Fly on the wall and other storieszoo

In her debut book Fly on the Wall Other Stories author and civil servant Shubha Sarma examines different facets of life s narrative with detachment precision and compassion The subjects range from up market urban settings to the depths of rural Orissa and areas of civil strife and deep social unrest The narrative strings together anxious house wives over imaginative teenagers and men and women in the sunset of their lives There is Dipankar yearning for Assam and returning to discover that he is a stranger and the beautiful Uma mysteriously killed and awaiting justice They are people one encounters everyday on the bus the metro and the mirror Each story is different yet each has characters etched lucidly as on ivory situations that look so real in their contexts and strategies that enhance the fascination of the unfolding narratives The author s subtle ways of critiquing the society s cant the hidden greed and violence in human beings the nuanced condemnation of patriarchy in its various crippling incarnations has created a publication crafted with an ingenuous sense of structural balance As a whole this assortment of tales with a twist brings to life the realities and contradiction of India and makes it an enchanting collection of highly readable short stories Fly on the Wall and Other Storiesawesome Fly on the Wall and Other Stories What is common to the Emperor Penguins Olive Ridley Turtles and rats This is definitely a review of the book Fly on the Wall and not a zoology quiz You would figure out when I disclose the answer in the end When I was 25 30% in to the book the rating running in my mind was 5 5 however it is now what you see 4 5 Again towards the end I shall share the reason for this nominal downgrade. Fly on the wall and other stories book summary I would write this review as an author of a short story collection which is rud to be readable rather than a book lover or reader reason being from an author s point of view this review would come out better. Book fly on the wall and other stories in spanish Shubha Sarma s debut collection of stories has already received glowing encomiums from the likes of Dr Shashi Tharoor Namita Gokhale and K Satchitanandan Let me also add my feeble voice in praising this book Before going into the stories I would first and foremost compliment the author s writing style I absolutely loved her writing and command over language There is an admitted bias here as the writing resembles how I try to write as well Throughout the 13 stories one would find beautiful descriptions and scene settings done using powerful vocabulary Gurgling streams verdant landscapes sunsets and sunrises sights and sounds from forests decrepit village huts long passages which describe the scene so beautifully that one can teleport oneself into the story Here are a few lines taken from the title story Fly on the Wall which according to my aforementioned feeble voice I found absolutely terrific writing The large hall was half full the half drawn curtains allowing the fading sunlight to stream in half heartedly Just like Shishir Pande s half lived too soon terminated life and err no half praises here I was also pleasantly surprised to find two spooky stories in this collection Since that is part of my self attested forte I shall spend a few minutes on these two stories A Chance Encounter is written purrrrfectly though I figured out the ending even before I was half way through For an inveterate lover of the genre like me its predictable but otherwise a lovely story with super buildup of atmosphere which is crucial in ghost stories Then there is the last on The Demons Within which raises questions than answers and maybe that is what is its appeal I felt the author should have tied up some loose ends in this one to make this story less confusing for the non intellectual reader. Fly on the wall and other storiesz pdf My favorite stories I have two in mind which really stood out for me Dinner at Bukhara and Rain The first one has a great plot and the suspense has been kept intact very well I loved the way it was written I am sure give the same plot to any other author and the effect would not come out like this And then there is Rain which is an extremely tough concept for an author to write It is essentially 5 separate stories with the rain as a leitmotif through all of them Hats off to the author for starting 5 times building up 5 times and ending 5 times by way of newspaper reports Incredible Loved it. Fly on the wall and other storiess in order I mentioned above about the plot and that is where my 5 got downgraded to 4 Any story essentially needs to be well written but the plot is crucial as well If nothing is happening or the reader keeps on waiting for a twist or turn or bend or meander in the story which never comes then the plotting could have been better Many of the stories in the middle half of the book had little storytelling in them Shubha is masterful in her use of similes and metaphors That would be the answer to the question which I began the review with All three animals are used as metaphors to describe human feelings in the story Rain that too in a span of just 1 or 2 pagesGo buy and read Fly on the Wall today Fly on the Wall and Other Stories An extremely interesting and thought provoking collection of stories Each of the gems in this debut collection is set in a different part of India and has a distinct set of characters The author s attention to detail and local flavor is astonishing From Assam to Chattisgarh Kolkatta and Delhi from a son of the soil returning home from abroad to a group of college friends meeting up after a long time and rediscovering each other and themselves to the wife of a police officer living in constant dread of a catastrophe to the angst of a young abused bride and the guilt of an elderly widowed mother these stories encompass a gamut of themes and emotions effortlessly and transport the readers to a realm at once imaginary and familiar Most importantly they provoke a deeper engagement with the plots and characters Without ever mentioning it in so many words the author brings the age old dichotomy of the Self and the Other the Us versus Them debate to the forefront be it in the shape of the NRI protagonist Dibakar who realizes how the much hated boy from his early youth has sacrificed everything for him and his family or the boy sent to spy on the police officer s family in the guise of a domestic help in restive Chattisgarh who eventually saves their lives at terrible cost to himself or even the woman who comes to terms with her best friend s homosexuality The language is rich and the story lines taut I was spellbound once I started reading and couldn t put it down until I d finished And then I read them again and discovered the multiple layers of meaning A must read for all those who love good fiction Fly on the Wall and Other Stories An interesting read that has a large variety of stories Each story is different yet tales one can identify with emotional and Indian The influence of great literary giants like Tagore Saratchandra or Munshi Premchand is evident in the simplicity of language the easily identifiable themes and real life characters The author has not written stories she has lived the lives of the characters that she has created I enjoyed reading each one of them but my favourite is The Demon s Within It operates on so many levels and layers there is a teenager who argues with her mother like any 16 year old and who fancies herself to be Nancy Drew or Miss Marple Then there is a mysterious death and the shadow that it has left behind The ending packs a punch that is truly unforeseen On the whole this book is highly recommended and value for money Fly on the Wall and Other Stories