Original Ideas, Lacks Intensity (Book Review)

Book: Fragments - A Collection of Short Stories

Author: Janaki Nagaraj

Publication: Self Published

Life is made up of big and small moments, rather memories that stay with us for a very long time. A collection of short stories is more or less similar to that. Different memories, different thoughts all woven in a string, together.

Fragments is the debut book of the author Janaki Nagaraj, it is a collection of 13 short stories that covers different aspects of life. The first story ‘The Ritual’ – a murder mystery is indeed a psychotic thriller. It has unexpected twists and is the best among the lot. The next story ‘The Homecoming’ is about a father - son relationship, it is soft-hearted story. It could have been more elaborate on the state of mind of the father, who is a soldier back from war field.

‘Naked’ is another ‘snippet story’ that derives from an original thought process of the author. ‘The women in my life’ is quite a surprise, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it is a real story. ‘What goes around…’ lacks depth. Images from the past of the protagonist could have been more intense to get the desired effect.

The interesting element about the anthology is that it covers several genres, emotions, characters from across various sectors. It is a compilation of love story of a politician, murder mystery, relationships (father-son, mother- son), child abuse (in a very subtle way), treasure hunt adventure, greed for position/ career among others.

Somewhere the sentences seems forced, e.g. a father son assuming that his son is a gay says, ‘I will have tough time accepting it, eventually I will…’ Something like this, is a part of a process of thoughts that one acquires of a few hours, days, months or years.

Overall, ideas behind these stories are very original, appreciate that. Some of the stories lack intensity, though.

My rating: 2.5 out of 5

I received a review copy of the e-book from the author on behalf of The Book Club in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

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