iekanayake's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Miscarriage
littoral's review against another edition
Jai Chakrabarti’s A Small Sacrifice for an Enormous Happiness is a series of 14 short stories exploring the theme of family through the lens of the South Asian immigrant experience. The stories capture a variety of unconventional families - including same-sex couples in forbidden relationships and mixed-race couples not quite on the same wavelength - and doesn’t shy away from difficult subjects like miscarriage and the change of identity that occurs with parenthood. The prose has a lovely rhythm and lyricism that makes each story very readable.
Ultimately, though, I was left with the feeling that I was being strung along from story to story wondering what new trauma or hardship would be the theme of the next. The third person narration common to so many of these stories feels distanced, such that the emotional turns never quite pay off. This can make the story endings feel abrupt; while I don’t mind a story that ends in the middle of the action, these stories sometimes ended before I realized the emotional arc had already come and gone.
samanthaash_'s review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
mathiasblack's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
In this short story collection by the author of "A Play for the End of the World," we're treated to an enriching and sensitive look into people's lives as they face life-altering challenges. We get a unique perspective on the lives of characters in India and America, with themes of parenting and identity that could easily have been mangled in rougher hands. But what I've always loved, loved, loved about Jai's writing (full disclosure: we attended the same MFA program) is that his stories have a delicate, poetic touch -- they welcome us readers to open our minds and strengthen our heart muscles.
I also love how these stories feel like a set while at the same time surprising with new locations and unique characters and situations each time. Like his novel, "A Play for the End of the World," Jai's short stories bring me something entirely new and unexpected, in language that often demands rereading -- not because it's difficult, but because it's so beautiful and true.
I'd recommend first-time readers to dip into this book and savor the stories like poems. Don't rush. Enjoy.
I also love how these stories feel like a set while at the same time surprising with new locations and unique characters and situations each time. Like his novel, "A Play for the End of the World," Jai's short stories bring me something entirely new and unexpected, in language that often demands rereading -- not because it's difficult, but because it's so beautiful and true.
I'd recommend first-time readers to dip into this book and savor the stories like poems. Don't rush. Enjoy.
brunonadamas's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault
awodeyar's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
I gobbled up these stories. Their emotional undertones strongly calls back to the work of Jhumpa Lahiri for me - that sense of isolation and alienation felt by the other within their environment.
greyemk's review against another edition
4.5
Chakrabarti sits right on top of my favorite themes in literature: the sacrifices we make for family, what happens when we stop making those sacrifices, how we communicate when words fail us, how we keep going past atrocity. And what art does for us in those times.
I didn’t much care for the microstories here (I don’t like very short stories in general), but otherwise this book got better as time went on. I also stopped wishing for nice character arcs or resolutions; the point of these is that sometimes the selfish decision is the only one we feel we have left. I find Chakraborti’s writing beautiful and soothing and it makes me feel in communion with humanity. I was reading some of Tagore’s writing while reading this book and it really enhanced the experience to see his thought reflected back after a hundred years. (I bought the Tagore collection to read Dakghar after loving Chakrabarti’s debut “A Play for the End of the World”, it is merely coincidence that I was reading these two at the same time)
Favorite stories:
The Fortunes of Others (a response to Tagore’s “The Kabuliwallah”)
Mendel’s Wall
Searching For Elijah
The Narrow Bridge
I didn’t much care for the microstories here (I don’t like very short stories in general), but otherwise this book got better as time went on. I also stopped wishing for nice character arcs or resolutions; the point of these is that sometimes the selfish decision is the only one we feel we have left. I find Chakraborti’s writing beautiful and soothing and it makes me feel in communion with humanity. I was reading some of Tagore’s writing while reading this book and it really enhanced the experience to see his thought reflected back after a hundred years. (I bought the Tagore collection to read Dakghar after loving Chakrabarti’s debut “A Play for the End of the World”, it is merely coincidence that I was reading these two at the same time)
Favorite stories:
The Fortunes of Others (a response to Tagore’s “The Kabuliwallah”)
Mendel’s Wall
Searching For Elijah
The Narrow Bridge
sittingwishingreading's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
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