What do you think?
Rate this book
Snake Catcher
The author's second work to appear in English is featured in this masterful collection of stories by the author of Essence of Camphor. Original.
- GenresFiction
320 pages, Hardcover
First published December 1, 2005
2 people are currently reading
63 people want to read
About the author
Naiyer Masud
26 books25 followersNaiyer Masud (1936–2017) was an Urdu scholar and Urdu-language short story writer.
Naiyer Masud was born in 1936 in Lucknow. He did two separate PhD degrees in Urdu and Persian, and was a professor of Persian at Lucknow University. He started publishing his fictional work in the 1970s, of which four collections have appeared so far. Two collections of selected stories have appeared in English translation as Essence of Camphor and Snake Catcher, the former later also translated into Finnish, French, and Spanish. Besides fiction, he has several volumes of critical studies of classical Urdu literature to his credit and has also translated Kafka and numerous contemporary Iranian short stories. In 1977 he visited Tehran at the invitation of the Ministry of Culture, Government of Iran. He was the recipient, in 2008, of India’s highest literary award, the 17th Saraswati Samman.
Naiyer Masud was born in 1936 in Lucknow. He did two separate PhD degrees in Urdu and Persian, and was a professor of Persian at Lucknow University. He started publishing his fictional work in the 1970s, of which four collections have appeared so far. Two collections of selected stories have appeared in English translation as Essence of Camphor and Snake Catcher, the former later also translated into Finnish, French, and Spanish. Besides fiction, he has several volumes of critical studies of classical Urdu literature to his credit and has also translated Kafka and numerous contemporary Iranian short stories. In 1977 he visited Tehran at the invitation of the Ministry of Culture, Government of Iran. He was the recipient, in 2008, of India’s highest literary award, the 17th Saraswati Samman.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 29, 2020
The jacket-flap compares Masud to Kafka, and that seems right. Every story begins in a universe that you recognize as your own until a word or phrase or event makes you realize you were wrong, that this is not your universe. The stories also succeed at answering mystery with deeper mystery.
November 17, 2014
Even to rate this book seems inappropriate. Masud is a brilliant writer. I don't know what he writes. But I'm glad I have read it. Every little sentence is so simple and makes so much sense. But when you put the simple little sentences together, none of the stories make any sense at all. Not that it's clear that Masud ever meant them too. If nothing else, these stories highlight the ambiguity of life in a manner that makes all other literature seem false and contrived by comparison.
November 2, 2010
Different... I think I'd appreciate this better if I could read it in the original Urdu. I liked the way that the narrators were rarely named, and each story would launch in head-first with little orientation, resulting in them overlapping with one another. I'd definitely read more from the author - or perhaps start learning Urdu and read this again.
October 29, 2020
"I have spent most my life in fruitless diversions. And these days I spend most of my time wondering what, if anything, I have gained from them -- which is my latest, perhaps final, perhaps even most fruitless diversion."
August 8, 2011
Could not get through it. Too diffuse for my taste. Kafka seen through a pastel Indian screen. Short stories.
June 4, 2013
Wonderfully atmospheric short stories. Masud is a master story-teller. Of course reading him in Urdu is a totally different experience.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews