Book Review – Kanhu and other stories by Saroj Mishra

On The Cover :

This book contains eleven short stories in Odiya translated into English. The original Authors are all well-known writers, some of them winners of the Kendriya Sahitya Akademi awards and others honoured with several state-level awards.

The stories in this anthology reflect the rich and divergent cultural heritage of Odisha and the current thinking in Odiya society-varying from focus on the plight of the underprivileged to the struggles of different sections of society in dealing with moral dilemmas.

The stories have been selected carefully to promote the Odiya language, with its colourful idiom, the heritage and the social ambience of Odisha, to a wider audience so that the readers can learn about its rich literature and the glorious history of Odisha.

Review :

I love reading short stories, no matter what genre they are from. Day by day my schedule keeps getting busier and I am not finding as much time to read as I would love to and thus short stories are perfect solution to my problem. I literally carried this book for a week and read wherever I could read, be it during train journeys or while taking a break from work.

Now coming to the book, the stories are simple and earthly. I liked Kanhu’s home and Inauguration of the Electric Crematorium. But all other stories were okay. I wanted to read more about Odisha but unfortunately that didn’t happen. There are 10 stories even though the back cover mentions 11, few stories also have typing errors, thus making this book poor on editing and proof reading front.

Writing a short story is not a easy task. Not just one has to fit a story in limited word count but also make it look appeasing. A good short is one that touches your heart. A better one compels you to imagine scenarios of what ifs. Kanhu and other stories fails to create that touch and that kind of impact.

Rating :

**/5

Check out the book HERE

Note : This Review is for Leadstart Publishing