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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