BOOK TITLE: Ebbs
and Flows
AUTHOR: Amitava
Chaudury
GENRE: Fiction/
Short Stories.
NUMBER OF PAGES: 125
FORMAT: Paperback
SERIES / STANDALONE: Standalone
REVIEW BY: Dhivya
Balaji
HOW I GOT THIS BOOK: We
thank Blackbuck publishers for this review copy!
SUMMARY:
Imagine
– a person you have wronged years ago suddenly returns to haunt your life or
you are faced with a situation where fate challenges you to dare follow the
lofty things you had so openly preached. Or a man who shamelessly boasts of his
achievements suddenly finds his lie turning into a beautiful reality. Or you
discover a rather sinister side of the person you had secretly worshipped.
These
situations can be faced by any of us, correction probably by none of us. That
is because we are common people, destined to lead an ordinary life. However, no
power in the world can stop even the most common of common men from imagining.
The answer to these imaginations is a tide of emotions some joyful, some
slightly depressing but then, that is life ebbs and flows of emotion.
REVIEW:
The book contains a few short stories.
Much like the title suggests, it deals with the ebbs and flows of human
emotions. The calming book cover says it all. The emotions are subtle, like a
mild melody playing just loud enough to be heard, but not too jarring.
Each and every story deals with the
flow of human emotions and memories. Some are sad, some are repenting, some are
surprising, some are plain happy. All stories have both the commonalities and
differences with day to day human life. Each tale is relatable; you have seen
such characters in real life too. There is nothing new or unheard of.
Instead of dissecting each story, we
can say with a general assessment of the book. Read these stories with a clear
mind, even if you feel like there is continuity between subsequent tales, there
isn’t! Maybe this is the author’s quirk. Muted things like repeated character
names that make you go, ‘oh, it might be the same person/ situation’ but end up
differently make this book unique.
The main drawback is, the stories are
forgettable. Much like the emotions, they drain away too quickly, for you to
grasp. None of the characters are etched deep enough to remain imprinted in our
memory. Once the reader starts relating the ebbs and flows to their own
emotions, the whole point of characters ceases to exist.
Read the book if you are looking for
something different, light and mostly on a travel (like I did!)
WHAT I LIKED:
The short, easy to read stories. Minimum
use of jargon.
WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER:
Characters could have been deeply
etched, and could be more memorable.
VERDICT: Go
for it as a light read. If you like Indianised writing and simple stories. If
you expect something big from the title, prepare to be slightly let down.
RATING: 3/5
EDITIONS AVAILABLE: Paperback.
PRICE: Rs.
100 for Paperback.
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