Book Review: THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT

When Indireads held their first short story competition, I was quite fascinated with the kind of stories that were shortlisted. I had my own opinion of the winners while I was surprised by the stories that actually won. Well, tastes are different I suppose. 

I have chosen to review the stories that made a mark on me. The stories fall under the genres of Drama, Paranormal and Romance. 

A Plate of Rice by Mohammed Musthafa Azeez (Drama) is a story that truly appealed to me. I have read Mohammed’s work before and have been impressed with his writing style as well as his story ideas. For such a young writer, the pieces Mohammed comes up with are very mature. This story is one such. Kudos! 

In Exile by Neha Puntambekar is a hard hitting story and truly shook me up. The author writes about something that happens with rich kids who get away with drunken driving. But I have never read a viewpoint from the kid’s side. Wonderfully penned! A must read. Congratulations! 

Let Me Go by Rubina Ramesh is another story in the Drama genre that I loved reading. It made me cry my heart out. A story that brings forth strong emotions in the reader is one that really works for me. Just awesome! The relationship between brother and sister touches your heart. Congrats!  (I was amazed that this one didn’t win a prize. I am just glad that this story is part of this anthology). 

Romance is my favourite genre. While I liked A Tiara for Seher and The Blind Date , I was totally impressed by You Stole My Heart . What surprised me was that this one was also penned by Rubina Ramesh, the author of Let Me Go. While the Drama made me cry, this romance made me dance. I simply adore the royal background to the story and fell in love with Prince Armaan. Enjoyed every juicy bit of it, to be truthful! “Like a porcelain doll maker who feared that his masterpiece would shatter with his own breath” - what a simile! 

I am not fond of paranormal but have a kind of morbid fascination to it. I read Together Forever by SS Kuruganti and felt quite revolted. Nothing wrong with the writing and probably the author has achieved what she set out to do. But the story made me sick. So, I didn’t read the rest of the stories in that genre.

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