Book Review: A life of adventure and delight by Akhil Sharma
"A life of adventure and delight" is a book of short stories, written by Akhil Sharma and published by Penguin. I got this book for review and this post is a brief review of the book, after having read most of the stories in the book.
Since "A life of adventure and delight" is a collection of stories, let me pickup a few stories that interested me most and elaborate a bit. Each story is about 20 pages long and there're 8 stories in total.
A heart is such a heavy thing:
This story is a simple subject of a youngster getting a job and opting to get married and the developments and dilemma thereafter. The expectations of dowry, the attempt to get better job and the other typical thoughts that run in the families preparing for wedding...
If you sing like that for me:
Written in first person perspective of a newly wed woman. "The (poor) English made me cry though everyone thought it is parting grief"... Narrates various things the woman went through before, during and after the wedding- an arranged one and realizing the shocker that the man she is married to married her not by his will but he was forced to...
Surrounded by Sleep:
A story involving life of a family when a kid drowns in a pool and suffers severe injuries. The kid (Birju) was submersed for a mere 3 minutes before he was spotted and rescued, but those three minutes were enough to make a difference between quick recovery vs long term hospitalization.
Few stories seem to take place in US, few in India. The context is not explained outright, readers need to figure out as they proceed with the story. You will enjoy the stories only if you get involved with the characters narrating the story. Detailing revolves around family life, emotional conflicts, love and wedding related incidents etc. The climax aren't much exciting in most of the cases, the whole story need to read with involvement to enjoy the narration.
Summary:
Title: A life of adventure and delight
Author: Akhil Sharma
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN:978-0-670-08902-4
Genre: Fiction
Price: Rs 599 (Available on flipkart for Rs 239 + 65 Rs delivery charge)
No. of Pages: 187
About the Author: Akhil Sharma is an Indian born American, currently teaching at Newark's Rutgers University. He has won Folio Prize in 2015 and the International Dublin Literary Award in 2016.
My overall feedback: A softback edition with reduced price tag could have made purchase decision easy for many. Similar books are typically priced half way around Rs 250-300 in paperback.
Since "A life of adventure and delight" is a collection of stories, let me pickup a few stories that interested me most and elaborate a bit. Each story is about 20 pages long and there're 8 stories in total.
A heart is such a heavy thing:
This story is a simple subject of a youngster getting a job and opting to get married and the developments and dilemma thereafter. The expectations of dowry, the attempt to get better job and the other typical thoughts that run in the families preparing for wedding...
Written in first person perspective of a newly wed woman. "The (poor) English made me cry though everyone thought it is parting grief"... Narrates various things the woman went through before, during and after the wedding- an arranged one and realizing the shocker that the man she is married to married her not by his will but he was forced to...
Surrounded by Sleep:
A story involving life of a family when a kid drowns in a pool and suffers severe injuries. The kid (Birju) was submersed for a mere 3 minutes before he was spotted and rescued, but those three minutes were enough to make a difference between quick recovery vs long term hospitalization.
Few stories seem to take place in US, few in India. The context is not explained outright, readers need to figure out as they proceed with the story. You will enjoy the stories only if you get involved with the characters narrating the story. Detailing revolves around family life, emotional conflicts, love and wedding related incidents etc. The climax aren't much exciting in most of the cases, the whole story need to read with involvement to enjoy the narration.
Summary:
Title: A life of adventure and delight
Author: Akhil Sharma
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN:978-0-670-08902-4
Genre: Fiction
Price: Rs 599 (Available on flipkart for Rs 239 + 65 Rs delivery charge)
No. of Pages: 187
About the Author: Akhil Sharma is an Indian born American, currently teaching at Newark's Rutgers University. He has won Folio Prize in 2015 and the International Dublin Literary Award in 2016.
My overall feedback: A softback edition with reduced price tag could have made purchase decision easy for many. Similar books are typically priced half way around Rs 250-300 in paperback.
Thank you very much for sharing the review about the book that will help me to understand all about the book and have it to read.
ReplyDelete