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The Tale Retold : Selected Stories
The Tale Retold is as much about story-telling as it is about finding stories in situations where they may not easily be found. The title story examines with great sympathy the equations between a mother who feels helpless and hopeful in turns, a child who slowly comes to terms with his disability and a society which values soundness above all and makes no space for the differently abled. In Quest of a Story follows a middle-aged, retired man on his obsessive pursuit of a writer in the hope that he will become a subject of her narrative. A mother writes A Letter to Mrs D Souza , the principal of her daughter s school, in which she tries to negotiate some space for herself in a society where anything less than complete devotion to one s children is construed as culpable neglect. Alka Saraogi understands the undercurrents of the human mind and engages easily with the inner worlds of her characters. Her ability to look for the extraordinary within the ordinary and to elegantly shatter seemingly permanent stereotypes makes The Tale Retold an unforgettable collection.
161 pages, Paperback
First published December 31, 2009
About the author
Alka Saraogi
34 books9 followersAlka Saraogi (Hindi: अलका सरावगी, born 17 November 1960, Kolkata) is an Indian novelist and short story writer in the Hindi language. She is a recipient of the 2001 Sahitya Akademi Award for Hindi for her novel Kalikatha: Via Bypass.
Alka Saraogi was born in a Marwari family of Rajasthani origin in Kolkata. She studied at Calcutta University, receiving a PhD for her thesis on the poetry of Raghuvir Sahay.
Following her marriage and the birth of two children, Saraogi began to write short stories. Her first published work was Āp kī haṁsī (Your laughter), a story taking its title from one of Raghuvir Sahay's poems. Saraogi's mentor, Ashok Seksaria, sent it to Vartaman Sahitya, a Hindi literary journal, where it received favourable notice. She then published Kahānī kī talāś meṁ in 1996, a collection of short stories.
Alka Saraogi was born in a Marwari family of Rajasthani origin in Kolkata. She studied at Calcutta University, receiving a PhD for her thesis on the poetry of Raghuvir Sahay.
Following her marriage and the birth of two children, Saraogi began to write short stories. Her first published work was Āp kī haṁsī (Your laughter), a story taking its title from one of Raghuvir Sahay's poems. Saraogi's mentor, Ashok Seksaria, sent it to Vartaman Sahitya, a Hindi literary journal, where it received favourable notice. She then published Kahānī kī talāś meṁ in 1996, a collection of short stories.
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December 31, 2016
The Tale Retold is a very easy to pick up collection of stories, because all of them are relatable in some way.
Nearly every story simply follows a central character's thought flow, though told through various means, sometimes in first-person, sometimes in third, sometimes as a letter, sometimes a story being told to someone, and sometimes just thoughts to themselves.
The stories are all about feelings and observations and one's relation to society. Many have a central theme of otherness or oddity, whether the one being othered is the protagonist, a close relation, or someone they barely know. Family, friendship, childhood and the passage of time (along with the changes in life that accompany it) are the most common themes, and Alka Saraogi tells all of these with a perspective of almost brutal honesty, many a times making one question those aspects of one's own life while reading.
The most interesting to me were the stories that dealt with mental illness, chronic disorders, the treatment of children and the expectations put on women.
Also of note was an oft recurring motif of birds and trees.
Overall the book was fun, easy to pick up, often gripping, sometimes challenging one's view of life, and quite feminist.
The only reason I wouldn't give it a five is because, as would be expected of a short story collection, not all of them can match up to the others, though even then those are pretty decent reads. I would still recommend just about anyone to read this.
Nearly every story simply follows a central character's thought flow, though told through various means, sometimes in first-person, sometimes in third, sometimes as a letter, sometimes a story being told to someone, and sometimes just thoughts to themselves.
The stories are all about feelings and observations and one's relation to society. Many have a central theme of otherness or oddity, whether the one being othered is the protagonist, a close relation, or someone they barely know. Family, friendship, childhood and the passage of time (along with the changes in life that accompany it) are the most common themes, and Alka Saraogi tells all of these with a perspective of almost brutal honesty, many a times making one question those aspects of one's own life while reading.
The most interesting to me were the stories that dealt with mental illness, chronic disorders, the treatment of children and the expectations put on women.
Also of note was an oft recurring motif of birds and trees.
Overall the book was fun, easy to pick up, often gripping, sometimes challenging one's view of life, and quite feminist.
The only reason I wouldn't give it a five is because, as would be expected of a short story collection, not all of them can match up to the others, though even then those are pretty decent reads. I would still recommend just about anyone to read this.
Displaying 1 of 1 review