தேர்ந்தெடுத்த சிறுகதைகள் (முதல் தொகுதி) [Therntheduththa Sirukathaigal Part 1]

by Sujatha

சுஜாதாவின் தலைசிறந்த ஐம்பது கதைகள் இத்தொகுப்பில் இடம்பெறுகின்றன. சமூகத்திலும் தனிமனிதர்களின் அந்தரங்கங்களிலும் உறைந்திருக்கும் தீமைகள், முரண்பாடுகள், விசித்திரங்கள், பாசாங்குகள் இக்கதைகளின் ஆதார சுருதியாக இருக்கின்றன.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

422 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2004

About the author

Sujatha was the allonym of the Tamil author S. Rangarajan, Author of over 100 novels, 250 short stories, ten books on science, ten stage plays, and a slim volume of poems. He was one of the most popular authors in Tamil literature, and a regular contributor to topical columns in Tamil periodicals such as Ananda Vikatan, Kumudam and Kalki. He had a wide readership, and served for a brief period as the editor of Kumudam, and has also written screenplays and dialogues for several Tamil movies.

As an engineer, he supervised the design and production of the electronic voting machine (EVM) during his tenure at Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), a machine which is currently used in elections throughout India. As an author he inspired many authors, including Balakumaran, Madhan.

Reviews

[Vishy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sujatha is one of the great Tamil writers. He wrote books is many genres — crime fiction, science fiction, literary fiction, short stories, essays, nonfiction. He was a true all-rounder. He was kind of the founder of Tamil science fiction, or atleast its most famous exponent. I started reading Sujatha's books when I was a teenager. I read his crime fiction first and loved it, and then later his science fiction. I loved that too. Later I read his plays, and was surprised by how good and fascinating they were. I feel that Sujatha reached his peak as a literary artist in his short stories and his plays. So it is odd that I've only dipped into his short stories, but never read a collection properly before. So I thought I'll redeem that now, and read this collection of his short stories.

This collection has fifty short stories. They were written in a period between the late 1960s and the early 1980s. Sujatha says in his introduction that he was always working under the pressure of the deadline, and so many times he felt that he could have rewritten a particular short story in a better way, if he had more time. Sujatha says that the stories which didn't make him feel that way — that is they looked good though they were written under deadline pressure — he included those stories in this collection.

There are all kinds of stories in this collection. Some have surprise endings, some are about small people who struggled in life but win in some way in the end, while other stories are about small people who are crushed by the system and by society. There are a couple of stories about depression which are heartbreaking. There are stories about women who struggle hard and try to get through each day, and there are other stories about women who show their defiance in unconventional ways. (One of the women, when she is asked why she is in a particular profession, replies that it is because she is arrogant and defiant 😁 She was one of the coolest characters in the book.) There were stories about how the government and the bureaucracy work and they were mostly Kafkaesque and hilarious. There were also stories about riots and the meaninglessness of violence. Sujatha is a master of the first paragraph,  the first page, and it shows in every story. Sujatha's writing is breezy, conversational, cool and stylish, and it is a pleasure to read.

I loved all the stories in the book. I loved some more than the others, but I loved them all. It was 422 pages of pure pleasure. Hoping to read the second volume of this series soon.

A couple of Sujatha's books have been translated into English. I'm not sure which stories are featured in them, but if you want to get a feel for his style, you can dip into them.

Have you read Sujatha's short stories? What do you think about them?

[S. Suresh · Rating 4 out of 5]

இருநூற்றுக்கும் மேலாக சிறுகதைகள் எழுதியுள்ளார் சுஜாதா. அவரே தேர்ந்தெடுத்த ஐம்பது சிறுகதைகளைக் கொண்ட முதல் தொகுதி இந்தப் புத்தகம்.

நகரம், பார்வை, ரேணுகா, எல்டோராடோ, கால்கள், தீவுகள் கரையேறுகின்றன போன்ற சிறுகதைகள் வாசகர்களிடம் ஆழ்ந்த சலனத்தை ஏற்படுத்தியது என்று கூறுகிறார் சுஜாதா. உண்மை. அவற்றுடன் நிபந்தனை, எப்படியும் வாழலாம் என்ற இரு சிறுகதைகளையும் அவசியம் சேர்க்கலாம்.

[Sudharsan Haribaskar · Rating 5 out of 5]

அறுபதுகளில் தொடங்கி 2000க்கு பிந்தைய ஆண்டுகளிலும் எழுத்துலகின் அசைக்கமுடியாத ஆளுமையாகத் திகழ்ந்த ‘சுஜாதா’ அவர்களின் 50 ‘மிகச்சிறந்த’ சிறுதைகளை ஒட்டுமொத்தமாக படிப்பதே மிகுந்த அலாதியான ஒரு அனுபவம். எழுதத்தொடங்கிய காலம் தொட்டு 20 ஆண்டுகள் முன்னோக்கிய சிந்தனையோடே திகழ்ந்திருக்கின்றன அவரது கதைகள்.அவருடைய கதைகளின் எழுத்து நடையிலிருந்து எல்லாமே கொஞ்சம் கொஞ்சமாய் பரிணாம வளர்ச்சி அடைந்திருப்பதே தலைமுறை இடைவெளியில்லாத இரசனைக்குக் காரணமென்பேன். மொத்தத்தில் ஒரு மறக்கவியலா வாசிப்பனுபவம்.

[Sriram Mangaleswaran · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best short story collections as a mixed bag. . .

[Babu Gandhi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of 50 short stories with various themes which sure makes you to ask for more and more. 2 more parts are there and I am sure to go after them too.

One of the short story by name "Theevugal Karayeruginrana" shook me deeply.

[Arvind Srinivasan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sujatha once again proves he is one of the kings of short story. Most of make us feel as if we too can write short stories very easily. But I think to write a short story that can create so much impact is insanely great.
Stories like theevugal karaiyerugindrana is something extraordinary. Some how sujatha makes me read his books completely and during the read it always gives lots of pleasure meeting so many new people.
If you like sujatha or short stories a must read.

[சந்திரசேகரன் · Rating 5 out of 5]

எளிய எழுத்து நடையால் தமிழ் வாசகர் பரப்பை தனதாக்கிக் கொண்டவர் பிரபல எழுத்தாளர் சுஜாதா அவர்கள்.
பல இதழ்களில் வெவ்வேறு காலக்கட்டங்களில் எழுதப்பட்டு, சமூகத்திலும் வாசகரிடத்திலும் பெரும் வரவேற்பைப் பெற்ற 50 சிறந்த சிறுகதைகளை உள்ளடக்கியது இந்தத் தொகுப்பு. ஒவ்வொரு சிறுகதையும் ஒவ்வொரு முத்துச்சரமாய் அலங்கரிக்கிறது இப்புத்தகத்தை...
எளிய எழுத்து நடை, சரளமான சுவாரஸ்யமான வாசிப்பை வழங்கிடுகிறது...