Book
Name – Mad Country
Name – Mad Country
Author – Samrat Upadhyay
Publisher – Rupa Publications
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Review
Nepal, a land that is close to us yet distant, a life that is similar to us yet different. Mad country is a collection of short stories based at Nepal but each story is different.
Eight stories are all deep and emotionally impactful. Fast forward is the story of a group of friends all different in character. When one is exuberant an carefree, other is composed and matured. The third one is the balancing factor between the other two. She is caught in a whilpool when her colleague goes missing. Thenceforth a thrilling tale comes to picture only to end abruptly.
The stories
Beggar boy is the story of a rich lad in search of his mother’s secrets or put it this way, to know why his mother left him. The story is a mixture of humour and tragedy. At one point we feel the pain for the boy but on the other side it is amusing to see his musings while he observes the people around. Third story, What will happen to the Sharma family has all the possibilities for a full fledged novel and hence crunching it into the frame of a short story turned out to be a bad idea. Freak Street is the life of the woman who takes a different identity in Nepal delves too much into the emotions. It is equally heartwarming and heartwrenching. Dreaming of Ghana is a fantasy story and it is too long for a short story. It could be counted as a mini novella. An affair before the earthquake is a simple and short story of two lovers. Mad country is indeed a story that makes us think how insane a system could be. Author shows that it is unbelievably rotten.
The stories are not in the same graph when it comes to genre, pace or characters. Each story is unique with different craft but what is common would be Nepal and hence we get to see a different yet not so different life.
The stories are not in the same graph when it comes to genre, pace or characters. Each story is unique with different craft but what is common would be Nepal and hence we get to see a different yet not so different life.
Verdict
A collection of short stories that have similar demographic background but variant themes.
Scenario: 4 /5
Narration : /5
Character : /5
Relevance : /5
Research :/5
Entertainment Quotient: /5
Research :/5
Entertainment Quotient: /5
This review is in return of a free book from the publisher
