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Three Virgins and Other Stories
Author-artist Manjula Padmanabhan returns with ten stories: five new, five old, some dark, some funny, all edgy.
A vampire visits New Delhi, a space traveller returns to her ancestral home, a character from an ancient epic is transported into the future... To each story Padmanabhan brings an unexpected twist, a touch of satire, a whiff of cynicism, a delicious undercurrent of dark humour.
Drawing on her earlier, highly acclaimed anthology, Hot Death Cold Soup, and adding new stories to it, Padmanabhan presents a potent and sometimes disturbing collection that will leave readers asking for more.
A vampire visits New Delhi, a space traveller returns to her ancestral home, a character from an ancient epic is transported into the future... To each story Padmanabhan brings an unexpected twist, a touch of satire, a whiff of cynicism, a delicious undercurrent of dark humour.
Drawing on her earlier, highly acclaimed anthology, Hot Death Cold Soup, and adding new stories to it, Padmanabhan presents a potent and sometimes disturbing collection that will leave readers asking for more.
- GenresShort Stories
264 pages, Hardcover
First published March 15, 2013
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91 people want to read
About the author
Manjula Padmanabhan
67 books51 followersManjula Padmanabhan is a playwright, novelist, journalist, comic strip artist, and children's book author.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 23, 2018
This collection has something for at least three types of people: fans of literary fiction, fans of science fiction and fantasy, and lovers of India and its many cultures - foreign and domestic. While I'm an occasional member of the first group, I'm solidly a member of the second and third groups. Padmanabhan's unique voice is also worth mentioning: strong without being overbearing, literary without being snooty, whimsical without silliness. (Okay, there's a little bit of silliness, but it works: I imagine Padmanabhan writing with a wry smile rather than a full belly laugh).
The straightforward mimetic fiction stories (like "Stains," "Khajuraho," "The Strength of Small Things," and "Three Virgins") are so well done and so imaginative that even a science fiction nerd like me can enjoy them. Literary fiction fans will claim "Hot Death, Cold Soup" as their kind of thing, but it's so odd it feels science fictional to me.
There are two stories that take up characters or stories from the Ramayana ("The Other Woman" and "Exile"), albeit in Padmanabhan's unique science fictional twist. "A Government of India Undertaking" imagines modern Indian bureaucracy applied to ancient notions of reincarnation with hilarious results. "Teaser" is a bit of the odd story out. The vampire story, "Feast" originally wasn't that interesting to me (vampires aren't my thing), but it ended up being one of my favorites in the collection with a deep theme about how culture and religion shape what scares us, what gives meaning to our lives, and, of course, how we think about mortality (and immortality).
It's a testament to Padmanabhan's strengths as an author that I genuinely enjoyed reading every story even when I didn't find the topic all that interesting. Her prose is like a lazy river that sweeps you along until you find yourself arriving at new, unexpected shores you didn't even know you wanted to explore.
(See also my blog review: http://examinedworlds.blogspot.com/20...)
The straightforward mimetic fiction stories (like "Stains," "Khajuraho," "The Strength of Small Things," and "Three Virgins") are so well done and so imaginative that even a science fiction nerd like me can enjoy them. Literary fiction fans will claim "Hot Death, Cold Soup" as their kind of thing, but it's so odd it feels science fictional to me.
There are two stories that take up characters or stories from the Ramayana ("The Other Woman" and "Exile"), albeit in Padmanabhan's unique science fictional twist. "A Government of India Undertaking" imagines modern Indian bureaucracy applied to ancient notions of reincarnation with hilarious results. "Teaser" is a bit of the odd story out. The vampire story, "Feast" originally wasn't that interesting to me (vampires aren't my thing), but it ended up being one of my favorites in the collection with a deep theme about how culture and religion shape what scares us, what gives meaning to our lives, and, of course, how we think about mortality (and immortality).
It's a testament to Padmanabhan's strengths as an author that I genuinely enjoyed reading every story even when I didn't find the topic all that interesting. Her prose is like a lazy river that sweeps you along until you find yourself arriving at new, unexpected shores you didn't even know you wanted to explore.
(See also my blog review: http://examinedworlds.blogspot.com/20...)
December 27, 2014
Very few have dared to rewrite mythology, but 'Exile' definitely has been one of the best. Minute details that are generally ignored take the center stage in 'Strength of Small things', as they are weaved together to form a brilliant story. 'Stains' had me nodding all along, and I simply loved the 2 lines that ended the story. 'Teaser' has been written tastefully, from a perspective that few of us would bother thinking about. Overall, the book stands tall, with its brilliant phrases and metaphors, compelling you to devour it with the kind of hunger that demands a good read.
December 19, 2024
3.5/5
An enjoyable, but forgettable, collection of stories. Touching the realms of fantasy and introspective fiction, the stories are nuanced, well written, and quick to read through.
An enjoyable, but forgettable, collection of stories. Touching the realms of fantasy and introspective fiction, the stories are nuanced, well written, and quick to read through.
July 8, 2018
I loved everything about this book, right from the cover illustrations to the interesting stories that the inside is filled with. Manjula takes you on a trip to a wild imagination, which makes you feel good after reading the stories.
Every story has some hidden meaning, a message and this other worldliness. The combination makes it a lethal package that'll just burst your brains and make you think beyond the norms. Stories like Khajuraho, Stains, The Strength of Small Things address raw emotions that people living in the everyday social stratum feel. The story 'Exile' is a wonderful take on utopian Ramayan, or should I say, 'Sitayana', wherein the roles are reserved and the end is just bang-on, slap on the face to misogynistic ideologies that stem from the traditional epic. Even the 'Other Woman' is an interesting take on mythical characters and events. The title story makes you wonder about the subtleties of life.
I advise all lovers of powerful, engaging fiction writing to pick up this book without further ado!
Every story has some hidden meaning, a message and this other worldliness. The combination makes it a lethal package that'll just burst your brains and make you think beyond the norms. Stories like Khajuraho, Stains, The Strength of Small Things address raw emotions that people living in the everyday social stratum feel. The story 'Exile' is a wonderful take on utopian Ramayan, or should I say, 'Sitayana', wherein the roles are reserved and the end is just bang-on, slap on the face to misogynistic ideologies that stem from the traditional epic. Even the 'Other Woman' is an interesting take on mythical characters and events. The title story makes you wonder about the subtleties of life.
I advise all lovers of powerful, engaging fiction writing to pick up this book without further ado!
January 13, 2017
Short story collections are always tricky. Having read couple of Manjula Padmanabhan's stories in anthologies, I was really looking forward to this. As it turned out, this collection had both the stories I had earlier read and they still remain at the top of the bunch. Those are Teaser and The Other Woman.
Out of the other eight, I liked Stains which in a sense falls in the same territory as Teaser - a dramatic take on a common issue faced by women. In Teaser, it is the male PoV while in Stains it is the unusual setting. Khajuraho and The Strength of Small Things were also nice. Exile seemed too long to make the point in the end. The longest story in the collection, Hot Death Cold Soup has interesting premise but seemed too long. I lost interest somewhere along the way.
The collection didn't turn out to be as delicious as I had hoped for. But certainly looking forward to read more from the author.
Out of the other eight, I liked Stains which in a sense falls in the same territory as Teaser - a dramatic take on a common issue faced by women. In Teaser, it is the male PoV while in Stains it is the unusual setting. Khajuraho and The Strength of Small Things were also nice. Exile seemed too long to make the point in the end. The longest story in the collection, Hot Death Cold Soup has interesting premise but seemed too long. I lost interest somewhere along the way.
The collection didn't turn out to be as delicious as I had hoped for. But certainly looking forward to read more from the author.
June 2, 2020
I considered dropping this book after reading first two stories, I am glad I didn't. At places the writing felt dry, complicated, trying hard to be poetic and failing.
But stories (with some exception) deliver some hard punches at the end; and that makes up for everything else.
But stories (with some exception) deliver some hard punches at the end; and that makes up for everything else.
July 21, 2016
This very entertaining collection of contemporary short stories set in India was a treat. The stories veer between realism and fantasy. From the realism zone "Stains" was intriguing, not because the story line itself was new but because an African American girl is the protagonist, which is a rarity in Indian writing. At the fantastic end of the spectrum "The Other Woman" made me laugh out loud. Anyone who watches the news in India will be familiar with the treatment of celebrity interviews with celebrities, or, in this case, goddesses for whom English is a second language. I found Manjula Padmanabhan's voice so familiar she could be one of my neighbors in Delhi. She writes with a deft ear for spoken language and is spot on for the high, the low, and the absurdly amusing voices of India.
May 17, 2014
Something between an "it was okay" and "I like it"
All were easy reads.
Hot death Cold Soup is a great story. Would give a three for just that.
But maybe not for the others.
All were easy reads.
Hot death Cold Soup is a great story. Would give a three for just that.
But maybe not for the others.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews