21 Shrasth Kahaniyan Sadat Hasan Manto

by Saadat Hasan Manto

21 Kahaniyan Manto PB Hindi

Genres: Literature, Fiction

200 pages, Paperback

Published December 17, 2019

About the author

Saadat Hasan Manto (Urdu: سعادت حسن منٹو, Hindi: सआदत हसन मंटो), the most widely read and the most controversial short-story writer in Urdu, was born on 11 May 1912 at Sambrala in Punjab's Ludhiana District. In a writing career spanning over two decades he produced twenty-two collections of short stories, one novel, five collections of radio plays, three collections of essays, two collections of reminiscences and many scripts for films. He was tried for obscenity half a dozen times, thrice before and thrice after independence. Not always was he acquitted. Some of Manto's greatest work was produced in the last seven years of his life, a time of great financial and emotional hardship for him. He died a few months short of his forty-third birthday, in January 1955, in Lahore.

Reviews

[Moushmi Radhanpara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read Manto’s stories and about his life earlier but it was refreshing to read the original version. There is no doubt that I adore and respect his writings and these stories are definitely some of the best and makes one ponder over issues that are less spoken of. True to saying he was surely ahead of his time and writes freely on issues like politics, patriarchy and even sexuality. Thanda Ghost, Blouse, Toba Tek Singh, Mammy, Gurmukh Singh ki Wasiyat, Mera Naam Radha Hain were only some stories that excel in his writings. I totally recommend Manto and his further reading to those who have the audacity to read with an open mind.

[Suyog Garg · Rating 4 out of 5]

1. टोबा टेकसिंह
2. ऊपर, नीचे और दरमियांन
3. ठंडा गोश्त
4. बू
5. साढ़े तीन आने
6. बस स्टैंड
7. बुड्ढा खूसट
8. अनारकली
9. तमाशा
10. मैडम डीकॉस्टा
11. मेरा नाम राधा है
12. खाली बोतलें, खाली डिब्बे
13. चुग़द
14. गुरमुख सिंह की वसीयत
15. देख कबीरा रोया
16. किचें और किर्चियां
17. बाजू की गली से
18. एक ख़त
19. महमूदा
20. मम्मी
21. ब्लाउज़

[Riddhiman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Manto is a prolific as well as controversial writer of short stories. I had picked up a Bengali translation, since I believe that translation loss is minimized when the roots of the origin - Urdu and target language - Bengali are close (which I call the Language Proximity theory). However, one has to take into account the quality of the translation for this to work. In this case, however the translation is pretty poor, be it the construction of sentences, spellings or the use of words which do not belong to the Bengali language. This is much like the Bengali dubbing of ads on television, only worse. This was the only reason the original flavor of the stories could not be grasped even remotely.
Even then, the power of the narrative does make some of them shine. My particular favorite is a story called 'Bus Stop'. The climax of this is outstanding. Most of the stories take a look at the psychological, often psycho-sexual aspect of human beings. Some are related to the partition of India and its aftermath. Some of the stories have Manto as a character, suggesting a modernist approach, however it is difficult to say whether they are all real experiences or partly blended with fiction. Some of the stories seem very poetic but their effect is totally destroyed by the horrible translation. This rating is for the narratives which could be grasped even from the poor translation.
I have heard that even the English translation is not that good. Would a Hindi translation be better? Anyway, I would like to read proper translations of these in the future.

[Rekha Kotnis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Manto is different. He is special. His characters are ordinary but their stories are special. Manto’s way to tell the story is special. I don’t know how may times I read his stories. Started reading approx 3 years back. Still reading.

I was too happy to present one of his stories in society literature festival. I hoped I could do a justice and I think I did as few of the audiences did meet after the session and shared their views and curiosity over story and of course the author.

[Ganesh Ghawate · Rating 2 out of 5]

Found quite boring except couple of stories.
We should accept the fact that the legends were legends in their generation only.
One should not be hard on oneself to like what others think they like. :)

[Harshit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nothing I write here could do justice to his writing. His understanding of the social structure, women and the working class takes us through a rollercoaster ride through these set of stories. It leaves you stunned, confused and always wanting for more.

[My reading affair · Rating 4 out of 5]

प्रेमचंद जी की तरह ही साधारण जीवन मंटो की कलम में भी दिखाई देता है। साथ ही कटाक्ष करने का साहस गजब का है। मुझे पूरा यकीं है की अपने समय में सरकार और उनके सेवक, मंटो को कतई पसंद नहीं करते होंगे। बहुत सुन्दर, साधारण। शायद जो देखा वैसे ही लिखा इसलिए असलियत के बहुत नजदीक लगता है।

[Minali patel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nothing I write will do justice to his writings.
It’s my first time reading his works,even though it was in my reading list for a long time but I never thought of reading his works and I probably wouldn’t have….if….I had not came across few statements which said “Manto-the Premchand of Pakistan” or the “Manto-Premchand of partition”.I mean how can someone be compared to Premchand!!
NO NEVER!!THIS IS NOT EVEN POSSIBLE!!

They are similar in many ways,the realism in both their works is exceptional,both have the magic to capture the interest of the readers and most importantly both their works will leave you in a cliffhanger of imaginations.

Though there are significant differences like their styles of writing,Premchand’s writing style is persuasive,smooth as cheese and manto’s is unique,mocking,blunt and rough as a chalk.
The commencement of Premchand’s works are principally from poverty,social evils,injustice and caste discrimination while manto’s originate from pimps,gossips and alcohol.

After reading these collections of stories,I am unable to decide who is my fav story writer Premchand or Manto?
I think I will be in this quandary forever.

[Narendra Singh Rathore · Rating 4 out of 5]

These were a collection of manto's 21 short stories. It took me a long time to navigate through all of them but finally after a month I have completed them. The stories were written during the time of Indian Independence Era so most of the stories are set around those themes. He effectively captures all the human emotions in simple and daily life situations that I was so impressed by his writings. Some stories are going to stay with me for a long time. Themes ranges across sexuality, morality, hypocrisy of society, class and hierarchy etc.,

I picked this book without any recommendations. I was amazed by this Indian writer and more to read from him. Even after so many years his stories still feel fresh and thought provoking.

[Ayush Jain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting stories

This is the first time I read Manto. He was recommended to me quite some time. I have to say I am really impressed by the stories. I was able to finish this book so easily. The stories are very relatable in spite of the fact that they are based in a very old era.

[Akshay Bolakani · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a pretty boring book. I see how writing erotic and lascivious short stories in the 40’s in India and the 50’s in Pakistan was a bold and courageous thing to do especially as he was Muslim. Besides that though there is nothing here that would make you think or remember. Most of the people who like this writing probably haven’t read better writers!

[Nilay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not very impressed with the book, I was hoping I would like it more. Not a single story has stayed with me and I just finished the book, well maybe except for Thanda Gohsht.

Maybe it's just my disdain for short stories, perhaps time to stop trying them anymore.

[Bella]

Read through English translation

[Sameen Haque · Rating 3 out of 5]

𝘎𝘦𝘯𝘳𝘦 - 𝘚𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 (𝘋𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘢, 𝘚𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦, 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦)
𝘙𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 - ⭐⭐⭐💫

"...𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚂𝚊𝚊𝚍𝚊𝚝 𝙷𝚊𝚜𝚊𝚗 𝚍𝚒𝚎𝚜, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎. "

👓 And so he remains alive and he always will. Manto was definitely a revolutionary writer in the history of Indo-Pak Literature and because of his brutaly honest and explicit stories he spent lots of his time in courts because he was accused of putting obscenity and vulgarism in his work.

👓 As a kid I grew up listening to Toba Tek Singh, a popular story by Manto which tells us about the effects of partition on mentally disabled people. I always used to laugh when my Father read out loud the gibberish that the main character kept repeating, i obviously didn't knew the seriousness and gravity of the situation then. But now that I've read some of the best stories by Manto, I can't even start to imagine the horrors that were faced by people during the partition of India.

👓 The stories in this book are the selected and most featured works of Manto. I can't describe how scary, heartbreaking and terrifying some of these stories were, especially 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎 𝐺𝑜𝑠ℎ𝑡 (Cold Meat), 𝐾ℎ𝑜𝑙 𝐷𝑜 (Open It) & 𝑆𝑎𝑑𝑎𝑘 𝐾𝑒 𝐾𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑟𝑒 (Roadside). I literally had goosebumps at the end.

👓 I recommend Manto to my adult audience (even though minors are reading Haunting Adeline, Twisted Series & Icebreaker these days) and people who like to explore historical fiction from the time of Indian Independence & Partition.

[Ankur Sharma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Made the mistake of listening to the book, rather than reading it. The narrator was monotonous, and the narration boring. It was like a computerised voice reading the stories to me. I'm sure he tried his best, but the Punjabi words were just massacred.

The stories, of course, are excellent, the words colourful. Manto knows how to shock and awe.

[Shilpa Rastogi · Rating 5 out of 5]

इनकी कहानियों के बारे में क्या कहूँ। कोइ नही लिखा सकता इनकी तरह। He was way ahead his time. Every story made me think for hours. It's a potpourri of emotions. Unexpected endings too!

[Sidhartha · Rating 4 out of 5]

All the stories clearly reflects immense influence of the partition & will definitely hurt you with the raw truth of the society if you are not in that mental domain.