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The Royal Ghosts
With emotional precision and narrative subtlety, The Royal Ghosts features characters trying to reconcile their true desires with the forces at work in Nepali society. Against the backdrop of the violent Maoist insurgencies that have claimed thousands of lives, these characters struggle with their duties to their aging parents, an oppressive caste system, and the complexities of arranged marriage. In the end, they manage to find peace and connection, often where they least expect it— with the people directly in front of them. These stories brilliantly examine not only Kathmandu during a time of political crisis and cultural transformation but also the effects of that city on the individual consciousness.
207 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
20 people are currently reading
332 people want to read
About the author
Samrat Upadhyay
11 books106 followersSAMRAT UPADHYAY is the author of Arresting God in Kathmandu, which earned him a Whiting Award, and The Guru of Love, which was a New York Times Notable Book, a San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year, a finalist for the Kiriyama Prize, and a Book Sense 76 pick. He lives in Bloomington, Indiana, and teaches creative writing and literature at Indiana University. His eight-year-old daughter Shahzadi, is a published poet.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
February 4, 2008
There are no real ghosts in this collection, but the stories will haunt you. Reading them made me feel like an apparition, invisible eyes watching the characters lives unfold, for good or bad, and not being able to intervene. Every pivotal character in the collection seems to be cursed with a relentless compassion for others, a guilty conscience and a need to help others find their way even if it means losing their own in the process. I’m not sure what all this says about Nepal. I’ve never been and reading one collection of stories placed in Nepali society won’t make me an expert, yet I feel like I’ve learned a lot about this place even if it’s only just scratching the surface of what life there is really like.
I get a strong sense of time in every story. I’m uncertain how I would try to analyze that, or even if I should. Time isn’t really mentioned in the stories, but the point in history when each story takes place feels crucial to the whole collection. It’s as if these stories, the lives of all the characters, are trapped in this place at this specific time, and that it’s a mixed blessing.
Every story deals with the consequences of personal relationships and how the culture affects their reactions. I was most moved by “The Weight of a Gun,” a story about a mother whose marriage falls apart after her son starts suffering from schizophrenia. Upadhyay approaches the subject matter with wisdom. Janaki, the story’s protagonist, is filled with an almost unbelievable amount of compassion throughout the story that it’s easy to forgive her for her faults. The collection on the whole had a nice, even build up to the middle story, “The Weight of a Gun,” and a winding down to the title story, “The Royal Ghosts.” As I got to the end of “The Royal Ghosts,” I was left with a strange, yet familiar feeling and the theme was clear to me. There are just so much madness in the world--absurd and desperate and lonesome and heartbreaking--that we could never truly understand it all, and why would we want to?
Overall, I enjoyed reading Upadhyay’s stories, and would recommend it especially to readers who want to experience other cultures through fiction.
I get a strong sense of time in every story. I’m uncertain how I would try to analyze that, or even if I should. Time isn’t really mentioned in the stories, but the point in history when each story takes place feels crucial to the whole collection. It’s as if these stories, the lives of all the characters, are trapped in this place at this specific time, and that it’s a mixed blessing.
Every story deals with the consequences of personal relationships and how the culture affects their reactions. I was most moved by “The Weight of a Gun,” a story about a mother whose marriage falls apart after her son starts suffering from schizophrenia. Upadhyay approaches the subject matter with wisdom. Janaki, the story’s protagonist, is filled with an almost unbelievable amount of compassion throughout the story that it’s easy to forgive her for her faults. The collection on the whole had a nice, even build up to the middle story, “The Weight of a Gun,” and a winding down to the title story, “The Royal Ghosts.” As I got to the end of “The Royal Ghosts,” I was left with a strange, yet familiar feeling and the theme was clear to me. There are just so much madness in the world--absurd and desperate and lonesome and heartbreaking--that we could never truly understand it all, and why would we want to?
Overall, I enjoyed reading Upadhyay’s stories, and would recommend it especially to readers who want to experience other cultures through fiction.
February 15, 2015
These stories are well written and the book is easy to read, but fairly depressing. Although the stories are about different people in different situations, it seems that they are all the same depressing story because of the personality deficiencies in the main characters of each story.
March 4, 2017
Simplicity.
April 4, 2019
This is my first time as a reader stepping outside my normal book comfort zone. What drew my eye to this book is the name, and I know that you’re not suppose to judge a book by its cover, but that’s exactly what I did.
This book consists of different short stories within every chapter, and often pertains to the Nepali Society; which is often influenced by Indian and Tibetan culture. With some chapters about romance (usually an arranged marriage) and other chapters pertaining to unwanted temptation.
One chapter in particular I found to be a bore, had to do with a mother and her daughter looking for a place to live and ultimately end up staying with a friend of the opposite sex.
There were things about this book that I could connect with; the author does a good job describing each character. But as far as the characters journey goes, I couldn’t relate and often felt unconnected. I’m one who often enjoys reading and gets comfort from characters developing throughout the book, but with each chapter the characters change. Which makes me restart the journey as well. Overall I wasn’t a huge fan of this book, mainly because I wasn’t excited about the writing style of it.
The audience for this book is primarily young adults over the age of 18, who enjoys short stories within one book, or somebody who can relate to the Nepali Society. If this is you, then you could perhaps make it through this book.
This book consists of different short stories within every chapter, and often pertains to the Nepali Society; which is often influenced by Indian and Tibetan culture. With some chapters about romance (usually an arranged marriage) and other chapters pertaining to unwanted temptation.
One chapter in particular I found to be a bore, had to do with a mother and her daughter looking for a place to live and ultimately end up staying with a friend of the opposite sex.
There were things about this book that I could connect with; the author does a good job describing each character. But as far as the characters journey goes, I couldn’t relate and often felt unconnected. I’m one who often enjoys reading and gets comfort from characters developing throughout the book, but with each chapter the characters change. Which makes me restart the journey as well. Overall I wasn’t a huge fan of this book, mainly because I wasn’t excited about the writing style of it.
The audience for this book is primarily young adults over the age of 18, who enjoys short stories within one book, or somebody who can relate to the Nepali Society. If this is you, then you could perhaps make it through this book.
April 21, 2018
This Nepalese author was recommended by one of my favorite authors Amitav Ghosh. Unfortunately The Royal Ghosts was rather disappointing as a whole. Samrat Upadhyay seems to have picked a contentious Nepalese issue; be it inter-caste marriage, Maoist violence, homosexuality, mental health, to plunk into each short story. My problem is that he doesn't really do anything with that issue, there's no social commentary or illustration of why things are why they are. Most of the stories have no plot progression and the endings are often left hanging in the air. I am alright with open endings if they are crafted with care so the reader can mull over the meaning but these endings feel more like the author was tired of the subject and just stopped writing. Indeed, most of the stories felt quite formless and lumpy, not honed or worried over. Some of them descended briefly into Bollywood drama. I was also disappointed in the author's failure to properly showcase the Buddhist faith of Nepalese society.
The prose itself is fairly pedestrian. Through some of the stories there runs a strong 'male gaze' aspect - descriptions of female body parts, emphasis on female physical appearance, imagined or hinted inappropriate sexual liaisons. I've read this is a common aspect of this author's writing and I personally find it quite distasteful.
The prose itself is fairly pedestrian. Through some of the stories there runs a strong 'male gaze' aspect - descriptions of female body parts, emphasis on female physical appearance, imagined or hinted inappropriate sexual liaisons. I've read this is a common aspect of this author's writing and I personally find it quite distasteful.
October 11, 2009
Two things intrigued me when I saw this book posted at BookCrossing: the Nepal setting and how much the reader loved the book.
Story one left me regretting my decision to join the ring for this book. What? I thought. But then I got into the way the author writes and I liked it. Each story felt like the author had written an entire novel about the characters and then randomly deleted the first fifty and the last hundred and fifty pages.
Abrupt starts and stops. Unfinished narratives. Events, conversations that sounded like they could have been taking place in my small Texas town and then, suddenly, the author throws in a Nepalese festival or food or riot and I realize, Hey, wait, this is not Kansas.
But it turns out that I liked the book a lot. Yes, I’d recommend it.
Story one left me regretting my decision to join the ring for this book. What? I thought. But then I got into the way the author writes and I liked it. Each story felt like the author had written an entire novel about the characters and then randomly deleted the first fifty and the last hundred and fifty pages.
Abrupt starts and stops. Unfinished narratives. Events, conversations that sounded like they could have been taking place in my small Texas town and then, suddenly, the author throws in a Nepalese festival or food or riot and I realize, Hey, wait, this is not Kansas.
But it turns out that I liked the book a lot. Yes, I’d recommend it.
January 4, 2012
When I picked up The Royal Ghosts I thought it was a novel and not a collection of short stories. It was probably mentioned in the book description but I guess I didn't pay enough attention. I've never liked short stories and even though I did enjoy Samrat Upadhyay's writing style, this book just wasn't for me.
June 10, 2010
Read it. A collection beautiful short stories that all take place in Nepal. Really made me appreciate the genre of short stories as well as gave a feel for Nepal. Stories are told from all sorts of perspectives. A great read.
August 1, 2021
Illuminating short stories about Nepali culture. (7.5)
Want to read
August 10, 2024I found a review of this book which, until I read, I am posting because this writer appears to be must read.
"In his first story collection, Arresting God in Kathmandu, Samrat Upadhyay introduced Western readers to the changing society of present day Nepal. Modernization had affected not only the outward appearance of Kathmandu, but the inner lives of its residents. Upadhyay recorded with precision the divide between individual desires and the will of traditional society. Parents brought together in arranged marriages, for example, grew frustrated when their children fell in love and resisted tradition.
"In The Royal Ghosts, Upadhyay returns to his native Kathmandu, but this time his characters must reconcile their duties and desires against the backdrop of violent Maoist insurgencies and a slain royal family. In the title story, a taxi driver observes the royal corpses on television, bodies wrapped in white cloth, faces ashen and twisted. They have been caught, he thinks, in the final moments of their own horror. But murdered royals fail to be the primary concern of this narrator. On the day of the massacre, he discovers his brother in bed with a man. Now he must choose. He must leave his sibling behind or fight to understand homosexuality, facing the death of his own rigid convictions.
"Upadhyay remains a great observer of the forces at work in Nepali society. His women and men contend with their responsibilities as parents, children, and lovers, but rarely linger in resistance. He finds them walking fast, afraid of their own anger, afraid of their capacity for acceptance and to surrender.
"In “A Servant in the City,” a young man from a mountain village finds work as the servant to the long suffering mistress of a married businessman. He develops an attachment to her that nears obsession. Captivated by her desperation and misery, he pledges himself to her. He believes he cannot escape her temperament or history, and “somehow he knew that this was how things would continue for a long time to come.”
“The Weight of a Gun” is a fine example of the precision and control that led early reviewers to call Upadhyay “a Buddhist Chekhov.” A mother finds a gun in her schizophrenic son’s mattress days after he threatens to join the Maobadis. Searching the valley for him, the child she finds is not her disabled son, but her husband’s troubled new wife. The final moments of the story may surprise readers, but on further consideration the same events seem truly inevitable.
"Each story in The Royal Ghosts shines with emotional truth. Upadhyay provides an important human context to our news reports of Nepal’s tattered monarchy and ongoing political crises, yet his words carry the timeless appeal of enduring literature. His characters find answers and connections where they least expect them, and certainly Upadhyay’s unflinching focus on his homeland insists we look more honestly at our own.
"—reviewed by Stacy Bierlein"
"In his first story collection, Arresting God in Kathmandu, Samrat Upadhyay introduced Western readers to the changing society of present day Nepal. Modernization had affected not only the outward appearance of Kathmandu, but the inner lives of its residents. Upadhyay recorded with precision the divide between individual desires and the will of traditional society. Parents brought together in arranged marriages, for example, grew frustrated when their children fell in love and resisted tradition.
"In The Royal Ghosts, Upadhyay returns to his native Kathmandu, but this time his characters must reconcile their duties and desires against the backdrop of violent Maoist insurgencies and a slain royal family. In the title story, a taxi driver observes the royal corpses on television, bodies wrapped in white cloth, faces ashen and twisted. They have been caught, he thinks, in the final moments of their own horror. But murdered royals fail to be the primary concern of this narrator. On the day of the massacre, he discovers his brother in bed with a man. Now he must choose. He must leave his sibling behind or fight to understand homosexuality, facing the death of his own rigid convictions.
"Upadhyay remains a great observer of the forces at work in Nepali society. His women and men contend with their responsibilities as parents, children, and lovers, but rarely linger in resistance. He finds them walking fast, afraid of their own anger, afraid of their capacity for acceptance and to surrender.
"In “A Servant in the City,” a young man from a mountain village finds work as the servant to the long suffering mistress of a married businessman. He develops an attachment to her that nears obsession. Captivated by her desperation and misery, he pledges himself to her. He believes he cannot escape her temperament or history, and “somehow he knew that this was how things would continue for a long time to come.”
“The Weight of a Gun” is a fine example of the precision and control that led early reviewers to call Upadhyay “a Buddhist Chekhov.” A mother finds a gun in her schizophrenic son’s mattress days after he threatens to join the Maobadis. Searching the valley for him, the child she finds is not her disabled son, but her husband’s troubled new wife. The final moments of the story may surprise readers, but on further consideration the same events seem truly inevitable.
"Each story in The Royal Ghosts shines with emotional truth. Upadhyay provides an important human context to our news reports of Nepal’s tattered monarchy and ongoing political crises, yet his words carry the timeless appeal of enduring literature. His characters find answers and connections where they least expect them, and certainly Upadhyay’s unflinching focus on his homeland insists we look more honestly at our own.
"—reviewed by Stacy Bierlein"
August 18, 2024
Upadhyay is not for all tastes, a modern writer of literary fiction working to reconcile a Nepali present with its haunted past. Set in the waning days of monarchy in the shadow of the internal massacre of the royal family, the country is stalked by various political factions like the Young Maoists, meets challenges to familial traditions, struggles with employment and security of home, and does not yet see a way to domestic, political, or even personal stability.
His characters, then, exist in these spaces, making what we might see as ordinary choices in love and schooling, neighborliness and manners, all while navigating these uncertainties. They may wish to stay aloof from politics, liaison across caste lines, or simple choose charitable acts; but none can remain isolated or untouched by the "royal ghosts" of the title story.
It is a vivid and real snapshot of a fragile moment in Nepali history, captured and rendered by a storyteller adept and subtle. The disturbing and violent opening story, "A Refugee," sets this pattern up fairly clearly. And for the remaining nine stories, Upadhyay drops us into scenes, in medias res, to watch characters innocent or shamed struggle through. He leaves us in uncertainties and misfortunes often enough: what is domestic is political; what is romantic is impoverished.
We take them as they are, these moments and miscues, failures and resignations, as the best we can muster as ground and air shift, as we wonder at a past too mortal.
His characters, then, exist in these spaces, making what we might see as ordinary choices in love and schooling, neighborliness and manners, all while navigating these uncertainties. They may wish to stay aloof from politics, liaison across caste lines, or simple choose charitable acts; but none can remain isolated or untouched by the "royal ghosts" of the title story.
It is a vivid and real snapshot of a fragile moment in Nepali history, captured and rendered by a storyteller adept and subtle. The disturbing and violent opening story, "A Refugee," sets this pattern up fairly clearly. And for the remaining nine stories, Upadhyay drops us into scenes, in medias res, to watch characters innocent or shamed struggle through. He leaves us in uncertainties and misfortunes often enough: what is domestic is political; what is romantic is impoverished.
We take them as they are, these moments and miscues, failures and resignations, as the best we can muster as ground and air shift, as we wonder at a past too mortal.
June 13, 2021
A set of very well-observed short stories. A few of them are particularly moving (like The Wedding Hero, about a trio of young work friends, one of whom conceives of the idea of paying for and arranging the wedding of the tea server in their office, and the impact his grand romantic project has on their friendship; or Father, Daughter, about a man's relationship with his divorcing daughter and his frantic efforts to save a marriage she doesn't want to return to). One story, The Weight of a Gun - which is told from the perspective of a woman trying to maintain a relationship with her schizophrenic son while her husband, who has left her for another woman, is starting what he clearly sees as a "do-over" family - is an upsetting, haunting, and beautifully told read. Other stories are more forgettable, and there's definitely a formula emerging by the end of the book, but the whole collection is compulsively readable. Upadhyay is good at details, and particularly good at subtly conveying what's going on in the minds of other characters even when his narrators/viewpoint characters aren't perceptive enough to figure it out themselves.
October 23, 2020
I must say that I was quite disappointed. Never having lived in Nepal, I was quite excited to read all about the stories of people's lives there.
The first 2 stories were quite good therefore the cliff hangers and abrupt endings made sense.
But the rest of the stories felt like a waste of time. It builds up the reader's interest and then suddenly hits the wall.
Found a few misspelled words and it was like reading one of my short story assignments for my high school literature class where I tried to cut out chunks of writing to fit into the word count.
Some crucial scenes are compressed and sometimes the transitions are so sudden that I had to reread just to understand that we moved on to another part of the day.
Had the stories been written with more care, it would've made a beautiful collection.
The first 2 stories were quite good therefore the cliff hangers and abrupt endings made sense.
But the rest of the stories felt like a waste of time. It builds up the reader's interest and then suddenly hits the wall.
Found a few misspelled words and it was like reading one of my short story assignments for my high school literature class where I tried to cut out chunks of writing to fit into the word count.
Some crucial scenes are compressed and sometimes the transitions are so sudden that I had to reread just to understand that we moved on to another part of the day.
Had the stories been written with more care, it would've made a beautiful collection.
January 7, 2021
A big fan of short stories here! This book dwells deeply into the psyche of each character Samrat has weaved and presents them in a complex and empathetic way. Each character, with their socio-political and economical background has a story and a reason for the way they behave and all the stories have been written so meticulously and carefully. These stories reflect the journey of Nepalese people. A must read!
August 16, 2019
This is my Nepali book. I found this in my hotel lobby and found it interesting. The front desk guy was kind enough to let me borrow during my stay. I stayed up late to finish the book before I left. The stories were interesting and each sorry left me wanting to read more.
Overall the book is good.
Overall the book is good.
May 23, 2020
Rounding up from 3.5 stars. The prose is simple (sometimes a little too simple? or not subtle enough?) but engaging. Most of the short stories in this collection are really well done and paint a holistic picture of complex family relationships and the impact of the caste system. I wanted a little more context about Maoist rebels, because they are referenced briefly in multiple stories.
October 16, 2024
Each story had an intensity of emotion that pulled me in and kept me reading to resolution. I found the stories informative as I am largely unaware of life in Nepal. The book was published in 2006 and reflects the political climate with the revolt against the monarchy. It also captures the cultural forces of change like free choice marriage, divorce, being gay, caste system.
April 29, 2020
I got this because I wanted to what stories set in Nepal would be like, but that didn’t end up mattering so much. These characters would have been enough in any setting. Interesting and engaging from first story to last.
December 27, 2018
borrowed from lisa k
October 31, 2020
I recall reading another book by this author that I rnjoyed more. I found the short stories didn't give md time to relate to the characters much and this left everything rather flat for me.
December 13, 2020
A brilliant insight into life in Kathmandu.
October 1, 2025
3.5 stars
A really intriguing glimpse into life in Nepal. My favourite stories were The Wedding Hero & Royal Ghosts.
A really intriguing glimpse into life in Nepal. My favourite stories were The Wedding Hero & Royal Ghosts.
March 23, 2020
the best among Upadhyay's books
January 8, 2025
Nepali writer Samrat Upadhyay's short stories take place in contemporary (21st century) Katmandu, amid the country's turmoil; the urban/political turmoil itself is central to the settings of most of the stories. Commonplace life events--marriages (planned or love-based), consensual sexual affairs, urban squalor, centrality of tea--amid political chaos is the common theme in most of the short stories.
The title story, The Royal Ghosts, takes place on a day of infamy in June 2001 when Nepali Crown Prince Dipendra murdered his entire family and then committed suicide. What occurred that day is largely unrelated to the massacre itself other than providing the setting--a stunned and disbelieving population; rather, the focus is on two brothers and coming to terms with one's homosexuality and the other's loneliness.
Upadhyay's stories are interesting, compelling, sad, humorous, and enlightening.
The title story, The Royal Ghosts, takes place on a day of infamy in June 2001 when Nepali Crown Prince Dipendra murdered his entire family and then committed suicide. What occurred that day is largely unrelated to the massacre itself other than providing the setting--a stunned and disbelieving population; rather, the focus is on two brothers and coming to terms with one's homosexuality and the other's loneliness.
Upadhyay's stories are interesting, compelling, sad, humorous, and enlightening.
January 3, 2008
I enjoyed reading this book. It consists of many short stories about personal lives and daily situations that any ordinary person would experience. The stories all take place in the middle East, some in Pakistan and India. They seem like ordinary life stories but when I finished the book and read the blurb in the back, I realized the stories concentrated on the Nepali society and how people lived and suffered under this political crisis with the Maoists and cultural transformation.
Samrat Upadhyay is a brilliant writer. He has his way of jumping back and forth with time and sequences but he manages to lead the reader and not make them lose track. The way he makes his transitions have a natural flow. I also love his characters. They are so complex by nature in their emotions. This adds to the realistic aspects of his characters.
There are nine short stories in this book. A few that I like the most are: The Wedding Hero, The Weight of a Gun, Chintamini's Women, Father Daughter, and A servant in the City. In The Wedding Hero, it is about a man name Umesh who saves a strangers wedding but couldn't save his own. The Weight of a Gun was an interesting story. It is about a mother who discovers a gun from her insane son. Chintamini's Women is about this man searching for the right woman, Father Daughter is about a father denying his daughter's marriage and lastly, A Servant in the City, about a woman who has an affair with a married man and her servant falls in love with her.
All these stories are very dramatic and some are pretty scandalous, but this is what that makes them so true to the real life. All the stories stand by themselves and they don't connect in any ways. Overall I recommend this book to anyone who likes drama drama.
Samrat Upadhyay is a brilliant writer. He has his way of jumping back and forth with time and sequences but he manages to lead the reader and not make them lose track. The way he makes his transitions have a natural flow. I also love his characters. They are so complex by nature in their emotions. This adds to the realistic aspects of his characters.
There are nine short stories in this book. A few that I like the most are: The Wedding Hero, The Weight of a Gun, Chintamini's Women, Father Daughter, and A servant in the City. In The Wedding Hero, it is about a man name Umesh who saves a strangers wedding but couldn't save his own. The Weight of a Gun was an interesting story. It is about a mother who discovers a gun from her insane son. Chintamini's Women is about this man searching for the right woman, Father Daughter is about a father denying his daughter's marriage and lastly, A Servant in the City, about a woman who has an affair with a married man and her servant falls in love with her.
All these stories are very dramatic and some are pretty scandalous, but this is what that makes them so true to the real life. All the stories stand by themselves and they don't connect in any ways. Overall I recommend this book to anyone who likes drama drama.
November 4, 2012
I'm looking forward to Upadhyay's visit to Mount Mercy University this coming April. His collection not only offers a sense of life in Kathmandu, but it also subtly reveals the ways we cope with change--gradual and sudden.
Upadhyay is the master of the evocative open ending. Consider the final scene of the entire collection. As the narrator plans to dine with his brother, he ponders what he might say about recent events: the murder of the royal family and his own bad behavior upon discovering his brother's homosexuality. The narrator even considers telling his brother something he learned about the history of the royal family, but then he asks himself, "What would be the point of bringing up these royal ghosts?" Instead, he plans to urge his brother to eat: "eating well was probably the best thing to do in times like these."
Upadhyay is the master of the evocative open ending. Consider the final scene of the entire collection. As the narrator plans to dine with his brother, he ponders what he might say about recent events: the murder of the royal family and his own bad behavior upon discovering his brother's homosexuality. The narrator even considers telling his brother something he learned about the history of the royal family, but then he asks himself, "What would be the point of bringing up these royal ghosts?" Instead, he plans to urge his brother to eat: "eating well was probably the best thing to do in times like these."
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 31, 2008
I enjoyed this book of short stories set in Nepal. The stories provided nice little glimpses into daily Nepali life and culture. I felt like I learned a lot about changing times, relationships, and gender roles in Nepal. I especially enjoyed it since I am working with so many refugees who are ethnically Nepali and have been living in Nepal for many years. I felt like these stories helped me to better understand their culture. The stories were all beautifully written and captivating. The combination of these stories and the stories the wonderful people I work with tell me really make me want to go to Nepal....or maybe it's really that I want to be Nepalese...one of the two.
January 13, 2010
This book speaks to the fact that we all have choices to make in our lives, and sometimes the decision-making process seems so unique when really it's much more universal than we imagined. Sometimes the decisions we ultimately make will haunt us forever. I was interested in each story yet uneasy reading about such intensely personal moments because they are not easy circumstances to see oneself in or to know how to react within. The Nepalese aspect presented itself in the societal customs permeating and creating many of the conflicts. Though set in Nepal, the struggles, in the end, are universal.
July 26, 2015
I read this book right after it was released as Samrat is among my favorite writers. It contains many short stories that depicts the then Nepal which was affected by the maoist revolution. The characters, events and places mentioned in this book are very real and very honest. If the devil is in the details, Samrat is the master of the devil. He has left no stone unturned for deep character and story development. At the end of every story, I spend some time to think what would have happened to each character as if they really existed. The reader can find them still now in current Nepal! A true master piece. A must read!
March 5, 2010
It was great to read a book of collected short stories - I don't read as much of those as I would love to... but every time I do it's a pleasure to read. Interesting to read short stories based in Nepal - sounded familiar to short stories that I've read based in India. Stories were quite different from each other and all of them grabbed my attention. I'm waiting to have my book club discussion with my colleagues to see what they got out of it. The central theme was struggle and lack of freedom I would say...
Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews