Wednesday 12 October 2016

Book Review: The Rude Tenderness Of Our Hearts

Book: The Rude Tenderness of Our Hearts
Author: Saket Suryesh
Publisher: Partridge India
Genre: Fiction | Short Stories
Pages: 110
Price: 350

Blurb:

Smith studying art at Yale, with a bright future ahead of him. He is not a man of half-measures. What happens when he falls in love? And who does he fall in love with? How much love is too much love? Surprise yourself with Love in Yale.Shiva is a man in mourning, an asocial man, even if great. What will a father do whose daughter falls in love with an ascetic and a warrior? How would she win in love if not by losing herself? Read to find how the story of Shiva and Shailputri ends. Sarthak is a modern man, with a modern family, trapped in the modern world. This day has seen him coming out as an undisputed winner in corporate warfare. He is rushing to meet those he loves- his wife, his daughter. What happens then? Will time bring solace or will he be Betrayed by Time? A soldier is beheaded on India- Pakistan border. His headless body comes back. Will his soul find its salvation in the patriotic reception he gets as a martyr, having served his country? He is an Indian soldier, he could belong to any country. Where is the resolution to the people who die in such conflicts? Are they great men destined for divinity or are they human, all too human, like me and you? Discover a different perspective of territorial conflicts in The Death of Soldier. These and three other stories are placed in different time, different worlds, with nothing but one common thread that runs across them, connecting them is a human heart beating across the book. Surrender to the magic of human heart.

My Rating:

Plot: 3/5
Writing Style: 4/5

My Review:

"The Rude Tenderness Of Our Hearts" is a collection of 7 short stories, each of which has a profound sadness and an air of melancholy concealed in its bosom. I really liked the choice of the title of the book and how it perfectly matches with the stories in the book.

The first story "Love in Yale" is a story of an artist's love for his creation. This story has thrill, longing and sadness in equal proportions. I loved the way the author has narrated the story, describing each and every emotion of the characters in a subtle yet beautiful way. This is one of my favorite stories of this collection. I found the plot unique and the writing unadulterated. 

The next story "Betrayed by Time" is a story of a person who has always been busy with his work, thereby neglecting his family. And just when he decides to rectify his mistake, he is betrayed by time. I have read stories on this theme recently, therefore the plot did not sound very unique to me. 

The third story "Shiv and Shailputri" is a mythological story about the timeless love of Shiv and Parvati. I liked the way the author has sketched the characters of Shiv and Shailputri. This is another favorite story of mine from this collection. The divine and pure love of Shailputri for Shiv is a delight to read. 

"A bloody broken moon" is a heartbreaking story of the helplessness of a poor father. "What Honour" is the story of honor killing which is equally heartbreaking to read. The author poignantly talks about the 2 social issues that are prevalent in our country. 

"A Sad Christmas" is another heart wrenching story on poverty. The last story of the book is "The Death of a Soldier" which is one of my favorite stories of this collection. This story makes us realize how we seldom acknowledge the sacrifices of the soldiers. Inspired from real incidents, this is a sad story of a soldier who gets beheaded while protecting his country. 

Here are some quotes from the book that I liked: 

"In love, we conquer by first surrendering the self"

"Time is so cruel, only love can make it bearable."

"Some nights are very heavy on human soul. Once we live through them, we can look back at them and laugh at our silliness." 

All the stories begin with a few poetic lines from famous poems that enhances the reading experience. The writing style of the author manages to touch the heart, Although I found the plot of some stories very simple, what I liked about every story was the narration. 

However, the turn off for me was the editing mistakes and typos in some stories that affected my reading pace. Typos like leave in place of leaf, by in place of my could not be overlooked. 

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves reading short stories that deal with human emotions. For me, it is a 3.5 out of 5. 


Indian Bloggers

5 comments:

  1. A Brilliant Review and as earnest as ever :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Excellent review Purba! I love reading these kind of stories :) will def check out this book.

    ReplyDelete
  3. That's an earnest review of a good book. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks Purba. That is an excellent review. Much appreciated.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Very informative, keep posting such good articles, it really helps to know about things.

    ReplyDelete

Would love to hear your thoughts on the post!