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A Clutch of Indian Masterpieces: Extraordinary Short Stories from the 19th Century to the Present
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544 pages, Paperback
First published December 11, 2014
80 people are currently reading
713 people want to read
About the author
David Davidar
14 books200 followersDavid Davidar is an author and publisher. He was educated at Madras (now Chennai) and Harvard University (where he obtained a diploma in publishing). In 1985, while still in his mid-twenties, he became one of the founding members of Penguin in India, where he edited or published authors like Kiran Desai, Arundhati Roy, Vikram Seth, Vikram Chandra, Rohinton Mistry, and Salman Rushdie.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
August 26, 2016
This book served the dual role of making me fulfil my wish to read more Indian authors this year, combined with my love of short stories. It is a collection of short stories, varying in length from a couple of pages to 50 pages, and features authors from Rabindranath Tagore to Junior Tharoor, with a plethora of regional authors thrown in the mix (translated to English of course). The genre varies from Upamanyu Chatterjee's Augustesque angst riddled story to a 20 page contemporary Aesop fable-like poem in verse from Vikram Seth, and everything in between. I discovered some really great authors from this (Anjum Hassan, Ambai, Tharoor Jr) and can't wait to get my hands on more books by them. The regional works are pretty good and goes to show the incredible and diverse untapped talent lurking around in the literary world. I wish it featured some stories from the North Eastern region of the country to really make it a complete package.
June 8, 2020
I brought this book along with me when I came to the US back in 2016 and it's only now that I finally managed to read it. A small part of me is glad that I waited for the pages to ripen to that perfect shade of brown. You know, the one that tells you that when you crack it open you'll be welcomed with that intoxicating smell of old books that give avid readers such a high! I love everything about this book. The bright indigo color, the silver lettering, and even the nimbu-mirch on the cover. Right on top, it says "A book doesn't get grander than this..." and I couldn't agree more.
Davidar's foreword is just as beautiful as each of the 39 gems of Indian literature that he picked for this anthology. He talks about how we draw upon multiple literary traditions including stories narrated in our mother tongues by our grandparents and the western literature we are exposed to in school. In my case, ma played a very important role in my childhood in exposing me to Indian literature. I grew up on works of Indian authors (not just Bangla) that she would find in some obscure little shop in Mumbai. And I was just hooked on to the sheer rawness of the stories.
The book features wonderful short stories by the likes of Tagore, Premchand, Manto, Bond, Chughtai, among others spanning a wide range of plots - satire, fables, science fiction, ghost stories, erotic stories - the list is pretty long. While I loved every single one of these 39 stories, two, in particular, stood out for me. First was Buddhadeva Bose's A Life (Ekti Jibon) that beautifully captures a man's heroic life devoted to knowledge. Such a beautiful piece of work! The second was Gulzar's Crossing the Ravi. Halfway through the story, I realized that Khalid Mohamed had skillfully incorporated this story in Benegal's Mammo where Farida Jalal narrates this story situated in Partition to his nephew Riyaz. The story was so powerful that it is still etched in my memory even after all these years.
Finally, Davidar compares the process of creating this anthology to that of a memory palace of Indian books. "When I enter any of the rooms that are faintly illuminated, the entire room blazes with light. At the same time, the room begins to hum with activity, with various characters engaged in all manner of actions" And reading each of these stories felt exactly like walking into different rooms in a palace, each more beautiful than the other.
Davidar's foreword is just as beautiful as each of the 39 gems of Indian literature that he picked for this anthology. He talks about how we draw upon multiple literary traditions including stories narrated in our mother tongues by our grandparents and the western literature we are exposed to in school. In my case, ma played a very important role in my childhood in exposing me to Indian literature. I grew up on works of Indian authors (not just Bangla) that she would find in some obscure little shop in Mumbai. And I was just hooked on to the sheer rawness of the stories.
The book features wonderful short stories by the likes of Tagore, Premchand, Manto, Bond, Chughtai, among others spanning a wide range of plots - satire, fables, science fiction, ghost stories, erotic stories - the list is pretty long. While I loved every single one of these 39 stories, two, in particular, stood out for me. First was Buddhadeva Bose's A Life (Ekti Jibon) that beautifully captures a man's heroic life devoted to knowledge. Such a beautiful piece of work! The second was Gulzar's Crossing the Ravi. Halfway through the story, I realized that Khalid Mohamed had skillfully incorporated this story in Benegal's Mammo where Farida Jalal narrates this story situated in Partition to his nephew Riyaz. The story was so powerful that it is still etched in my memory even after all these years.
Finally, Davidar compares the process of creating this anthology to that of a memory palace of Indian books. "When I enter any of the rooms that are faintly illuminated, the entire room blazes with light. At the same time, the room begins to hum with activity, with various characters engaged in all manner of actions" And reading each of these stories felt exactly like walking into different rooms in a palace, each more beautiful than the other.
July 7, 2022
One of the best books that I've come across! So many amazing short stories, many of which have been translated from various Indian languages. This book is truly a masterpiece! I will post a detailed review soon!:)
July 6, 2015
“A Clutch of Indian Masterpieces” is an anthology of extraordinary short stories originated from the Indian hinterland during the period from the 19th century to the present. Just like the Indian terrain, cuisine and culture, this book symbolizes diversity.
Hard bound, charming stories, multitude of flavors and themes make this anthology, a must have on every bibliophile's book shelf !
Hard bound, charming stories, multitude of flavors and themes make this anthology, a must have on every bibliophile's book shelf !
November 5, 2016
Except for a few stories here and there, this collection is SUPERB! Cannot recommend it enough. Don't waste time on a bad book and just read this one first ;)
April 23, 2021
Brilliant collection! Recommend it to those looking for an Indian essence. Loved most of the stories.
October 31, 2016
You will love the authors you love, be indifferent to the ones you never liked anyway. Every story picked is a perfect synecdoche of the author's entire oeuvre. Story-wise opinion as follows:
0. Our stories- Foreword by David Davidar- Brilliant. A great essay reminding us the magic of reading, of discovering it's pleasures as children and what literature tells us about the world and our worlds
1. The Hunger of Stones- Rabindranath Tagore- I've always been indifferent to Tagore. His prose seems too stale, his ideas and feelings too clear-cut and thought out to tell us anything about the character and for some reason, I imagine him to be a snobby intellectual. This story reaffirmed my opinions.
2. The Shroud- Munshi Premchand- Dark, morbid, tragic, absurd. A pretty bleak look into the human soul.
3. A Horse and Two Goats- RK Narayan- A master storyteller. Rarely have I read a writer who elevates depressingly mundane into the howlingly comic.
4. A Life- Buddhadeva Bose- Stark Bengali realism.
5. Toba Tek Singh- Saadad Hasan Manto- My first Manto story. He's got a very wicked sense of humour and seems to find pleasure in stirring up the hornet's nest.
6. The Flood- Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai- Well-crafted but not very deeply affecting.
7. The Blue Light- Vaikom Muhammad Basheer- A great setup that quickly goes nowhere.
8. The Somersault- Gopinath Mohanty- Well-meant and earnest.
9. Portrait of a Lady- Khushwant Singh- Just another nostalgia filled memoir.
10. Quilt- Ismat Chughtai- I don't know what to make of it. Could have been more but considering what it is, especially for when it came, I must call quite impressive.
11. Stench of Kerosene- Amrita Pritam- Packs a bomb. Subtle and shocking.
12. Gold from the Grave- Anna Bhau Sathe- Ideological writing.
13. The Man who saw God - DBG Tilak- Atrociously bad translation. The original seems well-written.
14. Inspector Matadeen on the Moon- Harishankar Parsai- Attempt at surrealism. Left me cold.
15. Drapuadi- Mahasweta Devi- The original must've been very disturbing.
16. Countless Hitlers- Vijaydan Detha- Casually horrifying, though with more focus it could have been truly great.
17. Mirror of Illusion- Nirmal Verma- Follows template to the T.
18. Reflowering- Sundara Ramaswamy- Shows why tone is more important than plot.
19. Mouni- UR Ananthamurthy- Surprisingly moving despite URA's morality seeping through the typical caricatures.
20. Old Cypress- Nisha Da Cunha- Reminded me a lot of Tarun Tejpal's The Alchemy of Desire. Probes the darker recesses of the heart.
21. The Blue Umbrella- Ruskin Bond- Bright with shades of darker tones.
22. Crossing the Ravi- Gulzar- Too bare-boned for my liking.
23. Games at Twilight- Anita Desai- A shattering story from a supremely confident author.
24. A Revolt of the Gods- Vilas Sarang- An interesting premise. Period.
25. Ambai- In a Forest, a Deer- Heartfelt.
26. Bhaskara Pattelar and My Life- Paul Zacharia- From tragedy to pathos. Made me feel both sympathy and disgust.
27. Tar Arrives- Devanoor Mahadeva- Just-another-story-about-the-ill-effects-of-urbanization-by-a-well-meaning-poet.
28. Last In, First Out- Irwin Allan Sealy- Moody. Noir. Brilliant.
29. The Elephant and the Tragopan- Vikram Seth- Typical Seth.
30. Feast- Manjula Padmanabhan- An exercise in style.
31. Nursing God's Countries- Githa Hariharan- Well-meant. Stifling in its sobriety.
32. Proposed for Condemnation- Cyrus Mistry- I'm going to get my hands on A Fine Balance at the earliest. Moving and annoying and erotic and absurd all at once.
33. Trying to Discover India- Shashi Tharoor- Maybe he should try to discover what he wanted to do.
34. Desolation, Lust- Upamanyu Chatterjee- Irreverent, arrogant, ironic and lost. Chatterjee is too fuckin' smart to not know it's not going to save him; Just like his protagonists. Wry and sad.
35. Kama- Vikram Chandra- Moody. Atmospheric but ultimately a let down. Could've been more, should've been more.
36. Wild Things- Anjum Hasan- Too obvious.
37. Stolen- Amrita Narayanan- The story was caressed into shape. Doesn't go anywhere but boy was the foreplay fun.
38. The Gravestone- Shahnaz Bashir- Important stories are not necessarily well-told ones.
39. Elephant at Sea- Kanishk Tharoor- Too uptight to be fun, too carefully crafted to escape its limitations but very well-written.
0. Our stories- Foreword by David Davidar- Brilliant. A great essay reminding us the magic of reading, of discovering it's pleasures as children and what literature tells us about the world and our worlds
1. The Hunger of Stones- Rabindranath Tagore- I've always been indifferent to Tagore. His prose seems too stale, his ideas and feelings too clear-cut and thought out to tell us anything about the character and for some reason, I imagine him to be a snobby intellectual. This story reaffirmed my opinions.
2. The Shroud- Munshi Premchand- Dark, morbid, tragic, absurd. A pretty bleak look into the human soul.
3. A Horse and Two Goats- RK Narayan- A master storyteller. Rarely have I read a writer who elevates depressingly mundane into the howlingly comic.
4. A Life- Buddhadeva Bose- Stark Bengali realism.
5. Toba Tek Singh- Saadad Hasan Manto- My first Manto story. He's got a very wicked sense of humour and seems to find pleasure in stirring up the hornet's nest.
6. The Flood- Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai- Well-crafted but not very deeply affecting.
7. The Blue Light- Vaikom Muhammad Basheer- A great setup that quickly goes nowhere.
8. The Somersault- Gopinath Mohanty- Well-meant and earnest.
9. Portrait of a Lady- Khushwant Singh- Just another nostalgia filled memoir.
10. Quilt- Ismat Chughtai- I don't know what to make of it. Could have been more but considering what it is, especially for when it came, I must call quite impressive.
11. Stench of Kerosene- Amrita Pritam- Packs a bomb. Subtle and shocking.
12. Gold from the Grave- Anna Bhau Sathe- Ideological writing.
13. The Man who saw God - DBG Tilak- Atrociously bad translation. The original seems well-written.
14. Inspector Matadeen on the Moon- Harishankar Parsai- Attempt at surrealism. Left me cold.
15. Drapuadi- Mahasweta Devi- The original must've been very disturbing.
16. Countless Hitlers- Vijaydan Detha- Casually horrifying, though with more focus it could have been truly great.
17. Mirror of Illusion- Nirmal Verma- Follows template to the T.
18. Reflowering- Sundara Ramaswamy- Shows why tone is more important than plot.
19. Mouni- UR Ananthamurthy- Surprisingly moving despite URA's morality seeping through the typical caricatures.
20. Old Cypress- Nisha Da Cunha- Reminded me a lot of Tarun Tejpal's The Alchemy of Desire. Probes the darker recesses of the heart.
21. The Blue Umbrella- Ruskin Bond- Bright with shades of darker tones.
22. Crossing the Ravi- Gulzar- Too bare-boned for my liking.
23. Games at Twilight- Anita Desai- A shattering story from a supremely confident author.
24. A Revolt of the Gods- Vilas Sarang- An interesting premise. Period.
25. Ambai- In a Forest, a Deer- Heartfelt.
26. Bhaskara Pattelar and My Life- Paul Zacharia- From tragedy to pathos. Made me feel both sympathy and disgust.
27. Tar Arrives- Devanoor Mahadeva- Just-another-story-about-the-ill-effects-of-urbanization-by-a-well-meaning-poet.
28. Last In, First Out- Irwin Allan Sealy- Moody. Noir. Brilliant.
29. The Elephant and the Tragopan- Vikram Seth- Typical Seth.
30. Feast- Manjula Padmanabhan- An exercise in style.
31. Nursing God's Countries- Githa Hariharan- Well-meant. Stifling in its sobriety.
32. Proposed for Condemnation- Cyrus Mistry- I'm going to get my hands on A Fine Balance at the earliest. Moving and annoying and erotic and absurd all at once.
33. Trying to Discover India- Shashi Tharoor- Maybe he should try to discover what he wanted to do.
34. Desolation, Lust- Upamanyu Chatterjee- Irreverent, arrogant, ironic and lost. Chatterjee is too fuckin' smart to not know it's not going to save him; Just like his protagonists. Wry and sad.
35. Kama- Vikram Chandra- Moody. Atmospheric but ultimately a let down. Could've been more, should've been more.
36. Wild Things- Anjum Hasan- Too obvious.
37. Stolen- Amrita Narayanan- The story was caressed into shape. Doesn't go anywhere but boy was the foreplay fun.
38. The Gravestone- Shahnaz Bashir- Important stories are not necessarily well-told ones.
39. Elephant at Sea- Kanishk Tharoor- Too uptight to be fun, too carefully crafted to escape its limitations but very well-written.
September 4, 2015
Being more of a novel enthusiast , I bought this book just as a means to gainfully while away an endless wait at the airport but after reading it, I would recommend it to all readers....Starting with RN Tagore's story set in 19th century mofussil India to the more contemporary ones, this collection captures the essence of Indian society in a microcosm. Some stories make you laugh out loud, some shock you into silence , some simply help you to introspect on the lives and emotions buzzing around you and some reflect on the socio-political milieu of our country. one cant help wondering that there hasnt really been much change in social issues while reading these stories .All stories create beautiful and powerful imagery through their words which delight a reader but then that is not surprising considering all stalwarts of Indian literature like Tagore, Ismat Chughtai, Mulk Raj Anand, RK Narayan,UR Ananthamurthy etc have been featured here. while all stories are wonderfully curated, my personal favourites were "Crossing the Ravi" by Gulzar , "Stench of Kerosene" by Amrita Pritam and "Horse and two goats" by RK Narayan(I was literally laughing heartily at the last one much to the wide-eyed surprise of my co-passenger) . The works of the great authors have been beautifully translated by authors of equally eminent repute so the essence remains intact and connects with the readers , however it makes one wistfully dream of mastering the rich Indian languages.According to me ,a must-read and a must-have for a bibliophile!Happy Reading!
February 2, 2016
Without a doubt, the best collection of pan Indian short stories I have ever come across.
March 23, 2018
A Clutch Of Indian Masterpieces (edited by David Davidar) is a collection of 39 extraordinary short stories spanning the 19th century to the present.
Reading this book is a wondrous experience, more so because stories from regional languages (so competently translated) wrest their rightful place in an anthology like this. They must. The rich tapestry that only India possesses because of its immense yet intertwined diversity shows best through works of art - and many of the stories in this collection are nothing short of that!
Great and established masters like Rabindranath Tagore, Munshi Premchand, Saadat Hasan Manto, Amrita Pritam, R K Narayan, Anita Desai, Mahasweta Devi....rub shoulders and acknowledge the rightful presence alongside theirs of not so pedestalled works of Vaikom Md Basheer, Gopinath Mohanty, Anna Bhau Sathe, Nisha Da Cunha, Ambai, Githa Hariharan, Shahnaz Bashir.....
The book is a fascinating journey from colonialism to current times through the horror of Partition. From the shores of Kerala you travel to Morocco and that too on an elephant (that unfortunate and unkind symbol of India's bureaucracy). You even get a taste of pure erotica.
But most of all you are shown the startling place where abject poverty resides because it's only from here that you can lose nothing, not the even your dignity and self respect!
Two of the 39 short stories however stand out as sore thumbs.
Vikram Seth's 'Tragopan' is a story in verse and as a result looks quite affected and out of place in such a book. And Shashi Tharoor's 'Trying To Discover India' does not deserve a place amongst so many classics and makes you wonder at the motivation behind this selection by Davidar!!
Reading this book is a wondrous experience, more so because stories from regional languages (so competently translated) wrest their rightful place in an anthology like this. They must. The rich tapestry that only India possesses because of its immense yet intertwined diversity shows best through works of art - and many of the stories in this collection are nothing short of that!
Great and established masters like Rabindranath Tagore, Munshi Premchand, Saadat Hasan Manto, Amrita Pritam, R K Narayan, Anita Desai, Mahasweta Devi....rub shoulders and acknowledge the rightful presence alongside theirs of not so pedestalled works of Vaikom Md Basheer, Gopinath Mohanty, Anna Bhau Sathe, Nisha Da Cunha, Ambai, Githa Hariharan, Shahnaz Bashir.....
The book is a fascinating journey from colonialism to current times through the horror of Partition. From the shores of Kerala you travel to Morocco and that too on an elephant (that unfortunate and unkind symbol of India's bureaucracy). You even get a taste of pure erotica.
But most of all you are shown the startling place where abject poverty resides because it's only from here that you can lose nothing, not the even your dignity and self respect!
Two of the 39 short stories however stand out as sore thumbs.
Vikram Seth's 'Tragopan' is a story in verse and as a result looks quite affected and out of place in such a book. And Shashi Tharoor's 'Trying To Discover India' does not deserve a place amongst so many classics and makes you wonder at the motivation behind this selection by Davidar!!
December 30, 2020
Short stories have entire worlds encompassed in them and this book is testimony to this fact. Comprised of 39 stories arranged according to the birthdate of the author, this beautiful tome is a must have for all lovers of Indian-fiction. As written in the blurb, this book will definitely surprise(read shock) you. From Gulzar's 'Crossing the Ravi' to Amrita Narayanan's 'Stolen', each story will entertain and make you contemplate the meaning of life, love, greed, sex and humour. The thing that I liked most about this book is it's variety, kudos to David Davidar for carefully selecting the stories from thousands of prospective ones and bringing only the very best to his readers. You will notice some big names like Vikram Chandra or Tagore along with relatively new authors like Kanishk Tharoor and Nisha Da Cunha. Any observant reader is bound to get at least 5 new books in his or her 'must-read pile'. Highly recommended to anyone looking for the works of Indian masters who are walking shoulder-to-shoulder with authors like Arthur Conan Doyle and Anton Chekhov. Especially recommended to all Indians, as these are our stories, reflecting our lives and written in our tongue(s).
May 4, 2021
Overall a wonderful set of short stories masterfully letting you into all the slices of India – one can relate to almost all of them instantly, slipping smoothly into the worlds one is reading about. I loved that so many of them are translations from Indian languages and are meant for Indian readers somehow? The first one from Tagore, is a cracker to start things off and there are many more brilliant reads. By the end though, I couldn’t escape the feeling that maybe some stories need not have made the list but there are enough and more beautifully crafted stories. Sublime reading.
December 8, 2021
Not just a fabulous collection that truly lives up to its name, this book also introduced me to several authors I had not known or, worse, had ignored thus far. The sheer variety in this collection is enough to cater to every taste. And the icing on the cake is the superb quality of the translations too.
This is a book that surely belongs in every home library!
This is a book that surely belongs in every home library!
November 19, 2016
I have said this before: translation is an art. It can both detract from and add to the beauty of the original story. In this collection of Indian short stories, edited by David Davidar, you see what joy and anguish translation done right can bring.
And then there are the stories themselves. There were some I loved outright: Ruskin Bond's 'The Blue Umbrella', Gulzar's 'Crossing the Ravi' translated by Rakshanda Jalil, Vikram Seth's story poem, 'The Elephant and the Tragopan' strangely reminiscent of 'Animal Farm', Chughtai's 'Quilt', translated by Jalil, Nisha da Cunha's 'Old Cypress', Basheer's 'Blue Light', translated by O. V. Usha. Each of them had a charm, simplicity and depth that requires consummate mastery over wayward imagination and words. They called to something in me; be it the pipe dream of a quaint retirement house in the hills or the innate goodness of the young or the faith in the fairness of death or the pathos of partition. Each a sparkling gem, perfectly cut and polished by the original craftsmen and lovingly conveyed by the translator.
Of course, there were some that I did not enjoy either because I found them too pedantic, labouring under wheezing phrases designed to show off or simply too disconnected. A story about a vampire (Anita Desai) was rather watery while the one titled 'Stolen' seemed a voyeuristic foray into eroticism of same sex attraction. The latter theme was actually subtly and gracefully handled in Chughtai's 'Quilt.'
But overall, there were more stories that I loved or generally liked and few that I didn't. Reading this clutch was a pleasure that I would remember for a long time.
And then there are the stories themselves. There were some I loved outright: Ruskin Bond's 'The Blue Umbrella', Gulzar's 'Crossing the Ravi' translated by Rakshanda Jalil, Vikram Seth's story poem, 'The Elephant and the Tragopan' strangely reminiscent of 'Animal Farm', Chughtai's 'Quilt', translated by Jalil, Nisha da Cunha's 'Old Cypress', Basheer's 'Blue Light', translated by O. V. Usha. Each of them had a charm, simplicity and depth that requires consummate mastery over wayward imagination and words. They called to something in me; be it the pipe dream of a quaint retirement house in the hills or the innate goodness of the young or the faith in the fairness of death or the pathos of partition. Each a sparkling gem, perfectly cut and polished by the original craftsmen and lovingly conveyed by the translator.
Of course, there were some that I did not enjoy either because I found them too pedantic, labouring under wheezing phrases designed to show off or simply too disconnected. A story about a vampire (Anita Desai) was rather watery while the one titled 'Stolen' seemed a voyeuristic foray into eroticism of same sex attraction. The latter theme was actually subtly and gracefully handled in Chughtai's 'Quilt.'
But overall, there were more stories that I loved or generally liked and few that I didn't. Reading this clutch was a pleasure that I would remember for a long time.
February 25, 2017
A fascinating anthology of stories from a wonderful collection of writers. One of my laments was the realisation that I've been brought up on tons of British 'literature' as a kid, American stuff growing up but the Indian exposure is limited - almost incidental. This book could be the 'rediscovery of India' for a lot of urban nouveau-riche middle class foks of this era. I didn't understand every story, not each of them are easy to read and some are more relate-able than others but there is something to be picked up about our country from each, something which can't really learnt through a history book.
What is a must is to spend some time online after each story, to understand the background and for some of the more abstract ones, the meaning and the context as well. Only then would one appreciate something like Ismail Chugtai's 'The Quilt'.
Fully intend to read this again sometime, one story every night.
What is a must is to spend some time online after each story, to understand the background and for some of the more abstract ones, the meaning and the context as well. Only then would one appreciate something like Ismail Chugtai's 'The Quilt'.
Fully intend to read this again sometime, one story every night.
July 21, 2015
This book ought to be undoubtedly the best book ever printed in India- on the basis of its unmatched production values. Superb paper and print quality and the cover of the book is enough to demolish the adage "Never judge a book by its cover!" Aleph, the publishers, must be congratulated for this creation par excellance! The only thing that stops me from giving this book a five star rating is the unfortunate, and unforgivable, omission of GA Kulkarni's stories from this collection. There can not exist any clutch of Indian masterpieces without one from GA's oeuvre! Hope that the editor/publisher will rectify this in the next edition of this beautiful book.
February 16, 2015
A Clutch of Indian Masterpieces’ is a collection of 39 short stories by Indian writers from the 19th century to the present, written in English or translated from regional languages. The book is edited by David Davidar, a novelist himself and as the introduction says ‘an attentive reader of Indian fiction for nearly forty years’, which is evident from the stories that he has compiled.
Read the complete review on my Blog -
https://bookhippo.wordpress.com/2015/...
Read the complete review on my Blog -
https://bookhippo.wordpress.com/2015/...
December 16, 2016
A collection of truly extraordinary short stories from the best of Indian writers, irrespective of the language they wrote in. A gem of a book for anyone interested in Indian literature translated into English, as most stories herein were written in other regional languages. All stories are, however, translated masterfully. David Davidar and Aleph deserve big cheers for this one.
May 6, 2016
Kudos to David Davidar for gathering all the precious gems in a single book.
This is a big fat book, feels heavy in hand, it will because it contains the treasures inside.
Lovely stories of varied genres by the highly admired Indian story writers.
This is a book you must have in your collection.
This is a big fat book, feels heavy in hand, it will because it contains the treasures inside.
Lovely stories of varied genres by the highly admired Indian story writers.
This is a book you must have in your collection.
July 20, 2015
A very good collection of Indian short stories....Got introduced to so many good Indian Authors
December 31, 2017
Motley collection of extraordinary, mostly vernacular, stories across India. The class of the most of the stories are at per to the best stories of the world. A must must read for story lovers.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 12, 2017
The best compilation of short evergreen Indian Stories that you will ever read.
Must buy!
Must buy!
April 27, 2018
Many of the stories finding striking relevance in the current society. Also, not to forget the enormity of power these short stories contain to give out a message.
September 30, 2024
Wow! I was wondering why I hadn't read this book before! I didn't try it because it was a large hardcover volume or because I was waiting for a good opportunity or a long period of time to devour it. And it was well worth spending more than a month with these 39 extraordinary short stories from the nineteenth to the twenty-first centuries, edited by David Davidar, a favorite author of mine who wrote The House of the Blue Mangoes.
It contains stories from various parts and languages of India that span centuries and were written by both old and modern writers. Rabindranath Tagore, Premchand, R.K. Narayan, Manto, Thakazhi, Vaikom Muhammad Basheer, Khushwant Singh, Ismat Chughtai, Amrita Pritam, Ruskin Bond, Gulzar, Anita Desai, Vikram Seth, Shashi Tharoor, Upamanyu Chatterjee, and Vikram Chandra are among the storytellers.
The detailed list of these 39 stories is given below.
1. The Hungry Stones (Kshudhita Pashan) - Rabindranath Tagore, translated from Bengali by Amitav Ghosh
2. The Shroud (Kafan) - Munshi Premchand, translated from Hindi by Arshia Sattar
3. A Horse and Two Goats - R. K. Narayan
4. A Life (Ekti Jibon) - Buddhadeva Bose, translated from Bengali by Arunava Sinha
5. Toba Tek Singh - Saadat Hasan Manto, translated from Urdu by Khushwant Singh
6. The Flood (Vellappokkathil) - Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai, translated from Malayalam by O. V. Usha
7. The Blue Light (Neela Velicham) - Vaikom Muhammad Basheer, translated from Malayalam by O. V. Usha
8. The Somersault (Naa Mane Nahin) - Gopinath Mohanty, translated from Oriya by Sitakant Mahapatra
9. Portrait of a Lady - Khushwant Singh
10. Quilt (Lihaaf) - Ismat Chughtai, translated from Urdu by Rakshanda Jalil
11. Stench of Kerosene - Amrita Pritam, translated from Punjabi by Khushwant Singh
12. Gold from the Grave (Smashaanathil Sona) - Anna Bhau Sathe, translated from Marathi by Vernon Gonsalves
13. The Man Who Saw God (Devunni Choosina Vaadu) - Devarakonda Bala Gangadhar Tilak, translated from Telugu by Ranga Rao
14. Inspector Matadeen on the Moon (Inspector Matadeen Chaand Par) - Harishankar Parsai, translated from Hindi by C. M. Naim
15. Draupati - Mahasweta Devi, translated from Bengali by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak
16. Countless Hitlers (Alekhun Hitler) - Vijaydan Detha, translated from Rajasthani by Christi A. Merrill and Kailash Kabir
17. Mirror of Illusion (Maya Darpan) - Nirmal Verma, translated from Hindi by Geeta Kapur
18. Reflowering (Vikasham) - Sundara Ramaswamy, translated from Tamil by S. Krishnan
19. Mouni - U. R. Ananthamurthy, translated from Kannada by H. Y. Sharada Prasad
20. Old Cypress - Nisha Da Cunha
21. The Blue Umbrella - Ruskin Bond
22. Crossing Ravi (Ravi Paar) - Gulzar, translated from Hindi by Rakshanda Jalil
23. Games at Twilight - Anita Desai
24. The Revolt of Gods - Vilas Sarang, translated from Marathi by the author
25. In a Forest, a Deer (Kaatil Oru Maan) - Ambai, translated from Tamil by Lakshmi Holmström
26. Bhaskara Pattelar and My Life (Bhaskara Pattelarum Ente Jeevithavum) - Paul Zacharia, translated from Malayalam by Gita Krishnankutty
27. Tar Arrives - Devanoora Mahadeva, translated from Kannada by Manu Shetty and A. K. Ramanujan
28. Last In, First Out - Irwin Allan Sealy
29. The Elephant and the Tragopan - Vikram Seth
30. Feast - Manjula Padmanabhan
31. Nursing God’s Countries - Githa Hariharan
32. Proposed for Condemnation - Cyrus Mistry
33. Trying to Discover India - Shashi Tharoor
34. Desolation, Lust - Upamanyu Chatterjee
35. Kama - Vikram Chandra
36. Wild Things - Anjum Hasan
37. Stolen - Amrita Narayanan
38. The Gravestone - Shahnaz Bashir
39. Elephant at Sea - Kanishk Tharoor
The stories enjoyed the most were A Life, The Flood, The Blue Light, Quilt, Stench of Kerosene, Old Cypress, The Blue Umbrella, Crossing Ravi, Proposed for Condemnation, and Kama.
This book is an essential reading for anyone interested in Indian literature, history, and culture.
It contains stories from various parts and languages of India that span centuries and were written by both old and modern writers. Rabindranath Tagore, Premchand, R.K. Narayan, Manto, Thakazhi, Vaikom Muhammad Basheer, Khushwant Singh, Ismat Chughtai, Amrita Pritam, Ruskin Bond, Gulzar, Anita Desai, Vikram Seth, Shashi Tharoor, Upamanyu Chatterjee, and Vikram Chandra are among the storytellers.
The detailed list of these 39 stories is given below.
1. The Hungry Stones (Kshudhita Pashan) - Rabindranath Tagore, translated from Bengali by Amitav Ghosh
2. The Shroud (Kafan) - Munshi Premchand, translated from Hindi by Arshia Sattar
3. A Horse and Two Goats - R. K. Narayan
4. A Life (Ekti Jibon) - Buddhadeva Bose, translated from Bengali by Arunava Sinha
5. Toba Tek Singh - Saadat Hasan Manto, translated from Urdu by Khushwant Singh
6. The Flood (Vellappokkathil) - Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai, translated from Malayalam by O. V. Usha
7. The Blue Light (Neela Velicham) - Vaikom Muhammad Basheer, translated from Malayalam by O. V. Usha
8. The Somersault (Naa Mane Nahin) - Gopinath Mohanty, translated from Oriya by Sitakant Mahapatra
9. Portrait of a Lady - Khushwant Singh
10. Quilt (Lihaaf) - Ismat Chughtai, translated from Urdu by Rakshanda Jalil
11. Stench of Kerosene - Amrita Pritam, translated from Punjabi by Khushwant Singh
12. Gold from the Grave (Smashaanathil Sona) - Anna Bhau Sathe, translated from Marathi by Vernon Gonsalves
13. The Man Who Saw God (Devunni Choosina Vaadu) - Devarakonda Bala Gangadhar Tilak, translated from Telugu by Ranga Rao
14. Inspector Matadeen on the Moon (Inspector Matadeen Chaand Par) - Harishankar Parsai, translated from Hindi by C. M. Naim
15. Draupati - Mahasweta Devi, translated from Bengali by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak
16. Countless Hitlers (Alekhun Hitler) - Vijaydan Detha, translated from Rajasthani by Christi A. Merrill and Kailash Kabir
17. Mirror of Illusion (Maya Darpan) - Nirmal Verma, translated from Hindi by Geeta Kapur
18. Reflowering (Vikasham) - Sundara Ramaswamy, translated from Tamil by S. Krishnan
19. Mouni - U. R. Ananthamurthy, translated from Kannada by H. Y. Sharada Prasad
20. Old Cypress - Nisha Da Cunha
21. The Blue Umbrella - Ruskin Bond
22. Crossing Ravi (Ravi Paar) - Gulzar, translated from Hindi by Rakshanda Jalil
23. Games at Twilight - Anita Desai
24. The Revolt of Gods - Vilas Sarang, translated from Marathi by the author
25. In a Forest, a Deer (Kaatil Oru Maan) - Ambai, translated from Tamil by Lakshmi Holmström
26. Bhaskara Pattelar and My Life (Bhaskara Pattelarum Ente Jeevithavum) - Paul Zacharia, translated from Malayalam by Gita Krishnankutty
27. Tar Arrives - Devanoora Mahadeva, translated from Kannada by Manu Shetty and A. K. Ramanujan
28. Last In, First Out - Irwin Allan Sealy
29. The Elephant and the Tragopan - Vikram Seth
30. Feast - Manjula Padmanabhan
31. Nursing God’s Countries - Githa Hariharan
32. Proposed for Condemnation - Cyrus Mistry
33. Trying to Discover India - Shashi Tharoor
34. Desolation, Lust - Upamanyu Chatterjee
35. Kama - Vikram Chandra
36. Wild Things - Anjum Hasan
37. Stolen - Amrita Narayanan
38. The Gravestone - Shahnaz Bashir
39. Elephant at Sea - Kanishk Tharoor
The stories enjoyed the most were A Life, The Flood, The Blue Light, Quilt, Stench of Kerosene, Old Cypress, The Blue Umbrella, Crossing Ravi, Proposed for Condemnation, and Kama.
This book is an essential reading for anyone interested in Indian literature, history, and culture.
February 22, 2020
Stories from the early twentieth century. Stories from late twentieth century. Stories from early twenty-first century. That is, precisely, the summary of this book: stories that introduce the readers to the different socio-cultural backgrounds of the different regions of a nation called India. While almost all of them have injustice at their cores, a handful of of them borders on human eroticism as well. Overall, it can be called a good mix of different genres of stories.
This collection was recommended to me by a friend of mine who can speak in 4 different languages with equal fluency. It was, therefore, quite natural for her to have already read some of the stories in this collection in their original forms. According to her testimony, the translations have certainly been up to the mark, although, in some of the stories she is familiar with, the original vibe has been lost in translation.
Nevertheless, I found the stories to be genuinely intriguing. The stories do capture the raw human emotions in their entirety which do possess the power to keep the reader hooked on to the stories till they reach their individual climaxes. Be it "The Hunger of Stones" by Rabindranath Tagore, "Toba Tek Singh" by Saadat Hasan Manto, "Draupadi" by Mahasweta Devi, "Desolation, Lust" by Upamanyu Chatterjee or "The Blue Umbrella" by Ruskin Bond, all the stories present a different take on our daily and conventional lives.
In short, the stories in this collection will open up newer avenues for readers' contemplation and compel them to adopt fresh outlook towards life. This collection also bears the potential to make the readers look at certain things from different angles and then form their informed opinions and perspectives on the same.
This collection was recommended to me by a friend of mine who can speak in 4 different languages with equal fluency. It was, therefore, quite natural for her to have already read some of the stories in this collection in their original forms. According to her testimony, the translations have certainly been up to the mark, although, in some of the stories she is familiar with, the original vibe has been lost in translation.
Nevertheless, I found the stories to be genuinely intriguing. The stories do capture the raw human emotions in their entirety which do possess the power to keep the reader hooked on to the stories till they reach their individual climaxes. Be it "The Hunger of Stones" by Rabindranath Tagore, "Toba Tek Singh" by Saadat Hasan Manto, "Draupadi" by Mahasweta Devi, "Desolation, Lust" by Upamanyu Chatterjee or "The Blue Umbrella" by Ruskin Bond, all the stories present a different take on our daily and conventional lives.
In short, the stories in this collection will open up newer avenues for readers' contemplation and compel them to adopt fresh outlook towards life. This collection also bears the potential to make the readers look at certain things from different angles and then form their informed opinions and perspectives on the same.
December 4, 2022
It's quite a collection of short stories originally written in various Indian languages and translated into English. Some of the stories such as Countless Hitlers by Vijaydan Detha, Crossing the Ravi by Gulzar, Stench of Kerosene by Amrita Pritam, Mouni by U R Ananthamurthy were such a shock to my system. I wasn't prepared for it. Then there were some like black comedy of Harishankar Parsai Inspector Matadeen on the Moon were ticklish as much a black comedy can be. Vaikom Md Basheer's The Blue Light was delightful; so was Feast by Manjula Padmanabhan starring a vampire. Several of the stories I was already familiar with and that doesn't take away from their brilliance: The Shroud by Prem Chand, Toba Tek Singh by Manto, Lihaf by Ismat Chugtai, Draupadi by Mahasweta Devi, Games of Twilight by Anita Nair and Portrait of a lady by Khushwant Singh. Some stories were meh: Stolen by Amrita Narayan an erotic story that didn't land but one that did was by Proposed for Condemnation by Cyrus Mistry. Vikram Chandra 's story Kama starring Inspector Sartaj (perhaps for the first time?) on the brink of breakdown of his marriage is almost a novella. I didn't understand the mystery denouement quite well but enjoyed the writing. Surprise for me was Kanishk Tharoor's amusing tale Elephant at Sea but most disappointing story was by Shashi Tharoor 's Trying to Discover India. A patronizing way of writing about fictitious Vasco da Gama 's voyage.
April 6, 2020
A very good collection of Indian short stories. Some of the most notable Indian authors panning whole of the country. Some fictional, some more realistic stories. Covers every emotion of human beings - pain, anger, love, sorrow, happiness, lust, helplessness etc.
Some of the stories/ pieces, I personally liked include The Blue Umbrella (Ruskin Bond), Draupadi (Mahasweta Devi), A Life (Buddhadev Bose), Inspector Matadeen on the Moon (Harishankar Parsai), The Elephant and the Tragopan (Vikram Seth) and Elephant at Sea (Kanishk Tharoor).
It is a collection one must have (although few stories/ pieces are not good).
Some of the stories/ pieces, I personally liked include The Blue Umbrella (Ruskin Bond), Draupadi (Mahasweta Devi), A Life (Buddhadev Bose), Inspector Matadeen on the Moon (Harishankar Parsai), The Elephant and the Tragopan (Vikram Seth) and Elephant at Sea (Kanishk Tharoor).
It is a collection one must have (although few stories/ pieces are not good).
June 17, 2022
This is an absolute must for every Indian reader or anyone who wants to better understand the subcontinent. Stories translated from multiple Indian languages like Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Urdu, Marathi and many others, including a few Stories written originally in English, itself.
Every story in this collection is worth reading. Some of my favourites were The Quilt, The man who saw God, The blue light, and Inspector Matadeen on the Moon.
Every story in this collection is worth reading. Some of my favourites were The Quilt, The man who saw God, The blue light, and Inspector Matadeen on the Moon.
January 8, 2018
Absolutely loved it! It is evident that this book is well thought out. It is arranged in a chronological order and contains the works of brilliant writers like Tagore, Manto, Gulzar, U.R. Ananthamurthy. The stories by not so well known writers did not fail to intrigue either.
From the cover, the pages, to the book in its entirety, is a delight.
From the cover, the pages, to the book in its entirety, is a delight.
October 18, 2019
A collector's edition; thirty nine short stories from across the length and breadth of the country. There's a nice diversity to the themes and genres of these stories as well. That said, Nisha Da Cunha's 'Old Cypress' was the standout piece. Cursory research suggests she's a short story expert; I'd love it if she could churn out a full-length novel at the grand old age of 85. :-P
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