Satyr of the Subway

by Anita Nair

When it was first published in 1997, Satyr of the Subway consisted of twelve stories, each worked around a dramatically different situation ranging from the mundane to the bizarre. This revised edition includes three new stories and incorporates occasional alterations to text, some marginal, some significant, where the writer has revisited her characters or situations long after she first created them. The result is a fascinating collection of stories that traverse the entire gamut of human emotion, penetrating in their insight into male-female relationships and seriously funny in their take on the futility of expectations from life or from lovers.

Genres: Travel, India, Nonfiction

162 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Anita Nair is the bestselling and critically acclaimed author of the novels The Better Man, Ladies Coupé, Mistress, Lessons in Forgetting, Idris: Keeper of the Light and Alphabet Soup for Lovers. She has also authored a crime series featuring Inspector Gowda.

Anita Nair’s other books include a collection of poems titled Malabar Mind, a collection of essays titled Goodnight & God Bless and six books for children. Anita Nair has also written two plays and the screenplay for the movie adaptation of her novel Lessons in Forgetting which was part of the Indian Panorama at IFFI 2012 and won the National Film Award in 2013. Among other awards, she was also given the Central Sahitya Akademi award and the Crossword Prize. Her books have been translated into over thirty one languages around the world. She is also the founder of the creative writing and mentorship program Anita’s Attic.

Reviews

[Orsodimondo · Rating 3 out of 5]

TOCCARE UN ARCOBALENO


Gabriel Dawe: Plexus n. 35 (Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio).

Neri Pozza, la casa editrice che ha portato Anita Nair in Italia, ce l’ha fatta prima scoprire con Cuccette per signora, dandoci tempo e modo di innamorarci di lei, per poi due anni dopo proporci il suo esordio narrativo, questa raccolta di racconti.


Bjørn Okholm Skaarup: Hippo Ballerina.

C’è un gradevole disordine anarchico in queste storie, che deriva da una scrittura che si sposta dalla prosa alla fiaba, passa per lacerti di poesia, procede per immagini e colori, abdica talvolta alla struttura canonica della prosa e concede svisate musicali, ritmi pulsanti, allitterazioni e canti.
Che deriva dall’approcciare la storia millenaria infarcita di mito del subcontinente all’asfalto e ai marciapiedi di New York. Dall’esotica lussureggiante India al frenetico pulsante Mondo Nuovo. Dal gotico all’urbano.

Come se Anita Nair si fosse destata da poco dal sonno carico di sogni e visioni della poesia, e ancora ne serbasse il ricordo, le suggestioni, il sapore, mentre il sole sorge, il mattino si fa luminoso e il mondo appare per quello che è.



Il punto di vista di orientale le consente di cogliere aspetti dell’Occidente che sfuggono a un occhio assuefatto.
Ma nessun racconto è memorabile, l’esotico un po’ plateale, l’eccesso di spezie finisce con l’intorpidire e anestetizzare l’attenzione.

[Balasankar C · Rating 3 out of 5]

അനിതാ നായരുടെ, ഞാൻ വായിയ്ക്കുന്ന ആദ്യത്തെ പുസ്തകമാണിതു്. ഒരു ട്രാവലോഗ് എന്ന രീതിയിലാണെങ്കിൽ ഇതിലും നല്ലതു് ഞാൻ വായിച്ച മറ്റു സഞ്ചാരസാഹിത്യങ്ങളിലുണ്ടായിട്ടുണ്ട്. എങ്കിലും ഈ പുസ്തകം ആകർഷിച്ചു. അവതരണത്തിൽ നമ്മളെ രസിപ്പിക്കുന്ന എന്തോ ഉണ്ട്. പോയ യാത്രയെപ്പറ്റി ആരോ സംസാരിക്കുന്നത് കേട്ടിരിക്കുമ്പോളുള്ള (വായനയും കേൾവിയും തമ്മിലുള്ള ഒരു വ്യത്യാസമുണ്ടല്ലോ) ഒരു സുഖം.

വേറൊന്ന്, യാത്ര ചെയ്യുന്നത് സ്വപ്നം കാണുന്ന, എന്നാൽ യാത്ര ചെയ്യാൻ ഭയങ്കര മടിയുള്ള എന്നെ പോലുള്ളവർക്ക് വെറുതെ ഓർക്കാൻ, സ്വപ്നം കാണാൻ, കുറച്ചു നല്ല വിഷ്വൽ പോസിബിലിറ്റീസ് ഈ പുസ്തകം മുന്നോട്ട് വയ്ക്കുന്നുണ്ട്. റോമിലെ നഗരങ്ങളും സസ്സക്സിലെ നാട്ടുമ്പുറവും ഒക്കെ വെറുതെ ഓർത്തിരിക്കാൻ രസമാണു്.

പിഎസ്: പേരിലെ തീവണ്ടി യാത്രയുടെ പ്രതീകം മാത്രമാണു്. മുഴുവൻ തീവണ്ടിയാത്രയാണെന്ന് ഷെൽഡൺ കൂപ്പർമാരൊന്നും പ്രതീക്ഷിക്കരുത്.

[Vir · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF 30%

He leído tres relatos y no voy a seguir.
Todo es sexual y todo en lenguaje muy rebuscado, no me impresiona ninguna de las dos cosas

[Nishant Jha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another book with multiple short stories...Some good....some really arbit...and most importantly no story is spectacular! I bought this because of Anita Nair's name but not impressed at all...avoidable at best!

[Neha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finished this book in a day!!I love reading travelogues even though I didn't travel much...Some boring weekends in my PG have forced me to board on the first bus or take an evening walk to nowhere which has taken me to some small parks, peaceful temples etc.(restricted myself from exploring more coz of security concerns of my parents and close friends ;) ). So, I was feeling more and more jealous on turning each page of this book!! ;) I have read many articles in this book before, which is available (online) in Yathra magazine(time pass in office)!!! I enjoy author's narration, so never got bored of this 128 page book!!

[Anjali Gopalakrishnan · Rating 3 out of 5]

enjoyed this collection of stories, many different voices and characters, situations, places. first time i'm reading short stories by her, rest have all been novels/essays, i think her story-telling skils remain quite potent nevertheless. overall 3/5 is fair enough methinks.

[Fedor]

not very good...

[Suruchika · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short stories from bangalore

[Salih · Rating 5 out of 5]

just starting, i wil give u feedback soon

[Aathira Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting collection of short stories. Some that made me think A LOT. Not as good as her novels, but still worth a read.

[Sammy Dave · Rating 2 out of 5]

OK-ish expected more from her

[Alka · Rating 1 out of 5]

Barely finished. Weird and bizarre stories. With nothing to grip interest

[Varna Binu Sasidharan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Re - reading the 100th time. Every reading gives me freshness like tender coconut water. I don't get good impressions from the books suggestions made by my friends. But this one is indefinable. Nima, my best friend suggested to me 10 years back. From that day , I used to read the book every day. Last I read in 2020. After 5 years of gap, I read it today. And it gives me a chill on my nerves to take a train and get into it.

[Anemona · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es el primer contacto que tengo con autora de la India y tengo que decir que me ha gustado al ser una forma de acercarme a la cultura a través de relatos que mezclan la fantasía con la realidad.

Tiene una prosa cuidada y fluida. Si bien algunos relatos son perturbadores; sobre todo el que da título al libro, me ha dado curiosidad suficiente como para seguir leyendo más de la autora.

[Ganesh · Rating 4 out of 5]

When the lockdown kept my indoors, I resorted to books to see the world. This book has been gathering dust in my bookshelf for long. To give a break to my series of non-fiction reading and to refresh my connection with the Malayalam language, I decided to give this book a go.

Must say, this is one of the best travel books I've read in the recent days. I could enjoy it more, thanks to my longing to go to Kerala and rest amidst the abundant greenery.

Anita Nair's writing bought that greenery right into my house, to my couch, sitting where I pored over every single word of this book.

Her vivid descriptions about the Mundokottu kurrishi village, the sugar white sand beaches of Male, the urban landscape of Beijing all fed my longing for travel.

Although I started reading the book to cure my itch to go outdoors, her writing head only intensified the yearning.

This book is a must-read if you like travel reading decorated with the beauty of Malayalam literature.

[Maheswaran · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked the style of presentation.
Had enough to bias the traveler heart in me to give it a good rating.

Did not have enough trains like the title suggests. Almost as if only the first travel is by train. And that too one way.

But the traveler in me added a few items to do in the big bucket list.