Story Wallah: Book of Short Stories Edited by Shyam Selvadurai
Last weekend, I went to the South Asian Literary Festival here in DC, and I bought this book immediately when I saw Rushdie, Jhumpa Lahiri, Michael Ondaatjee, and even Rohinton Mistry
on the front cover. I had heard Shyam Selvadurai speak at one of the forums, a Canadian-Sri-lankan writer, and had liked him. Of his compilation of stories, I have read two of them--both dealing with problems that arise from an Indian identity in a foreign country--one in NYC, the other in Kenya. So far, I am disappointed by the sheer mediocrity of the writing, not to mention the stories. Two of them about especially shrill ABCDs who I wanted to slap by the end of the story. There are too many novels and stories written by Indians about either arranged marriages or being Indian in the diaspora. It is difficult to write about the mundane in a fresh, original way and so easy to do it badly.
I loved Jhumpa Lahiri's wonderful book of short stories, Interpreter of the Maladies. The Blessed House (which is showcased in the book) is about a newly married, Indian couple who keep finding Christian relics in the house that they have just moved into. A beautifully written story that deftly captures the uneasy anxiety in the marriage, and the mystery and pleasure of "finding Jesus". Another well-known author in the compilation is Michael Ondaatjee who is most famous for the English Patient, which I have never read. What I have read is his wonderful, Anil's Ghost, a beautiful novel about a woman's return to a war-torn Sri-lanka.
on the front cover. I had heard Shyam Selvadurai speak at one of the forums, a Canadian-Sri-lankan writer, and had liked him. Of his compilation of stories, I have read two of them--both dealing with problems that arise from an Indian identity in a foreign country--one in NYC, the other in Kenya. So far, I am disappointed by the sheer mediocrity of the writing, not to mention the stories. Two of them about especially shrill ABCDs who I wanted to slap by the end of the story. There are too many novels and stories written by Indians about either arranged marriages or being Indian in the diaspora. It is difficult to write about the mundane in a fresh, original way and so easy to do it badly.
I loved Jhumpa Lahiri's wonderful book of short stories, Interpreter of the Maladies. The Blessed House (which is showcased in the book) is about a newly married, Indian couple who keep finding Christian relics in the house that they have just moved into. A beautifully written story that deftly captures the uneasy anxiety in the marriage, and the mystery and pleasure of "finding Jesus". Another well-known author in the compilation is Michael Ondaatjee who is most famous for the English Patient, which I have never read. What I have read is his wonderful, Anil's Ghost, a beautiful novel about a woman's return to a war-torn Sri-lanka.
posted by Themadi at 6:12 PM
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Two Singaporean bloggers jailed for anti-Muslim remarks
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