Broadcast:- Dear Blog Adda, an awesome place in the Internetz, thank you for considering me as a reviewer.
Title:- Urban shots – Crossroads
Author:- 26 different authors. Edited by Ahmed Faiyaz. Written by Paritosh Uttam, Reeti Gadekar, Sharath Komarraju, Malcolm Carvahlo, and a number of popular bloggers and debutant writers. More information here:- http://www.greyoak.in/UrbanShots-Crossroads.htmPublished by:- Grey Oak Publishers, IndiaYear of Publication:- 2012Number of Pages:- 217Genre:- Fiction, Light reading.Thirty flashes. Thirty incidents that we all have probably been a part of in one way or the other. Twenty six different outlooks. Here's an album of moments that we overlook while we run around in our daily routines. This book takes its current form as the result of a short story writing competition organized by the publishers. This is the first of two books in the series, the second being Urban Shots-Bright Lights and definitely gives a new hope to the Indian bucket of short stories which had long lost its popularity despite the cultural charm it brought.
The book Urban shots, yes. Crossroads, maybe. Relations, definitely yes. All the thoughts that we come across in the logarithmic drag between optimism and diffidence in our everyday lives have been brought up in this book, in a way that makes one think. This is the central focus in this diverse book called Urban shots and they (the stories) do live up to the name. The stories are rather subtly told and highlight the hidden moments in any of the characters' life rather than being event driven. The characters again, are people we would all have met with. 'Everyone has a story' is what the book starts with. Some stories do not carry as much influence as the others. 'Priorities', 'Haiko' and 'The Gap' are some stories the reader can identify easily with because of the quick succession on events and observations the writer puts you through, just like it happens in reality. All stories inherently require the reader to try and think from the author's point of view, especially in scenic descriptions, and that attempt needs to be conscious. Nevertheless, the editor has pieced together individual stories very well. There is little gap between what we do in our real lives and fiction that this book narrates.
One does not feel a continuous urge to finish this book as each story is a whole world different than the other. It gets chaotic if you read all of them at once. It is a book to savour everyday and can be re-read with the same detachment all over again. But every single time, when any of the stories is finished, a strong sense of 'I have probably seen this character somewhere' prevails. Some of the stories in the later part of the book could have been bettered. There are many places where a story has been unnecessarily stretched in terms of descriptions. This book is a very good read if one looks for intricacies of the incident and would be a turn down for those who yearn for strong characters in the story. Considering many of the debutante writers in this book are regular bloggers, there is a lot of room for improvement if books are being written, although the stories included here have a beautiful rawness in them.
This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!