Shades Of Life by multiple authors : A Review

BOOK TITLE: Shades Of Life

AUTHOR: Saravana Kumar Murugan

ISBN/ASIN: 9788193166659

GENRE: Fiction / Short Stories

NUMBER OF PAGES: 326

FORMAT: Paperback

SERIES / STANDALONE: Standalone

HOW I GOT THIS BOOK: This book is a treasured gift from a friend

SUMMARY:

Life is a supernova of emotions, a multi-colored extravaganza and a celebration of colors that carve a way for us to be "expressive". These colors often vary from situation to situation. They may be vibrant, bright and attractive, or even bland and gloomy. Nevertheless, they invoke the soul from within and portray the various dimensions of life.

Come and explore the various shades of life - from the lighter tones of friendship and love to the murkier hues of revenge and murder - of human beings, of how their personalities and their situations mould them into their real selves - in this anthology of prose and verse, from authors across the world, Shades of Life.

FIRST IMPRESSION:

This book contained stories by many of my friends. And naturally I was more than interested to read this anthology. This book belongs to that category where I am naturally interested so the summary and book cover influence my opinion to a certain extent. They are not the deciding factors. But still, the cover is one of the most beautiful I'd ever seen, and very apt for the anthology. There was something about the subtle styling of the cover that attracted me immediately. The summary itself was simple and to the point, not focusing on any particular point or story.

Thankfully, the suggestion that 'shades of life' might include anything from friendship to revenge and how situations mould people hopefully will make the set of tales realistic and relatable.

REVIEW:

Maybe because this book was special because I'd wanted to read it for some time now, or because it was sent to me by a very dear friend with a personalised note, I loved and savoured it for some time before I actually began reading. And once I wanted to begin, I had to decide on where to begin (there was no doubt about what the first story I read would be! I meant the rest) and how to proceed reading the book. Since I had to begin somewhere in the middle of the book, I decided to proceed with it randomly, reading the stories and poems by names I knew, names I recognised and titles that caught my interest and attention. As I crossed off each name in the index with a penciled check mark, I carefully wrote down what I felt while reading the particular piece of work, in a single phrase.

The book was not a conventional easy read. Some of the stories were emotionally written, focusing on bringing out the emotions rather than finding closure. Some were more focused on bringing the whole thing towards a conclusion. No matter what they focused on, each of the stories in some way were very relevant to the theme. I have seen anthologies were it is difficult to identify the central theme unless it is explicitly mentioned. Shades Of Life thankfully is not in that set. The stories and poems have a lilting quality that might give you an unexpected surprise be it in some dialogue or one defining line of verse, things that might change your perception. But these instances are rare, because most of the time, the jolt of an impact is missing.

The book works because it really is a varied palette of emotions. No two stories are similar or feel fake. They are very close to reality, talking about the ordinary every day emotions that everyone will relate with. Each of the stories and poems focus on things that every human heart feels, making sure to never veer towards surrealism or unimaginably twisted realities. But the book falters in two major areas (not mentioning its obvious length that is more than average). The language in many stories is not really the best, with some stories having glaring errors. Though the book is interesting as a whole, I could catch neither the point nor the purpose of some of the stories. They lacked the twists and turns that would have made them more interesting and infinitely more enjoyable.

This was probably the reason why I took a long time to read all the stories in the book. Despite being about a very relatable concept, with a theme anyone could understand and identify with, the book felt like a drag in many places. There were a tad too many items in the book, not all of them making a lasting impression or a great impact in my mind. With that said, the book is surely an interesting addition to any collection, mainly because it presents a variety of emotions and stays true to the theme. The book will take you some time to read fully, but it surely is worth a buy for the rare but powerful gems it holds in its collections.

Some of the stories are especially pulled down by unimpressive language and glaring typos. Few others seemed like they were trying to sound important by using a word or phrase that did not sit well with the other paragraphs and felt like it was inserted as an afterthought. The book could have been made much, much better by proper editing and good language. I do not have any major complaints with the book as is, but it felt like a movie that is longer than average with some scenes that need not have made the cut, harsh though it may sound. It is better to remember that this anthology is a collection of stories that were submitted from readers across the country when a nationwide contest was announced.

I have a few personal favorites I could quote from, but I shall refrain going in depth into that mainly because I do not want to do the book an injustice by picking out very few stories from the vast collection that it is. Maybe, just maybe, I will read it all again, when I obviously go back to see my favorites, and as I peruse through a particular story or poem, something else interesting will jump out at me. The book, in that regard, is capable of providing such surprises.

WHAT I LIKED:

• The theme of the book - it had a lot of potential and made an instant connection
• The stories and the poems were very relatable. They also matched the theme very well, and did justice to it.
• The cover requires a special mention. Be it in the watercolors, the circle of life (implied) or the colorful butterflies, there was something really alluring about it.

WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER:

• Some stories lacked any special impact and left the reader in me wanting more.
• The book needs better language and good editing. That could have completely changed my opinion about the book.
• The collection felt longer than average, an unfortunate occurence for an anthology where it is hard to decide which story stays and which goes!

VERDICT:

The book is a unique collection about a very beautiful, relatable theme. Definitely an interesting addition to every book lover's collection.

RATING: 3.5/5

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

The book is an anthology with multiple authors. More information about the authors can be had from Goodreads.

EDITIONS AVAILABLE: Paperback

PRICE Rs. 249 for Paperback

BOOK LINKS: Amazon