Book review of MICE IN MEN

An unabashed fan of the short story format, I like nothing better than a good collection of short stories. When I started reading Mice in Men by Anirban Bose, I was expecting a good book. But I was pleasantly surprised as it turned out to be a great book. The stories are fresh, innovative and insightful. Anirban writes well with a rare command over the language and a flair for the written word. The language and flow is far superior to his debut novel, Bombay rains, Bombay girls.  What lifts this collection far above average is the warm feeling that these stories leave in your heart.

The fist story of the collection, A new job, is an excellent study of human nature with a twist in the end.

The magic of medicine, a tale of a doctor struggling with a challenging case, touches the heart. Being a doctor, I identified strongly with the storyline and the situation.

Mice in men, the story of a ordinary non-descript person discovering the hero within, is probably the weakest story of the collection.

Neologisms, the story of a man rising above the circumstances of his birth, finding great success, yet faltering at a critical juncture is profound.

The ballonwala is reminiscent of The Gift of Magi.

The temptation of fate, again the story of a non entity finding the hero within, is well written.

Stockholm Syndrome, a psychological thriller, is the pick of the lot. It can easily hold its own against international writing anywhere in the world.

The right way to eat a mango is very sentimental.

The faithfulness of traits, a study of human ego and weakness, weaves a spell.

The last story, The world’s greatest oiban, leaves you feeling nice and warm.

I will rate the book at 8/10 and suggest that it is a must read for short story fans.

Labyrinth- a book review

I ordered the book while browsing books on Flipkart as I was intrigued by its cover. It arrived within three days with the usual clinical efficiency of  Flipkart. And I read it in one sitting. I am a fan of short stories and a big supporter of free independent writing. The book did not disappoint me in any manner. An eclectic collection of short stories from a diverse group of relatively unknown names, the book comes as a whiff of fresh air. The tales are short and snappy, and they straddle a vast canvas from mythology to virtual reality. Some are so extra-ordinary that they leave you spellbound. Some are average but then, that is true for every anthology ( It is impossible to maintain a uniform standard / level of readability.)

The best of the lot? I am hard pressed to choose between Sym-World ( Aditi Chincholi), a stunning tale of virtual reality and The Martyr ( Mainak Dhar), the story of a teenage soldier set in war ravaged Afghanistan.  Farming on Facebook( Sushant Dharwadkar) and The night of the Wokambee ( Rishabh Chaturvedi) are  remarkable for the twists in the tail. Puppet Show( Aditi Chincholi), I’ll be back (Shawn Pereira), Mortified ( Jeevan Varma)Mists of Time ( Niharika Puri) and Travel Through the Night( Rishabh Chaturvedi) are other stories that I found intriguing.

Bagheera Log Huts did not make much sense to me. (Maybe I missed something there!)

But all said and done, this is a marvelous effort and a must read for all short story fans.

My rating  - 7/10

Recommendation - Go for it!

To order it online, click here.