really can’t tell you more. The twists begin very early and it’s better you experience it for yourself. The story comes to us mostly from the limited third person perspective of Starr.
This short story is a part of ‘Into Shadow’, described by Amazon as ‘an enthralling collection of dark fantasy stories about the lure of forbidden knowledge.’
Y’all! What did I get myself into with this work? ...more
In a Nutshell: If you are a Kafka fan AND you also like darker graphics in the style of Junji Ito, this is for you.
This graphic novel, first publisheIn a Nutshell: If you are a Kafka fan AND you also like darker graphics in the style of Junji Ito, this is for you.
This graphic novel, first published in Japanese in 2010, contains the manga adaptations of nine of Kafka’s stories. The specialty of the original is the macabre graphics by two siblings - brother Satoshi Nishioka and sister Chiaki Nishioka - who go by ‘Nishioka Kyoudai’, ‘kyoudai’ meaning ‘siblings’. This translation by David Yang, due to be published in October 2023, is the first ever translation of a Nishioka Kyoudai work in English.
Take a moment to consider how wild this is! Kafka’s novellas were originally written in German, and translated into English, which were then translated into Japanese manga, which are now translated back to English manga. I don’t envy David Yang his job. He had the tough task of retaining the essence of both the originals, and as far as I can tell, he has done a spectacular job of doing justice to both Kafka and Nishioka Kyoudai.
The Nishioka siblings also handle their charge well. Taking Kafka’s bizarre stories and putting them into graphics isn’t a cakewalk. Their doing so while retaining the essence of the original tales deserves applause. For instance, Kafka was very clear about not indicating what creature the protagonist turns into in ‘The Metamorphosis’; the manga version sticks to his specification. Imagine having a whole graphic novel story where you cannot see the protagonist and can still connect with what’s happening! The art is somewhat geometric throughout the novel, transcending colour and dimension to match the stories’ darker, psychological undertones. (One can’t really expect light and frothy when Kafka is at the helm of the tales.)
Most pages are in typical manga arrangement (right-to-left order) but some panels suddenly change the orientation of the text to landscape. When the whole page is horizontally oriented, it is still fine. But when only a couple of panels on a page change the direction of the text, the reading flow gets affected, especially when you are reading this digitally. This was the only negative of the manga adaptation.
So full marks to the translation and high marks to the manga. It should now be obvious that the cause of my lower rating is the main man, Kafka himself. Let me put it this way: Kafka didn’t fail me; I failed him.
Kafka’s ‘The Metamorphosis’, his only novella that I have read to date, is probably the only surreal story that I have *liked* in my entire life. I had wanted to try some more of his works, so when this manga version came my way, I decided to pick this up as a reading experiment. I should have known better!
I have never been fond of surrealism as a genre, and Kafka went beyond all my expectations to prove that his brain was in a different realm altogether. I tried my best but most of his stories bounced off my brain like a rubber ball. As someone who loves logic and treasures common sense, I was a misfit for his whimsical writing that crosses into not just the bizarre but also the gory. (Thank heavens for the B&W illustrations that reduced the impact of the grislier scenes!)
After the third story, I kept Google open in my browser so that I could read online analyses of the work after reaching my own measly conclusions for each tale. In many cases, my interpretation and the “expert” opinions online were not even close. (Shows you how smart I am at metaphysical deciphering!...more
In a Nutshell: Definitely good writing in this anthology, but also, definitely not my kind of writing. Will work better for the right reader.
There's nIn a Nutshell: Definitely good writing in this anthology, but also, definitely not my kind of writing. Will work better for the right reader.
There's no author's note in this anthology to introduce us to the connecting themes in the fourteen stories or the thought behind the collection. (I love authors’ notes in anthologies; they make a vast difference to our experience of the stories.) But the blurb reveals love, longing, and loneliness to be the focus of the tales. Each story deals with at least one of these three components, so the claim is valid.
That said, the stories don't follow the traditional writing progression every time but are quite random in their approach. Some are slice of life, some are akin to stream of consciousness monologues, and some are abstract musings on an incident. While some stories offer closure and a neat finish, some end too abruptly. A couple of stories go in a flow but the rest meander on their way to the end.
The wordplay in each story makes it amply clear that the author is talented. The little world created either through ponderings or unfolding scenes is in vivid detail, and the characters are always atypical. But the somewhat metaphysical tone underlying most of the stories didn't click for me.
A few of the stories are partially linked to each other. While there is no overt mention of this, the similar title of the linked stories provides a clue.
As always, I rated the stories individually, and the result is somewhat a mixed bag. The stories that catered to my taste in terms of plot development and storytelling scored high, while the ones that were more abstract and rambling didn’t fare that well. These were my top favourites: Only Things We Say - ...more
In a Nutshell: An anthology focussing on India, Indians, and Indianness here and abroad. Beautiful prose and great characterisation, but somewhat abruIn a Nutshell: An anthology focussing on India, Indians, and Indianness here and abroad. Beautiful prose and great characterisation, but somewhat abrupt endings due to the slice-of-life approach. Your reaction to the endings will decide if your experience is the best possible one.
This collection of eleven stories is quintessentially Indian, though its settings are spread across India and the USA. Even the stories that are based within India cover a variety of regions. As such, each tale comes with its own unique appeal.
The stories herein are written in the slice-of-life style, which is going to be the make-or-break factor for your experience of this collection. I am not too fond of this style, though if it is written well, I can *like* the story while not loving it. So my experience was unfortunately not “the best possible experience”, but that shouldn’t take away from the book as it was my shortcoming that made my experience relatively lacklustre.
After a long time have I seen such lush prose in an anthology. The writing creates a vivid picture of the scene and captures the pulse of the characters, portraying even difficult feelings such as melancholy and hiraeth without going over the top. The stories have a genuineness to them, and capture the Indian spirit excellently. There’s a sense of pathos underlying each tale, even in the happy moments, though these are quite minimal. At the same time, the book doesn’t become too maudlin. While most of the stories were dramatic in style, the first one was from the speculative fiction genre. Ironically, this is the one I loved best.
To be honest, I don’t prefer reading works by Indian-origin authors who now reside in the USA, because most of them peddle Indian stereotypes to unsuspecting Western readers. Not this book though. The portrayal of India is as authentic as possible, capturing the positives and the negatives of the country in a realistic way. This is the highest compliment I can pay to any book by an Indian diaspora writer.
There are a few Indian words in the stories but no glossary. This wasn’t a problem for me as all the words were familiar to me. But as this book is being readied for a release in the USA, a glossary might help.
There is no foreword by the author explaining his intent behind and theme for this collection, which disappointed me. (I love reading forewords in anthologies to get an idea of the author’s aim for the collection.)
The author’s writing reminded me of Jhumpa Lahiri’s Interpreter of Maladies, which is also a similarly-themed anthology having a dual focus on the Indian diaspora in the USA and on contemporary residents of urban and rural India. However, unlike Jhumpa Lahiri’s more traditional plot structure, the endings in Nishanth Injam’s collection were somewhat abrupt due to the slice-of-life approach. Hence, many stories here would have rated higher for me had they offered closure. But most endings left wanting more.
As always, I rated the stories individually. But this time, I can’t really capture my feelings through the ratings because I don’t know how to rate a 4.5 star story with a 2 or 3 star ending. As such, instead of opting for the average of my ratings as usual, I am going with my general sense of satisfaction from the book, which is “I liked it quite a lot”. FWIW, I enjoyed ‘The Bus’, The Immigrant’, ‘Summers of Waiting’, ‘Lunch at Paddy’s’, ‘The Protocol’, and the title story – all of which would have been 4.5 star works had they provided me more satisfying endings.
If you enjoy this writing style and anthologies in general, this is a fabulous collection to try.
3.5 stars, rounding up because the book might work better for slice-of-life lovers, which I am not.
My thanks to Pantheon and NetGalley for the DRC of “The Best Possible Experience”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
In a Nutshell: Grabbed this because I thought it was a humorous comic collection. It turned out to be a self-help/motivational book, a genre I dislikeIn a Nutshell: Grabbed this because I thought it was a humorous comic collection. It turned out to be a self-help/motivational book, a genre I dislike with all my heart. So please take this review with a pinch of salt. It’s definitely not the book but me.
The book comprises a series of motivational messages that aim to make you feel uplifted and positive about facing the drudgeries of life. All the pages are addressed to ‘you’ – the reader. It’s like having your own personal cheerleader, with myriad motivational messages sprinkled across the pages. Some are as simple as ‘You deserve love’ or ‘You are special’ or ‘You are doing your best!’; others, slightly longer and deeper.
The title, or rather, the funny-sounding part in the brackets, made me assume that this would be a humorous graphic novel. But it turned out that not a single page induced laughter.
The artwork is exactly as you can see on the cover. Simplistic and sweet.
If you follow author-illustrator Beth Evans’ account on Instagram, you will be better prepared for the content. (Needless to say, I wasn’t among her Insta followers, and hence I was caught unawares by the serious tone.)
If you need someone to root for you, cheer you on, motivate you onwards when you are struggling with thoughts or work or life in general, this might work for you. I am not at all a fan of the self-help genre, and as such, I find such books repetitive and boring.
In short, ignore my review if you are a self-help fan because you will definitely find the book more supportive and inspiring.
Recommended to those looking for a light and quick motivational comic of sorts.
2.5 stars, rounding up because I know I was the wrong reader for this.
My thanks to Andrews McMeel Publishing and NetGalley for the DRC of “Thinking of You (but not like in a weird creepy way)”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
In a Nutshell: #GrinchAlert! A typical tearjerker with moral life lessons and sappy events. Will work for those who love emotional Christmassy storiesIn a Nutshell: #GrinchAlert! A typical tearjerker with moral life lessons and sappy events. Will work for those who love emotional Christmassy stories. Not really my cup of tea.
Story Synopsis:
Christmas, 1985. Robert Layton is a workaholic who believes that he is satisfying his obligation to his family – wife Kate and their two little daughters – by fulfilling their material needs. Nathan is an eight-year-old boy whose mom has a terminal illness and moight not have long to live. A chance encounter between the two creates a longlasting impact. This involves the titular ‘Christmas Shoes’. The story comes to us in the first person perspective of Robert and third person limited perspectives of various characters.
This book is based on the song of the same name recorded by the group NewSong. The author’s friend, American Christian singer-songwriter Eddie Carswell, told her the premise of a Christmas song he was writing. He asked if it would make a good Christmas song and she replied that it would make a great book. Thus, NewSong released ‘The Christmas Shoes’ single to radio in the winter of 2000. And this book was published in 2001. There is also a made-for-TV movie that came later.
If you keep in mind that the idea for this book came from a song, you will realise why it seems so stretched out. There is essentially only one crucial scene in the book – the one connected to the shoes where Robert and Nathan interact. The rest is mostly emotional fillers.
(I should add that I hadn't heard of this Christmas song ever before. After completing the book, I gave it a try through the Amazon Music app. It was okay, with the emotional lyrics being its biggest plus point.)
Some of the characters were really wonderful. (Not surprising for a Christmas story.) Nathan the little boy, Maggie his dying momma, and Doris the teacher were my special favourites. The scenes that had any of these three characters were the best. Most of the other characters were also good, or maybe I should say, too good to be true. Robert is the only grey character, the Scrooge of this Christmas story who has a turnaround after an epiphany. I wish |I could say any of the characters surprised me, but every single one of them was as stereotypical as possible. Then again, I shouldn’t expect surprises from this genre, I guess.
What might have elevated this straightforward predictable story for me could have been the writing. However, this is where I was most disappointed. The first person narration is used for Robert while the third person is put into work for a whole load of other characters. However, the switches happen randomly, within the same chapter too. A few paragraphs could have the first person of Robert, then the narrative might move to a third person of Nathan, jumping to third person of Maggie, possibly putting in third person pov of Kate and so on. It was like a figurative narratory ball was being thrown around and whichever character caught it got to recount the next few paragraphs. There are also plenty of time jumps. Though the first chapter mentions the timeline as 1985, the scenes start much before that. But we don’t know the right year as it simply isn’t specified.
Each chapter begins with a quote. Most of the quotes are truly beautiful. However, the final chapter begins with a quote from Donna VanLiere herself, which seemed quite weird tbh. Isn’t she writing the whole book? Why plug another one of her works through a quote?
The book comes under the Christian fiction category, and as such, there are an ample amount of biblical values and verses. As I always say, I prefer Christian fiction that focusses more on deeds than words. The characters in this book do both – spout quotes from the Bible as well as act the “Christian” way in terms of love, acceptance and forgiveness. However, one part that really confused me was – how come all these practising Christians aren’t going to church at all, not even on Christmas Eve? Other than the Bible quotes and some paragraphs on what Jesus’ birth meant to humanity, the only thing the characters seem to be doing around Christmas is decorating the house, meeting up for family lunch/dinner, and exchanging gifts. Hello?!?! Remember, HE’s the reason for the season!
Today is Christmas Day, so I guess I have been the biggest Grinch here by reviewing a beloved Christmas story this poorly. However, it just didn’t work for me. I am not a great fan of Christmassy tearjerkers as they all focus on sermonising about moral values and have become highly predictable. I am truly glad if it works for you, but they just don’t click to my reading tastes any more.
In a Nutshell: An interesting collection, though not my kind of folktales. This anthology would work nicely for the right reader.
This is a collection In a Nutshell: An interesting collection, though not my kind of folktales. This anthology would work nicely for the right reader.
This is a collection of Korean classic stories, mostly written by Im Bang (mid-17th century writer) and Yi Riyuk (mid-15th century), with three anonymous tales. The fifty-three stories cover a variety of themes, whether spiritual or absurdist or family or fantastical. In terms of the range of topics, the scope of the book is magnificent. Many of the tales seem to have a foundation in local spiritual beliefs. The length of the stories ranges from one page long to eight pages long.
As the tagline promised tales of ‘Ghosts, Goblins, Princes, Fairies and More!’, I confess that I was looking for a more fantastical and/or folksy experience. But many of the stories felt like slice-of-life tales, with some ending too abruptly. Quite a few are more like episodes instead of fully-developed stories. Most stories begin with an introductory note related to its key character or its background. Sometimes, this note was almost as long as the ensuing story and even contained spoilers.
On the pro side, the tales do reveal a lot about the Korean beliefs and culture of the authors’ respective eras. It doesn’t look like the stories have been updated for the modern audience but as if their original content has been retained.
This book was first published in Korean in 1913, and has been reprinted quite a few times since. This latest edition, due to be released on 3rd January 2023, is supposed to contain thirty full-color minhwa paintings (Korean folkart), but as mine was an ARC, these were missing from my copy (to my great disappointment) and I cannot give a feedback about the same, though I am sure they would be a delight in the printed edition.
Most of the stories rated around the 3 star mark for me; I liked them enough but wasn’t wowed by them. There were very few exceptions either way. Maybe going in with the right expectations would help deliver a better experience. The foreword states that this is a “collection of yadam, a form that allows for the expression of things considered otherwise unsuitable for literature.”
Recommended to fans of Korean mythology and lore.
3 stars from me.
My thanks to Tuttle Publishing and Edelweiss+ for the DRC of “Tales of Korea : 53 Enchanting Stories of Ghosts, Goblins, Princes, Fairies and More!”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
In a Nutshell: Utterly confused about my opinion because this is an utterly confusing book! This does not realise the potential it had promised, thougIn a Nutshell: Utterly confused about my opinion because this is an utterly confusing book! This does not realise the potential it had promised, though it has some good points.
Story Synopsis:
1870. Twenty-four-year-old Lucy Braithwhite (Isn’t the right spelling Braithwaite?) is the heiress to the fortune of Braithwhite and Company – the most successful wallpaper manufacturer in England for almost a century. Braithwhite’s designs are original, and their colours unnaturally vibrant, but their wallpapers also seem to create hallucinatory effects or health issues, though no one knows the reason for this. When Mr. Luckhurst, the long-term manager of the company and surrogate father to Lucy and her invalid brother John, passes away suddenly, a young and eneigmatic man named Julian Rivers presents himself as being the successor appointed by Luckhurst. But the arrival of this stranger sets into motion many sinister happenings, and Lucy realises that it is up to her to save the company and more importantly, her family. The story comes to us in the form of a book discovered in an abandoned warehouse, supposedly containing the journal entries written by Lucy in first person.
In a Nutshell: A good book that will offer plenty to the right reader. But to me, this was a mixed experience, partly due to the writing style and parIn a Nutshell: A good book that will offer plenty to the right reader. But to me, this was a mixed experience, partly due to the writing style and partly due to my reading preferences. This is an outlier opinion.
Story Synopsis:
The eponymous Joe (whose "name isn't Joe") is a loner in his early thirties, staying in a small rental apartment in London. With many failed relationships behind him and stuck in a dead-end job where he is almost invisible, Joe is existing more than living. Things take a turn when a new neighbour moves in next door. Her ten-year-old son Aaron provides Joe with a fresh zest for life, though the going isn’t always smooth. The story comes to us in Joe’s first person perspective.
In a Nutshell: Good in bits and pieces, but as a whole, it didn’t work much for me. The writing is a treat to the senses, but the nonlinear flow and aIn a Nutshell: Good in bits and pieces, but as a whole, it didn’t work much for me. The writing is a treat to the senses, but the nonlinear flow and abstract hops across people and timeframes made this a tricky read.
Story Synopsis:
Lin San is an old widower mourning the death of his young wife Emily. In a subconscious quest towards healing the present grief and past hurts, he ends getting close to the narrator of this story, the piano tuner who remains unnamed for most of the story. However, the piano tuner has secrets of his own, and through his thoughts, we discover a story of broken dreams and shattered hopes, and the impact these have on their harbourers. The story is written in a random mix of first person (the piano tuner) and third person (Lin San and a couple of other characters.)
While the story begins with a focus on Lin San, we realise as it progresses that the main character is, as the title suggests, the piano tuner. He begins as a simple character, but soon his thoughts show how much he hides beneath that ordinary exterior. Getting to understand his persona under the façade is the main crux of the story.
We see the other characters only through the piano tuner’s words and memories. As such, they are revealed to us only in fleeting glances, except for Lin San who gets a greater presence in the story by virtue of having the only direct interaction with the tuner in the present time. Yet, all the characters are complicated to understand.
Adding to the trouble is the random switch between first person and third person, sometimes within a few paragraphs without any indication of the jump. It is a task to keep track of the dominant narrative voice when the hops across characters are abrupt. (I am not too sure if this was a formatting problem in my digital ARC, or a problem with the translation, or maybe both.) The unveiling of the events is not chronological, which is the icing on the cake of confusion.
All is not lost, though. There are enough of positives also in this novella. The writing is lyrical, with thought-provoking quotes scattered generously throughout the book. I adored all the bits connected to the piano, right from their manufacturing to the role of piano tuners, to the anecdotes about classical composers, to even the parallels between tuning an instrument and narrating a story. While a certain amount of familiarity will help you appreciate these specific elements better, it is not mandatory as the writing is fluid enough to adapt to your level of understanding.
The ending is quite abrupt, and that was the deal-breaker for me. Until then, I was still okay with giving this emotional story a 3.5, and rounding it up. But I was left wanting a lot more with that brusque finish, and hence my rating gets rounded downwards.
This is my first novel by a Taiwanese writer, so I am not sure if the book depicts the writing style of the author or the country. Either way, this was a good book in many ways, but not the right book for me. It was supposedly a huge hit in Taiwan and a winner of every major literary award there, so this might reveal to us the preferred style in Taiwanese literature.
All in all, this is a poignant story with many merits. But I am left feeling like a novice gazing at an abstract painting and trying to figure out what it means beyond the colours and shapes on the surface. What I can see looks good to my eyes, but my brain is mostly befuddled at trying to piece together the distinct elements of the work into a cohesive whole.
3.5 stars, rounding down.
My thanks to Simon & Schuster, Arcade, and Edelweiss+ for the DRC of “The Piano Tuner”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
A “factual” look at the fantastical idea of merfolk. The book is good, but I wasn’t the right reader for it.
The content is set around the idea that aA “factual” look at the fantastical idea of merfolk. The book is good, but I wasn’t the right reader for it.
The content is set around the idea that a woman explorer named Darcy Delamare disguised herself as a man and joined the scientific expedition team of the HMS Challenger. (FYI, the woman is fictional; the expedition isn’t.) Darcy’s “findings” are presented in this book, which is patterned like a field journal, replete with her research data, her notes on the characteristics and habits of merfolk, information on underwater content such as shells and plants (and even on things like “types of mermaid tails”). The entire idea is a tongue-in-cheek way of presenting the “truth about mermaids”, with the last page acting as the spoilsport when the President of the British Society of Natural Sciences debunks all the “proof” sent by Darcy as hogwash.
The extent of information in the book took me by surprise. Had I not known the reality about mermaids, I would almost have been convinced of their existence. (Maybe some younger kids will actually believe in mermaids after reading this! Who knows?!) The style of writing is very encyclopaedic, with each page having sectioned text boxes designed in papyrus style. These contain information about the mer folk as well as an excerpt of Darcy’s notes from her journal. The content intermingles fact and fiction. For instance, the deep sea angler fish is presented as a mermaid variant, with an illustration supporting the same. Same goes for the puffer fish and many other uncommon fish.
On the positive side, the lore elements were outstanding! The books presents info in mermaids from a variety of cultures and regions. It delves into how the myths began, where the “first mermaid was sighted”, and so on. I enjoyed the parts where real animal facts were disguised as mer information. The illustrations are beautiful and match the content excellently.
On the flip side, this fact-fiction medley isn’t a style that works well for me. Had the entire book contained a humorous approach that was more overt than covert, I might have enjoyed it more. But the humour is too subtle and the presentation too straightforward, thereby creating mixed signals at least in my head.
Also, the small size of the text made it very difficult to read. (This might not be a problem in the physical copy, but my digital copy sure tested the limits of my eyes.) There is too much information per page. It might get too overwhelming for kids. The official age range is 7-11 years, but the younger of this segment might enjoy the illustrations more than the content.
I have always maintained that I am a creature of logic. The dominant left side of my brain is trying hard to figure out the point of the book and whom to recommend it to. The subdued right side is whispering, “Suggest it to those who love mermaids.” For once, my left hemisphere will pay heed to the advice. Ergo…
Recommended to those who love mermaids, regardless of age.
3 stars.
Don’t forget, this is an outlier review by a reader who shouldn’t have read this book in the first place. The other reviews are overwhelmingly positive, so ignore the logical grump writing this, and decide for yourself.
My thanks to Quarto Publishing Group – Frances Lincoln Children's Books and NetGalley for the DRC of “A Natural History of Mermaids”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
Loading...
