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The Patna Manual of Style
'Go to any party, in any country, on any moonlit terrace of the world, the best dressed man is always the one from Patna. ' In these nine interlinked stories we meet the not so quintessential Patna man Hriday Thakur, Literature junkie, aspiring writer, inveterate lover of women and rain, Jishnu da, his acquaintance from Delhi University, who is now an 'importer of blondes', Samuel Crown, the fastidious proofreader who mentors Hriday and instils in him an irrevocable love for the art of 'book-making', the parade of women in Hriday's life: austere, doe eyed Charulata, love of his youth, the one who got away, Chitrangada, his wife, who works hard to be accepted in his world of books, art, politics and activism, the beautiful Anjali Singh Nalwa, ex-flame who is now a fiery, controversial novelist, Imogen Burns, the intrepid chronicler of graveyards, Sadaf Khan Abdali, who loves the smell of Listerine early in the morning and 'Sophia Loren', dream girl of many schoolboys, now a mother of two.
Unsentimental to a fault, Siddharth Chowdhury's stories deal with relationships that are intimate and sensuous and sometimes hard to define, taken together, they are an affectionate nod to an idealist generation, insulated in a world of publishing, academia, gin-soaked brunches and Marxist philosophy.
Unsentimental to a fault, Siddharth Chowdhury's stories deal with relationships that are intimate and sensuous and sometimes hard to define, taken together, they are an affectionate nod to an idealist generation, insulated in a world of publishing, academia, gin-soaked brunches and Marxist philosophy.
- GenresFiction
144 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 2015
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99 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
March 21, 2017
The stories took me back to my days doing my Pre-med from Ramjas College and then Medicine from DU and my stay at Gwyer Hall. I yearned for those innocent days - loafing around K. Nags, Maurice Nagar Bus Stop, U Specials, the memorable first-day-first show of "Bobby" and the hours spent in the musty caverns of Delhi Public Library. Fifteen paise was the bus fare from Kash. Gate to DU; five paise for a glass of chilled water.....
September 14, 2022
I should have done better research when picking a book to read for Bihar for my #ReadingIndia challenge.
This is not the kind of work I enjoy reading and the only reason I finished it is because I am running out of time to finish my challenge.
This is not the kind of work I enjoy reading and the only reason I finished it is because I am running out of time to finish my challenge.
April 9, 2015
When I read Patna Roughcut, I was strangely miffed. The stories reference my city but weren't making a connect.
Therefore, it was with tremendous hesitation that I picked up Siddharth Chowdhury's Patna Manual of Stories.
And bam. They were so good!
The stories, for the most part, are set in Delhi and are wonderfully rich with detail and complex with intersecting, frequently recurring characters. Am going to avoid spoilers because you just have to experience the wonderful alchemy of language and humour and darkness and what I'd like to believe is satire.
Therefore, it was with tremendous hesitation that I picked up Siddharth Chowdhury's Patna Manual of Stories.
And bam. They were so good!
The stories, for the most part, are set in Delhi and are wonderfully rich with detail and complex with intersecting, frequently recurring characters. Am going to avoid spoilers because you just have to experience the wonderful alchemy of language and humour and darkness and what I'd like to believe is satire.
March 4, 2015
A tale of two cities, this collection brings to life a bevy of memorable characters. The setting is most vividly described, almost making it real. And probably even more evocative for someone who might work in publishing as you end up nodding or hmmming as he weaves through the lanes of Darya Ganj, gutters and picas, the air heavy with the scent of old books from that hole in the wall next to Plaza cinema. Beautifully written.
October 7, 2024
3.5. A fun read. Most stories are good, some average. My favourite one was Tipple Cake which is also the story that brought me to this anthology from another selection. I wanted to see similar depth and nuance of relationships.
The anecdotes of life of students and academicians from Bihar in Delhi felt genuine and lived in.
The book definitely suffered from the self insert protagonist who gets quite a few women because he's oh so charming and depicting those women as fireballs but I can look past most of it for the characters did feel quite fun to read around and don't overstay their welcome.
The anecdotes of life of students and academicians from Bihar in Delhi felt genuine and lived in.
The book definitely suffered from the self insert protagonist who gets quite a few women because he's oh so charming and depicting those women as fireballs but I can look past most of it for the characters did feel quite fun to read around and don't overstay their welcome.
January 16, 2016
The Patna Manual of Style by Siddharth Chowdhury was a gift from a friend. The title intrigued me, there was no blurb to draw me into the book. I still chose it to be my first hardcopy read for 2016 because I was in a mood to read something new, something different.
I loved The Importer of Blondes, the first story of this short story collection, which had the perfect mix of dialogues, descriptions, mood and ending. This built up in me great expectations for the rest of the collection. The collection is interlinked by the character of Hriday Thakur, a typical Delhi literary elite, a storyteller, a copy-editor/copy writer struggling to make ends meet, and one who likes his alcohol and women.
As I read further, the well-told stories fizzled out towards the ending without a strong climax. Death of a Proofreader held a lot of promise, but again the ending dissatisfied me. Tipple Cake was all right. The title story was touching. Goat-Getting made no sense to me. The Changing of the Guard felt incomplete. Damsel in Distress was interesting. Sophia Loren could have been better. I have no idea why Autobiography was sandwiched in between.
However, while I was dissatisfied with the ending of the stories, I loved the author's style. His writing captures moments, and paints distinct Delhi-life images. There's poignancy in the narration, the one which makes you feel like you're sailing in a cruise by a solitary, beautiful island with this book in hand and a glass of a soothing cocktail on the table next to you.
Hriday Thakur seemed quite obviously modelled after the author himself. I have a bone to pick with that idea. As long as the narration was first person by Hriday or even a third person by him, I could relate to the stories. However, when a third person spoke about Hriday and either glorified or mocked him, it seemed pretty obvious that the author was indulging in a bit of self-pimping. Being a small-time writer myself, I recognise that urge to write about myself in third person because I think I am awesome in some way or funny or self-deprecatory or had some foibles worthy of note. "Since no one will do it, I must, and I must immortalise myself," I think.
On another note, the references to classics, great music and Delhi University culturalisms brought in a unique intertextuality to the collection.
I loved The Importer of Blondes, the first story of this short story collection, which had the perfect mix of dialogues, descriptions, mood and ending. This built up in me great expectations for the rest of the collection. The collection is interlinked by the character of Hriday Thakur, a typical Delhi literary elite, a storyteller, a copy-editor/copy writer struggling to make ends meet, and one who likes his alcohol and women.
As I read further, the well-told stories fizzled out towards the ending without a strong climax. Death of a Proofreader held a lot of promise, but again the ending dissatisfied me. Tipple Cake was all right. The title story was touching. Goat-Getting made no sense to me. The Changing of the Guard felt incomplete. Damsel in Distress was interesting. Sophia Loren could have been better. I have no idea why Autobiography was sandwiched in between.
However, while I was dissatisfied with the ending of the stories, I loved the author's style. His writing captures moments, and paints distinct Delhi-life images. There's poignancy in the narration, the one which makes you feel like you're sailing in a cruise by a solitary, beautiful island with this book in hand and a glass of a soothing cocktail on the table next to you.
Hriday Thakur seemed quite obviously modelled after the author himself. I have a bone to pick with that idea. As long as the narration was first person by Hriday or even a third person by him, I could relate to the stories. However, when a third person spoke about Hriday and either glorified or mocked him, it seemed pretty obvious that the author was indulging in a bit of self-pimping. Being a small-time writer myself, I recognise that urge to write about myself in third person because I think I am awesome in some way or funny or self-deprecatory or had some foibles worthy of note. "Since no one will do it, I must, and I must immortalise myself," I think.
On another note, the references to classics, great music and Delhi University culturalisms brought in a unique intertextuality to the collection.
June 18, 2015
Siddharth Chowdhury is not a prolific writer but the characters created by him will stay with me for a long time.Specially Charulata Roy..even my list of poetries wil be less if i want to dedicate something to the beauty as described by the author.My choice of #PatnaRoughCut was for movies(and also for books to some extent) but this book is purely for the classics mentioned(thanks for an anonymous review in a crazy blogspot).
Hriday thakur,Ritwick ray,Samar sinha,Swastika singh have suddenly created a buzz in my life.Simple lifestyle guided and folded by literature.With every sip of wine(the goodbye look) to the grand litti platter(the time of the toad),the author has provided a series of nostalgia..nicely woven in a place called Delhi.
This is a collection of short stories beautifully linked and by the time this 143 pages effort come to an end..readers will be at the same place where they have started the journey.All the stories are not that good but still this is a nice approach from an Indian author to present Bihar or Bengali speaking biharis with so much love towards literature and cult movies.
In recent past i have never read any Indian novels/short stories where so many great books/movies have been mentioned.Just give it a try for a quick read in a hot summer afternoon.
2.5 stars for the stories and 1 star for the books mentioned.Thanks Siddharth
Hriday thakur,Ritwick ray,Samar sinha,Swastika singh have suddenly created a buzz in my life.Simple lifestyle guided and folded by literature.With every sip of wine(the goodbye look) to the grand litti platter(the time of the toad),the author has provided a series of nostalgia..nicely woven in a place called Delhi.
This is a collection of short stories beautifully linked and by the time this 143 pages effort come to an end..readers will be at the same place where they have started the journey.All the stories are not that good but still this is a nice approach from an Indian author to present Bihar or Bengali speaking biharis with so much love towards literature and cult movies.
In recent past i have never read any Indian novels/short stories where so many great books/movies have been mentioned.Just give it a try for a quick read in a hot summer afternoon.
2.5 stars for the stories and 1 star for the books mentioned.Thanks Siddharth
March 14, 2015
This book came across as a travel guide or something related to the Patna city. Well, you will understand the reason behind my misconception if you check out the Aleph Books catalog. But I had to read the blurb, due to the depiction of a unkempt person with a typewriter to his side. It had to do something about literary circle for sure.
When I received the book, the author's name quite rang a bell, but unclear, which forced me to do second thing - after 'read the blurb' thing - I rarely do with the books I read. I dug into author's profile and learned that he is already an unpublished author of another book, Day Scholar. Well, it is quite an achievement to get shortlisted for Man Asian Literary Prize with your debut work............................ (Read the whole review on my blog.)
The original review of this book is posted on my blog...
To read the original review of this book, click here...
When I received the book, the author's name quite rang a bell, but unclear, which forced me to do second thing - after 'read the blurb' thing - I rarely do with the books I read. I dug into author's profile and learned that he is already an unpublished author of another book, Day Scholar. Well, it is quite an achievement to get shortlisted for Man Asian Literary Prize with your debut work............................ (Read the whole review on my blog.)
The original review of this book is posted on my blog...
To read the original review of this book, click here...
March 11, 2015
Siddharth has managed to both keep himself a part of all the drama yet step aside to view it and narrate it as a distant observer collecting tales. Distant, though not indifferent, and always dry-eyed. In making a greatly personal book, which I think this book is, impersonal lies his art.
If you are looking for the scent of Patna within the covers here, it’s merely a whiff. The perfume that is stronger is of a city that so many of us from our generation come to occupy, and own like a mistress if not make a wife, Delhi. And it lingers in the air much after you button up the jacket.
To read the full review, please go here - http://www.sakshinanda.com/2015/03/bo...
If you are looking for the scent of Patna within the covers here, it’s merely a whiff. The perfume that is stronger is of a city that so many of us from our generation come to occupy, and own like a mistress if not make a wife, Delhi. And it lingers in the air much after you button up the jacket.
To read the full review, please go here - http://www.sakshinanda.com/2015/03/bo...
May 14, 2016
Well in the whole book I was expecting stories to be set in Patna but that didn't happen. Leaving that aside I think its a nice read especially the characters of the books who we are able to look from different viewpoints. The best story of the lot is the first one The Importer of Blondes.
An average book which will not leave you with any lingering thoughts and emotions.
An average book which will not leave you with any lingering thoughts and emotions.
January 31, 2015
The Communist Manifesto for anyone who has ever wanted to write a book; especially if he's a single, middle-class man from east India, living in Delhi in a one-room flat and trying to make ends meet without compromising with the weekly word count of his first novel.
January 24, 2016
Average. Found First and the last story quite gripping and well written. Somewhere in the middle, i found myself not being able to clearly envision what the author wants to tell. But clearly one of the better starts of 2016. Hope to read some good Indian fictions
February 15, 2016
Siddharth Chowdhury , I liked you in ‘The Patna Manual of Style’, I loved the vividly screaming narrative and yes the literature lurking at the end of every sentence.
I will come back to you again for more, because I couldn’t get enough of it in 143 pages of ‘The Patna Manual of Style’.
I will come back to you again for more, because I couldn’t get enough of it in 143 pages of ‘The Patna Manual of Style’.
November 17, 2015
Being from Patna, I couldn't relate much except the names of a few places in Patna. Neither the stories were very interesting.
December 27, 2016
Bitter sweet stories that are oh so familiar
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews