Zoo Book Sales
Related Articles
Short stories are love, a universe in a compact whole. And yet, they are often cheated. Publishers say they don’t sell, and many literary awards ignore them in favor of the novel. And yet some of the best and most memorable books in India – as elsewhere in the world – are in fact collections of short fiction films, especially in translation.
Growing up as I did in the early 1980s in Imphal, Manipur, in an era disconnected from the rest of the country and surrounded by news of violence without access to books written in English, I developed a passion for news of Manipur – admired and discussed and adapted into radio plays and films – which evolved into an unwavering love for form. Here is a list of some of the notable news collections released in India in English – including translations – in 2021.
The Last Light of Glory Days: Stories from Nagaland, Avinuo Kire
Evocative stories imbued with the rich sociocultural ethic of a land that has been ravaged as much by external military conflicts as by internal churning within a society ranging from tribal and traditional belief systems to modern times. Divided into two segments, the book includes stories set during the traumatic events of the Indo-Nagas conflict of the late 1940s to the 1990s, and “New Tales from an Old World,” which tackle contemporary themes with just a hint. of Naga folk legends. .
Each of the stories in this collection leaves an impact on the readers: only the rich narrative style guarantees it. Folk elements add an extra zest to the stories of young love, which include those of a young woman living with the memory of her husband, with whom she discovered travels during his lifetime; a young man who learns to take and receive only what is given according to his needs; a young girl trying to fend off the unwelcome physical advances of her guardian at home.
Baby doll: short stories, Gracy, translated from Malayalam by Fathima EV
These stories are indeed short, some of less than 500 words. They surprise men and women plagued by the most basic desires: lust, greed, anger and rage, and the madness that beauty and curses bring. Gracy writes with a surrender that infuses brutal truth into her characters and their emotions.
Along the way, Gracy captures the frenzy of human frailties, the way passions can cloud and suffocate or simply die, the claustrophobia of being locked in by the expectations of society and how the innocence of childhood is. full of vulnerabilities. Every story turns to the precipice of things waiting to happen, which they do.
The Lesbian Cow and Other Stories, Indu Menon, translated from Malayalam by Nandakumar K
The women in the stories are unforgettable: they are victims and guilty of revenge for deep social and personal shame, but men too are equal carriers of festering wounds which must – and, indeed, – erupt over time. The characters force you to sit cautiously and scramble to make sense of what struck you, especially since these are ordinary people in the traditional conventional dress, dressed conservatively with personalities. sober. But then the real selves emerge – and how!
The stories explore notions of frustrated and failed love, and are told in a way without restraint, mercilessly when it comes to bringing out in full view of all the darkness that lurks in human beings. The only exception to this is a tender, lonely love story.
Guilt and other stories, Harekrishna Deka, translated from Assamese by Mitra Phukan
Stories rooted in the ethics and socio-political context of Assam and those which could be true of any place. A former IPS officer as the author points to some rather interesting characters associated with the crime in some of the stories. The writing varies, keeping the reader unprepared for the range this book has to offer. There are those with the writing and the writers at the center of them: one examines creative expression and how writers resort to writing the real in their fiction, but also discusses how real life can be less. predictable than fiction; another inquires whether writers write for themselves or what they are comfortable with writing or respond to what the reader wants, all while looking at life and death; another examines the different labels on writing and the writers who must adapt to accommodate those labels – modern, post-modern.
How are you Veg? : Dalit Stories from Telugu, Joopaka Subhadra, translated by Alladi Uma and M Sridhar
Centered on the lives of Madigas women, the most oppressed among the Dalits of Telangana, these stories make you realize that there are still people today who are not treated as equals in society, and only communities whole people are marginalized because of what they eat and what work they are limited to.
The stories not only express the injustices and oppression they experience from the outside, but also talk about the oppression inside and how it plays out under the weight of patriarchal norms and belief systems. . Joopaka Subhadra’s writing has a strong narrative voice, a voice that makes you feel like you are right in the thick of it, even as you remember how the rights and privileges of a few come at the cost of the suffering of many.
The English teacher and other stories, Kiran Doshi
This collection almost guarantees a smile. There are stories that look at the whims of ordinary people. Those in the context of diplomatic circles see the human element in relationships, both personal and professional. Each story has a gentle pace and a natural flair for humor. And the choices and actions of women will make you sit back and cheer.
The ruthless city and other stories, Vasundhendra, translated from Kannada by Mysore Nataraja
These clever narratives weave contemporary elements with vestiges of the old. Stories set against contemporary backdrops draw on traditional elements, but the modern and the traditional are not placed in conflict with each other. The author does not engage his characters in confrontations, nor does he force the reader to take sides.
From the rush for high pressure jobs cushioned by lifestyles on credit and what happens when the bubble bursts until parents adjust to changes due to their children’s choices, such as selves – Saying “intercast marriages”, these stories show how the old and the new ways sometimes merge: temporarily but inevitably.
Ecstasy and other stories, Thi Janakiraman, translated from Tamil by David Shulman, S Ramakrishnan and Uma Shankari.
While these stories take place in an earlier era, they don’t seem dated, as they buzz with timeless human feelings of fear and doubt, guilt and remorse. Some of them focus on parent-child bonds or the absence of children in married life, while others include music.
The main story brings the two together to comment on the divide between old classical music and new Tamil film music, showing how great music transcends language but is still a way to stay connected. It’s a story as sublime as the soul of the music it speaks of.
The house next to the factory, Sonal Kohli
These stories are linked by their association with a particular building and the people who live and work there: a tutor who comes to teach the two young sons of the family, a domestic worker working at home, a housewife, etc. Spread over different historical periods, from the years of the score to the 2000s, the stories map the socio-political winds without resorting to theatricality, subtly weaving common threads of family and neighborly relations.
Four strokes of luck, Perumal Murugan, translated from Tamil by Nandini Krishnan
The master of nuance is at work here with stories that seem mundane in their premises, but swell and ebb with endless possibilities, those that make you anticipate twists and turns. With stories spanning a variety of topics, from body image issues – the story of a fan of actor Arvind Swamy – to the many uncertainties of a silent night in a remote corner of a city, Perumal Murugan will bring you at his mercy.
Chitra Ahanthem is the former editor-in-chief of Free Imphal Press, a newspaper published in Manipur. She is also a translator from Manipuri to English.
