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deepan2486's review
5.0
I found these stories to be truly evocative and tranquil, and it almost made my heart long for something close to home. Whenever I read short story collections, I never tend to like all of the stories. There are always some which steal the show, and some just miss the chord for me. But while reading this anthology, I was pleasantly surprised. I even put up this book as one of my 12 Best Fiction books of 2021
What I liked about each of these stories, was the skilful balance of spoken and unspoken words. A lot in the stories seamlessly flowed along through the minds of the characters. A lot of the stories started and ended with the thoughts of the characters developing the aura of the plot. This put across a sense of deep imaginative fantasy, since there was no bound to the thinking. As the authors spun their stories based on cultural specialities, out came a bright picture of the interpersonal agents in the stories: how people mix and behave with one another, how they see things and how they choose to live their life.
Assam's political unrest also came as a secondary shadow in many of these tales, especially the ones where I did not need to feel remarkably sorry for the characters in order to understand their plight. Notably I observed that there was nothing superficial in these pieces of writing, nothing that was trying to catch my attention by contrast, abruptness or gore. It was all put across through a layered storytelling, evoking a balance between thoughts and speech.
I am not equipped enough to judge whether these set of stories are among the best of Assamese literature ever written. But personally can say: these stories left me thinking, and that too with such simplicity. They can bear privy to the fact that tranquil fiction stands a place alongside violent fiction.
You can read my 12 Best Fiction books of 2021 here.
Thanks Aleph Book Company for the copy.
What I liked about each of these stories, was the skilful balance of spoken and unspoken words. A lot in the stories seamlessly flowed along through the minds of the characters. A lot of the stories started and ended with the thoughts of the characters developing the aura of the plot. This put across a sense of deep imaginative fantasy, since there was no bound to the thinking. As the authors spun their stories based on cultural specialities, out came a bright picture of the interpersonal agents in the stories: how people mix and behave with one another, how they see things and how they choose to live their life.
Assam's political unrest also came as a secondary shadow in many of these tales, especially the ones where I did not need to feel remarkably sorry for the characters in order to understand their plight. Notably I observed that there was nothing superficial in these pieces of writing, nothing that was trying to catch my attention by contrast, abruptness or gore. It was all put across through a layered storytelling, evoking a balance between thoughts and speech.
I am not equipped enough to judge whether these set of stories are among the best of Assamese literature ever written. But personally can say: these stories left me thinking, and that too with such simplicity. They can bear privy to the fact that tranquil fiction stands a place alongside violent fiction.
You can read my 12 Best Fiction books of 2021 here.
Thanks Aleph Book Company for the copy.
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