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Random Access Memories
A collection of short stories.
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October 26, 2020
Title: Random Access Memories
Author: Deepak Kaul
Genre: Short stories
Published: 2020
Pages: 105
My Rating: 3/5 stars
This was my third time reading Deepak Kaul and like his two other books, some parts were very good, but something or the other went wrong which reduced the quality of the book as a whole and made me cut stars.
The book is a collection of ten short stories. These stories are the entries submitted by the author for the Write India Campaign, organized by The Times of India and the stories are from various genres, and encompass a range of different concepts and storylines.
Some stories were simply amazing and left me in awe!! These stories, after finishing them, made me put down the device I was reading from and think about them for a while, even contemplate…
The language and the writing style were really good… They make the reader read with interest, and intrigue… The author also did great justice when it came to portraying the emotions and feelings of characters. How the author described and mentioned even some minute details also appealed to me…
My favourite stories were “The Forgotten King”, “Big”, “The Spy Who Loved Me,” “Beast of No Nation”, and “Uttara’s Anguish”.
These stories had so much depth and so full of meaning. It wouldn’t be exaggeration to say some were even insightful, some very emotionally moving. These stories are something I will cherish…
But there were a of couple other stories… Some ended abruptly, others felt baseless and some others started off good, but the storylines got messed up eventually… It wouldn’t be wrong to say that these stories sort of spoiled the book… The book would’ve been so much better off without these stories… If it weren’t for these few of stories, the book would have been a four, or even a four and a half stars read!!
Author: Deepak Kaul
Genre: Short stories
Published: 2020
Pages: 105
My Rating: 3/5 stars
This was my third time reading Deepak Kaul and like his two other books, some parts were very good, but something or the other went wrong which reduced the quality of the book as a whole and made me cut stars.
The book is a collection of ten short stories. These stories are the entries submitted by the author for the Write India Campaign, organized by The Times of India and the stories are from various genres, and encompass a range of different concepts and storylines.
Some stories were simply amazing and left me in awe!! These stories, after finishing them, made me put down the device I was reading from and think about them for a while, even contemplate…
The language and the writing style were really good… They make the reader read with interest, and intrigue… The author also did great justice when it came to portraying the emotions and feelings of characters. How the author described and mentioned even some minute details also appealed to me…
My favourite stories were “The Forgotten King”, “Big”, “The Spy Who Loved Me,” “Beast of No Nation”, and “Uttara’s Anguish”.
These stories had so much depth and so full of meaning. It wouldn’t be exaggeration to say some were even insightful, some very emotionally moving. These stories are something I will cherish…
But there were a of couple other stories… Some ended abruptly, others felt baseless and some others started off good, but the storylines got messed up eventually… It wouldn’t be wrong to say that these stories sort of spoiled the book… The book would’ve been so much better off without these stories… If it weren’t for these few of stories, the book would have been a four, or even a four and a half stars read!!
September 10, 2020
This book is a compilation of short stories written by the author during the Write India Campaign run by The Times of India from August ‘19 to May ‘20. Those 10 stories are varying from dystopian world stories to the mythical stories of kings and queens. It takes us on wonderful adventures of the mind and the weird wishes to grow up big.
The writing style of the author is the distinct Kaul style that I have witnessed in so many of his books. In this book, it was the strong and refined version of satire. Out of 10 stories that I read, I loved a few and didn’t like a few. It is a mixed bag; mix bag of good and bad, past and future, real and fantasy, humor, and satire.
The cover and the title only point towards the futuristic or IT sector but there are stories from space, politics, fantasy, mythology, etc. I loved the story about the mythologies when represented in this new way of storytelling. It feels as if I am in that era, witnessing it all. If I had a suggestion to make, I will suggest the author rewrite the mythological stories in his easy-going yet profound way.
The stories begin with an IT story about programming human minds, which moves to an arena staged to kill, displaying live for the audience (reminded me of hunger games). Then the author took a dip in mythology, re-creating an incident and then moving to a childish wish of growing up we all had as a child. What if it gets fulfilled? Then we have a story linked to Ruskin Bond, which seemed ridiculous to me while reading. Afterward followed the story of the innocent killing and mindless wreckage while the CAA and anti-CAA protests. Then, a completely whimsical yet gross story set upon an actor cum writer. And then we moved to space, with all the global warming events that we do to wreck this planet, and then again a mythological story. The last story somehow flashed a light upon the writing industry politics, and that made me think whether politics has left any area untouched.
I haven’t gone deeper into the stories because I might end up spoiling them. I liked the writing style in these stories; it seemed solid and more substantial than the last read of the author. I disliked a few of the stories in the middle of the book when they stopped making sense at all. So I can safely say that it is a mixed bag of good and bad stories which you might want to read.
The writing style of the author is the distinct Kaul style that I have witnessed in so many of his books. In this book, it was the strong and refined version of satire. Out of 10 stories that I read, I loved a few and didn’t like a few. It is a mixed bag; mix bag of good and bad, past and future, real and fantasy, humor, and satire.
The cover and the title only point towards the futuristic or IT sector but there are stories from space, politics, fantasy, mythology, etc. I loved the story about the mythologies when represented in this new way of storytelling. It feels as if I am in that era, witnessing it all. If I had a suggestion to make, I will suggest the author rewrite the mythological stories in his easy-going yet profound way.
The stories begin with an IT story about programming human minds, which moves to an arena staged to kill, displaying live for the audience (reminded me of hunger games). Then the author took a dip in mythology, re-creating an incident and then moving to a childish wish of growing up we all had as a child. What if it gets fulfilled? Then we have a story linked to Ruskin Bond, which seemed ridiculous to me while reading. Afterward followed the story of the innocent killing and mindless wreckage while the CAA and anti-CAA protests. Then, a completely whimsical yet gross story set upon an actor cum writer. And then we moved to space, with all the global warming events that we do to wreck this planet, and then again a mythological story. The last story somehow flashed a light upon the writing industry politics, and that made me think whether politics has left any area untouched.
I haven’t gone deeper into the stories because I might end up spoiling them. I liked the writing style in these stories; it seemed solid and more substantial than the last read of the author. I disliked a few of the stories in the middle of the book when they stopped making sense at all. So I can safely say that it is a mixed bag of good and bad stories which you might want to read.
August 18, 2023
The collection of ten short stories, "Random Access Memories" by Deepak Kaul, spans several genres and covers various subjects. This book aims to give readers a varied reading experience by incorporating several ideas and plotlines. The main components of the book are more thoroughly examined below:
1. Diversity
The book spans a variety of literary subgenres, including crime, comedy, historical fiction, science fiction, and fantasy. By offering a wide range of options, this variety guarantees that readers will encounter various story arcs and writing philosophies. The book covers many topics, including relationships, societal dynamics, human emotions, and current events.
2. Notable Stories
• “The Forgotten King” This historical fiction narrative challenges conventional ideas of male chauvinism by emphasizing gender equality and the dignity of women.
• “The spy who loved me” This realistic tale explores people's challenges when their personal wishes and tradition collide.
• “Uttara’s Anguish,” An epic historical work of fiction, vividly depicts the emotional agony combatants' loved ones go through during battle.
• “Big” This funny tale examines the idea of maturing and the unexpected difficulties it brings.
3. Book Strength
• Some stories are notable for their gripping storytelling and provocative subjects. These stories evoke strong emotions, leaving readers feeling reflective and introspective.
• The author's writing style is engaging and straightforward that skillfully conveys emotions, details, and vivid imagery.
• The author does an excellent job of evoking the characters' emotions and feelings, making them believable and approachable. The adventures and tribulations of the characters are relatable to readers.
4. Area of improvement
• Some stories had poor plotlines or abrupt endings, diminishing their overall reader effect. While some stories struck a chord with readers on a deep level, others could not do so and hence failed to generate an intense emotional response.
1. Diversity
The book spans a variety of literary subgenres, including crime, comedy, historical fiction, science fiction, and fantasy. By offering a wide range of options, this variety guarantees that readers will encounter various story arcs and writing philosophies. The book covers many topics, including relationships, societal dynamics, human emotions, and current events.
2. Notable Stories
• “The Forgotten King” This historical fiction narrative challenges conventional ideas of male chauvinism by emphasizing gender equality and the dignity of women.
• “The spy who loved me” This realistic tale explores people's challenges when their personal wishes and tradition collide.
• “Uttara’s Anguish,” An epic historical work of fiction, vividly depicts the emotional agony combatants' loved ones go through during battle.
• “Big” This funny tale examines the idea of maturing and the unexpected difficulties it brings.
3. Book Strength
• Some stories are notable for their gripping storytelling and provocative subjects. These stories evoke strong emotions, leaving readers feeling reflective and introspective.
• The author's writing style is engaging and straightforward that skillfully conveys emotions, details, and vivid imagery.
• The author does an excellent job of evoking the characters' emotions and feelings, making them believable and approachable. The adventures and tribulations of the characters are relatable to readers.
4. Area of improvement
• Some stories had poor plotlines or abrupt endings, diminishing their overall reader effect. While some stories struck a chord with readers on a deep level, others could not do so and hence failed to generate an intense emotional response.
September 12, 2020
Random Access Memories, a book by Deepak Kaul consisting of 10 short stories of various genres like science fiction, thriller, mythological, comedy and many more.
The compilation of short stories of the fiction genre is my personal favourite. It demands a compelling narrative. The word limit nudges an author infinitely to write exceptionally whilst conveying the story across in a way that it sways the reader’s mind and touches their heart. In contrast to this, Random Access Memories didn’t consume my heart as it should. The entire book, all the 10 stories, in my opinion, are lacking a heartfelt soul to glue the readers to it. My mind kept on wandering elsewhere except in two stories, ‘Big’ and ‘The Indiscreet Flutes.’
As the famous saying goes “Books don’t change people, paragraphs do and sometimes even sentences”. I didn’t feel this while reading this book. There was no theme of this book, and it seems that these stories were just some random memories narrated in words by the author. The narrative of the stories was easy going and colloquial but somehow whenever I read this author’s work (Fourth book so far), I have a feeling that he has to rush somewhere. His intelligence and vast knowledge about many subjects inclusive of politics, mythology, current affairs, etc are merely thrown in the form of information for the readers to read. Perhaps it was for ‘Write India Campaign (2019-2020)’ run by the Times of India hence the hurry to write by the author.
The writing style, as usual, the author’s signature style, no complaints there, also a remarkable editing job. Another one from the bag of the authors’ short read, a total of 105 pages will get varied reviews from across the globe.
October 12, 2020
It is said that Memories are the reminisce of recollection to keep us happy and entertained. Memories leaves a smile on our face every time we remember it.
Random Access Memories is a collection of 10 short stories from mythology, fantasy, politics etc.
The best things about short stories is that:
(i) it is best for developing a reading habit ( best suited for a beginner).
(ii) it impacts the reader's mind and touches the heart.
(iii) they show different emotions of the world at an angle through their own tilted lens. The emotions stays with you for a long time.
But I personally was disappointed with the book. Though the writing style is good but the plot, emotions were not properly brought out.
While reading the book I felt that the author had access to some random memories, which has been put into the book, without any idea or story connection. The stories were rushed.
Some stories like "The Spy Who Loved Me" and "The Indiscreet Flutes" seemed ridiculous to me. The story " Beast of Self No Nation" , revolving around CAA protest was good. The concept of
"Big" was good but justice was neither done to the character nor to the emotions involved. Some exciting events should have been added to make the story interesting. "Uttara's Anguish" was a good read.
When it comes to stories, I like to read stories that are either relatable or trigger feelings within and has the ability to connect on a deep, emotional level. I personally didn't felt any connection (deeply) neither with the story nor the characters therein.
Random Access Memories is a collection of 10 short stories from mythology, fantasy, politics etc.
The best things about short stories is that:
(i) it is best for developing a reading habit ( best suited for a beginner).
(ii) it impacts the reader's mind and touches the heart.
(iii) they show different emotions of the world at an angle through their own tilted lens. The emotions stays with you for a long time.
But I personally was disappointed with the book. Though the writing style is good but the plot, emotions were not properly brought out.
While reading the book I felt that the author had access to some random memories, which has been put into the book, without any idea or story connection. The stories were rushed.
Some stories like "The Spy Who Loved Me" and "The Indiscreet Flutes" seemed ridiculous to me. The story " Beast of Self No Nation" , revolving around CAA protest was good. The concept of
"Big" was good but justice was neither done to the character nor to the emotions involved. Some exciting events should have been added to make the story interesting. "Uttara's Anguish" was a good read.
When it comes to stories, I like to read stories that are either relatable or trigger feelings within and has the ability to connect on a deep, emotional level. I personally didn't felt any connection (deeply) neither with the story nor the characters therein.
September 1, 2020
Random Access Memories, by Deepak Kaul is a compilation of ten different short stories which revolves around various different and unique themes. This was my second book by an author.
First book I read was a nonfiction self help book, which was a good read for me.
This book was a totally new and very intriguing read, as the short stories I have read previously were very much specific to a particular theme and most of them were cliched. This book doesn't fall into these categories.
All ten stories vary from each other in ascept like theme, plot and characters. Each story is different from each other, once you complete reading one story, the next story did surprise me as it got more and more better as I went on reading.
Writing style is flawless with good narration.
All plotlines were really new and interesting to read. If you ask me to choose one favourite it would be difficult as I enjoyed reading every single story from the book. I loved how neatly every story is crafted out with a very neat plot.
I enjoyed reading it and would love to read more of the author's work in future !!
First book I read was a nonfiction self help book, which was a good read for me.
This book was a totally new and very intriguing read, as the short stories I have read previously were very much specific to a particular theme and most of them were cliched. This book doesn't fall into these categories.
All ten stories vary from each other in ascept like theme, plot and characters. Each story is different from each other, once you complete reading one story, the next story did surprise me as it got more and more better as I went on reading.
Writing style is flawless with good narration.
All plotlines were really new and interesting to read. If you ask me to choose one favourite it would be difficult as I enjoyed reading every single story from the book. I loved how neatly every story is crafted out with a very neat plot.
I enjoyed reading it and would love to read more of the author's work in future !!
November 3, 2020
I find collection of short stories really interesting that's why I decided to read Random Access Memories by Deepak kaul but it really didn't matched my expectations.
Random Access Memories is collection of short stories written by author for Write India contest, all stories are based on the prompts therefore does not really have any proper connect with each other which leaves the readers with too much thoughts to process.
The writing style of author is impressive as he has worked efficiently as per the prompts and looking at narration of stories individually few of them are quite good to read, few stories are very well written, and the rest of them could have been edited or omitted which could have made this book a much better read.
The cover of book is quite simple which does not reflect anything about the stories, the language is quite simple too which makes it a good read for beginners.
This book has stories of almost different genres which is why you can't set a particular theme to it, but in case you love switching genre then you can surely read this book.
Random Access Memories is collection of short stories written by author for Write India contest, all stories are based on the prompts therefore does not really have any proper connect with each other which leaves the readers with too much thoughts to process.
The writing style of author is impressive as he has worked efficiently as per the prompts and looking at narration of stories individually few of them are quite good to read, few stories are very well written, and the rest of them could have been edited or omitted which could have made this book a much better read.
The cover of book is quite simple which does not reflect anything about the stories, the language is quite simple too which makes it a good read for beginners.
This book has stories of almost different genres which is why you can't set a particular theme to it, but in case you love switching genre then you can surely read this book.
November 27, 2023
"Random Access Memories" is a book full of short stories written by Deepak Kaul. Instead of just a bunch of tales, it's like a bunch of thoughts and memories that fit together.
Author is really good at using the right words and making the stories beautiful. Even though they're short, they make you feel a lot and grab your attention. Author's writing style is impressive and makes you think about the characters.
He talks about a lot of different things like protests and politics in his stories, which makes you think about them.
Some stories like 'Beast of No Nation,' 'Uttara's Anguish,' and 'Parasites' make you think deeply and want to talk about them more.
But not all stories are equally good. Because they come from different prompts, they don't feel like they belong together.
The cover and the language are simple, so it's good for people who are new to reading. It has different types of stories, so if you like switching between different kinds of stories, this might be for you.
Author is really good at using the right words and making the stories beautiful. Even though they're short, they make you feel a lot and grab your attention. Author's writing style is impressive and makes you think about the characters.
He talks about a lot of different things like protests and politics in his stories, which makes you think about them.
Some stories like 'Beast of No Nation,' 'Uttara's Anguish,' and 'Parasites' make you think deeply and want to talk about them more.
But not all stories are equally good. Because they come from different prompts, they don't feel like they belong together.
The cover and the language are simple, so it's good for people who are new to reading. It has different types of stories, so if you like switching between different kinds of stories, this might be for you.
January 13, 2024
Good one 👌🏽
"Random Access Memories" by Deepak Kaul is a mixture of fiction, science fiction, mythology and social norms. Each story has been written during the period of Write India Campaign that takes you to different adventures, time and emotions. With a great plot and Ideas the author tried to reach readers heart in depth. The character sketch and the way the author has scripted each story deserves appreciation. He tried to ignite some questions on social issues. Overall the book is a good read presenting different stories Nd adventure taking you to experience different perspective in depth.
"Random Access Memories" by Deepak Kaul is a mixture of fiction, science fiction, mythology and social norms. Each story has been written during the period of Write India Campaign that takes you to different adventures, time and emotions. With a great plot and Ideas the author tried to reach readers heart in depth. The character sketch and the way the author has scripted each story deserves appreciation. He tried to ignite some questions on social issues. Overall the book is a good read presenting different stories Nd adventure taking you to experience different perspective in depth.
October 22, 2020
This is Deepak Kaul at his best,pointed,witty, captivating a complex world in few pages. This book is a mixture of genre suspense, fantasy, comedy, sci-fi, crime etc. The book give me all the feels. Each story is so much meaning packed as densely as possible into every bit of text. The language of the book is simple and easy to understand. I highly suggest this compilation for everyone.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews