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Carnival: Short Stories
Question is, what do you do when life gives you choices.
A man starving for a week has nothing but rotting banana peels with him.
A surgeon operating on his peer who has been threatening to expose his malpractice.
Three best friends after one girl in a college where boys outnumber girls three to one.
Last man on Earth reasons with Robots to preserve relics of human civilization.
Disillusionment a young woman feels the night before her Clitoridectomy
A little boy who just cant keep out of trouble, his uncles way or the family mango room.
A man on a macabre island where humans are hunted for vicarious pleasure.
In Carnival, characters routinely find themselves in tight situations, some hilarious, some sombre and some downright chilling. When you read how they deal with it, youll wonder: Would I have acted the same way?
Isnt it amazing to start a story when you dont even know the genre? Thats carnival for you
Following in the footsteps of Labyrinth: Short Stories, Carnival is a collection of fifteen tales that cover genres like adventure, science fiction, fantasy, thrillers, literary, historical, humor and many more. As you go from one story to another in Carnival, itll feel like jumping from a beautiful carousel and to a fire breathing roller-coaster.
A man starving for a week has nothing but rotting banana peels with him.
A surgeon operating on his peer who has been threatening to expose his malpractice.
Three best friends after one girl in a college where boys outnumber girls three to one.
Last man on Earth reasons with Robots to preserve relics of human civilization.
Disillusionment a young woman feels the night before her Clitoridectomy
A little boy who just cant keep out of trouble, his uncles way or the family mango room.
A man on a macabre island where humans are hunted for vicarious pleasure.
In Carnival, characters routinely find themselves in tight situations, some hilarious, some sombre and some downright chilling. When you read how they deal with it, youll wonder: Would I have acted the same way?
Isnt it amazing to start a story when you dont even know the genre? Thats carnival for you
Following in the footsteps of Labyrinth: Short Stories, Carnival is a collection of fifteen tales that cover genres like adventure, science fiction, fantasy, thrillers, literary, historical, humor and many more. As you go from one story to another in Carnival, itll feel like jumping from a beautiful carousel and to a fire breathing roller-coaster.
235 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
2 people are currently reading
26 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 14, 2014
Is it acceptable to review books of which you are a contributor?
I loved the book so much that I could not help writing about it.
I am a huge fan of Labyrinth, the first publishing endeavor of Litizen.com and was desperate be a part of Carnival. I am happy to say that not only has Litizen.com been able to match the standards set by Labyrinth, but have actually managed to better the quality of stories. Reading this book restores my faith in the future of Indian writing in English.
My take on the lucky 15 that have made it to the book.
1) The book starts with some explosive writing by Rishabh Chaturvedi in the maddeningly enticing Rhode Island, a mysterious island with a strange custodian, where animals and humans are hunted for pleasure. The story is fast and furious. The ending is slightly murky, (I had to read the last page again) but makes perfect sense in the end.
2) Smile by Aparna Sunderesan ( who has done a commendable job as the editor of the book), is again a simple tale which teases, tantalizes and eventually seduces your mind.
3) The Music shop by Sharath Komaraju is another wonderfully original plot. The execution is near perfect, almost leaving nothing to desire. I would have preferred a crisper ending though.
4)Morarka House by Rishabh Chaturvedi, is another little gem, the black humour mocking and entertaining at the same time.
5) Black Sails by Dushyant Shekhawat, a tale of adventure, deceit and double-cross; entertains well.
6) Ayesha by Vivek Banerjee - No comments as I wrote the story.
7) Envy, a futuristic science fiction by Sharath Komaraju, a tale spun with great skill and originality, is reminiscent of Robot stories by Isaac Asimov.
8) Grandma’s Secret , by Rohit Das, is a good interesting read with a shock ending.
9) To Tango with mango, by Shawn Pereira, provides some much needed comic relief.
10) Skin by Muna Hussen is a disturbing portrayal of an out-dated religious tradition. Very well written though!
11) The Girl on the train, by Ketaki Patwardhan, is well woven. For a moment I thought that I was reading a ghost or a con story, but the writer surprised me with the twist in the tail.
12) Opportunity knocks but once, by Sheela Jaywant, is the best story of the book. Innovative, well narrated, this tantalizingly close to life story of a surgeon, told with disarming simplicity; is a winner all the way.Being a Doctor, I identified strongly with the story.
13) End of an Era by Sharath Komaraju, an irreverent college romance, is kind of funny.
14) I am usually wary of feminist writing, but Sreelatha Chakrabarty scores in Angi with this sensitive but hard hitting portrayal of Sita’s agni pareeksha.
15) Carnival, the last story of the collection, by Rishabh Chaturvedi again, is a complicated story with philosophical overtones. It perhaps, is the most cerebral story of the entire collection.
I have only one recommendation for prospective readers, do not miss.
I loved the book so much that I could not help writing about it.
I am a huge fan of Labyrinth, the first publishing endeavor of Litizen.com and was desperate be a part of Carnival. I am happy to say that not only has Litizen.com been able to match the standards set by Labyrinth, but have actually managed to better the quality of stories. Reading this book restores my faith in the future of Indian writing in English.
My take on the lucky 15 that have made it to the book.
1) The book starts with some explosive writing by Rishabh Chaturvedi in the maddeningly enticing Rhode Island, a mysterious island with a strange custodian, where animals and humans are hunted for pleasure. The story is fast and furious. The ending is slightly murky, (I had to read the last page again) but makes perfect sense in the end.
2) Smile by Aparna Sunderesan ( who has done a commendable job as the editor of the book), is again a simple tale which teases, tantalizes and eventually seduces your mind.
3) The Music shop by Sharath Komaraju is another wonderfully original plot. The execution is near perfect, almost leaving nothing to desire. I would have preferred a crisper ending though.
4)Morarka House by Rishabh Chaturvedi, is another little gem, the black humour mocking and entertaining at the same time.
5) Black Sails by Dushyant Shekhawat, a tale of adventure, deceit and double-cross; entertains well.
6) Ayesha by Vivek Banerjee - No comments as I wrote the story.
7) Envy, a futuristic science fiction by Sharath Komaraju, a tale spun with great skill and originality, is reminiscent of Robot stories by Isaac Asimov.
8) Grandma’s Secret , by Rohit Das, is a good interesting read with a shock ending.
9) To Tango with mango, by Shawn Pereira, provides some much needed comic relief.
10) Skin by Muna Hussen is a disturbing portrayal of an out-dated religious tradition. Very well written though!
11) The Girl on the train, by Ketaki Patwardhan, is well woven. For a moment I thought that I was reading a ghost or a con story, but the writer surprised me with the twist in the tail.
12) Opportunity knocks but once, by Sheela Jaywant, is the best story of the book. Innovative, well narrated, this tantalizingly close to life story of a surgeon, told with disarming simplicity; is a winner all the way.Being a Doctor, I identified strongly with the story.
13) End of an Era by Sharath Komaraju, an irreverent college romance, is kind of funny.
14) I am usually wary of feminist writing, but Sreelatha Chakrabarty scores in Angi with this sensitive but hard hitting portrayal of Sita’s agni pareeksha.
15) Carnival, the last story of the collection, by Rishabh Chaturvedi again, is a complicated story with philosophical overtones. It perhaps, is the most cerebral story of the entire collection.
I have only one recommendation for prospective readers, do not miss.
June 15, 2015
'Carnival' is a collection of fifteen short stories written by multiple authors in various genres. The initial idea of bringing around these stories is to put them on the website 'Litizen.com' where authors seek feedback on the content and overall quality. The best of the lot is then published in this book named 'Carnival' (first being 'Labyrinth' released earlier). As a personal opinion, i am not a great fan of multiple genres anthologies. I feel as a reader they demand greater concentration and you tend to drag the book into multiple sessions which take away slightly from the overall experience of enjoying the book. However, the quality of short stories in Carnival is overwhelming and most of the stories stand out for their unique storytelling style.
Rishabh Chaturvedi, who has written 3 stories (also the co-founder of Litizen) explores sci-fic genre the most- 'Rhode Island' is about an oil millionaire hunting for pleasure and the detailing of the imagery of the island is well captured. 'Carnival' as the last story explores sci-fic genre and time travel through a father and a son. 'Morarka House' is a bitter sweet tale about the greed of lawyers and property dispute of two brothers.
'Opportunity knocks but once' by Sheela Jaywant throws in an interesting premise of choosing between bad and the evil while keeping your morals tucked in a medical world. 'Agni' by Sreelatha Chakravarthy take us back to the times of Ramayana and show us the mind of Sita before the Agni Pariksha she has been unscrupulously subjected to. 'Ayesha' by Vivek Banerjee explore the dark machinations of the mind and eagerness to draw wrong conclusions. 'Grandma's Secret' explores the schizophrenic mind of the head of a family looking to bond ties with her granddaughter.
However, my personal favourite vote goes to Sharath Komarajju' who shows great potential in dealing with diverse genres. 'The Music Shop' deals with the concept of time travel while pushing your luck to infinite limits. 'Envy' deals with the last person/robot on earth and his personal taste in music. 'End of an Era' deals with college crushes and the writer keeps the narrative tight, peppered with humour not to allow the story to sunk into stereotype romance.
Overall, the book delivers on providing us quality short stories even though the number of stories exploring science fiction and time travel sound repetitive and borderline boring at times in the narrative. Couple of stories seems underdeveloped and does not delve too much exploring the emotional quotient of their lead protagonists. But these are mere nitpicking's in an otherwise solid anthology exploring different genres. If you are a short story fan, it is one book you should not miss this year.
Rishabh Chaturvedi, who has written 3 stories (also the co-founder of Litizen) explores sci-fic genre the most- 'Rhode Island' is about an oil millionaire hunting for pleasure and the detailing of the imagery of the island is well captured. 'Carnival' as the last story explores sci-fic genre and time travel through a father and a son. 'Morarka House' is a bitter sweet tale about the greed of lawyers and property dispute of two brothers.
'Opportunity knocks but once' by Sheela Jaywant throws in an interesting premise of choosing between bad and the evil while keeping your morals tucked in a medical world. 'Agni' by Sreelatha Chakravarthy take us back to the times of Ramayana and show us the mind of Sita before the Agni Pariksha she has been unscrupulously subjected to. 'Ayesha' by Vivek Banerjee explore the dark machinations of the mind and eagerness to draw wrong conclusions. 'Grandma's Secret' explores the schizophrenic mind of the head of a family looking to bond ties with her granddaughter.
However, my personal favourite vote goes to Sharath Komarajju' who shows great potential in dealing with diverse genres. 'The Music Shop' deals with the concept of time travel while pushing your luck to infinite limits. 'Envy' deals with the last person/robot on earth and his personal taste in music. 'End of an Era' deals with college crushes and the writer keeps the narrative tight, peppered with humour not to allow the story to sunk into stereotype romance.
Overall, the book delivers on providing us quality short stories even though the number of stories exploring science fiction and time travel sound repetitive and borderline boring at times in the narrative. Couple of stories seems underdeveloped and does not delve too much exploring the emotional quotient of their lead protagonists. But these are mere nitpicking's in an otherwise solid anthology exploring different genres. If you are a short story fan, it is one book you should not miss this year.
September 8, 2019
Carnival - an anthology of 15 short stories from Litizen.com - is a book that will stay by your side until you have read it till its last tale. It is rare to find a short short collection that has such a wide and varied inclusion of genres and situations without losing its grip on its main theme - "What do you do when life gives you a choice?" The characters in these stories are all struggling in different ways with life having thrown at them either a gambit or a trap. Stories like Rhode Island, Ayesha and Opportunity Knocks But Once represent this collection as tales that will intrigue and capture you as a reader. Smile, Skin and Agni are poignant in their gentle sensitivity and will stay with you even after having finished reading them. The final story, Carnival, is a perfect conclusion to this book that enchants, entertains and haunts in equal measures - much like its stunning book cover illustration which is the perfect invitation into it. This book is just right for anyone who needs a dose of delightful reading.
April 26, 2015
The collection of stories here are above average from many anthologies in market. But it have not lived up to the expectation Labyrinth: Short Stories have created.
Few stories are good but few are bellow average. I loved the following stories most:
1. Smile
2.The Music Shop
3.Envy
4.To Tango with Mango
5.Skin
Few stories are good but few are bellow average. I loved the following stories most:
1. Smile
2.The Music Shop
3.Envy
4.To Tango with Mango
5.Skin
February 9, 2014
Does the Carnival manage delight and enthrall? Read
here
.
April 13, 2014
Great collection of short stories by new authors! Highly recommended.
June 4, 2015
Almost a complete waste of time except a few stories.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews