She Writes

by Anisha Bhaduri (contributor), Geeta Sundar (contributor), Jyotsna Jha (contributor)

195 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Poorvi · Rating 2 out of 5]

She Writes is a collection of short stories written by 12 women writers and the story-line is based on certain themes provided by Random House India. The introduction which is given by Preeti Shenoy is catchy to read. I found two short stories which is really good to read i.e. spaces and white chilly as I found the title quirky in its own way and also the description of it. Remaining stories are just breeze through where it kind of fails to grab the attention of the reader. But overall a good effort to portray the stories and also their respective creativity and talent but fails to give that "awww factor", "twist'' or "kick" once you generally finish after reading the book.

[Ridhi Bansal · Rating 3 out of 5]

She Writes- It is a collection of short stories. I picked this book cause all the authors were women.
I liked the White chilly, Mantras of love, Spaces!
These were light hearted and a good read.
The Mirage and Boston Brahmin,these two stories took me by a surprise. They started out in a different way and ended in a different way. These two stories made me think about such situations in a different way.

One thing common about these stories are they end on a kind of a suspense. As a reader you have to interpret the ending and think.

[Michelle Pereira · Rating 2 out of 5]

thought the book needed more oomph! i found most of the stories blah and the zillions of grammatical errors. surprised the book passed the editorial test

[Meghna Sinha · Rating 2 out of 5]

She Writes promises to be fantastic read at the outset. It is a collection of 12 short stories, by 12 different authors. 12 different women writers, each with an impressive background and accolades to their credit. She Writes is the outcome of a competition conducted by Random House India alongwith MSN in a quest to "hunt for India's finest women writers", in their own words. The stories were supposed to be based on one of the three themes enlisted, keeping in tune with the rules of the competition. Each of the themes had a particular quotation from old classics, acclaimed works and celebrated authors which had to be incorporated somewhere in the course of each story.

With such a magnificent facade I was thrilled to read what I thought would take me on a wonderful journey. What I realised was that it was a journey all right, but a rather strange one. The geographic diversity by way of the locational backdrop of the writers' stories, which is in most cases also their own origin, is well represented. The stories take you from Sikkim to Calcutta all the way to Tamil Nadu and also overseas. They have done a good job in painting the perfect mental picture of the physical world in their tales. What disappoints me is the poor narration of the actual stories. Each of the plots is unique and could have been a real gem in the world of short stories. The pace of the stories is homogeneously inconsistent - delving into arduous and rather unnecessary details about the surroundings and silly minute details that do not warrant mention in short stories and then, in what seems like a rush towards the finish line, a hurried statement of facts and conclusion. Most of the stories leave you with the same feeling as you get when you have dumped all ingredients into the wok instead of cooking your dish methodically. The stories left me with several unanswered queries - which were the things that those silly minute details should have actually taken care of - innumerable Whys and Whats. It appears as if a word limit was imposed after the stories were written or that all of them have been retold by a single, rather uninterested, writer. The insertion of the mandatory theme based quotation is also glaringly deliberate and out of place in most stories
.

Barring two and a half stories I was thoroughly disappointed by what Random House India has put together after its "hunt for India's finest women writers". I am certain She Could Write Better.

[Njkinny (Njkinny's Blog) · Rating 2 out of 5]

"She Writes" is a collection of short stories written by twelve aspiring writers chosen from all over India as part of a competition held in 2012 by MSN and Random House India where the stories were to be based on mandatory line prompts. I had started writing a story of my own for this competition but alas could not send it in time
and so when the book got published I bought it. I was eager to read what others had written and how different were their thoughts as opposed to mine on the same topics with the same lines to quote and Boy was I surprised!!!

All the stories in the book are as different as day and night and some pretty unconventional. I liked the skill with which such different tales are compiled in one book. The introduction by Pretty Shenoy is the best and most engaging written text in the book. The stories, though very different, could have been better because some stories are plain boring!!

I liked a few stories like Boston Brahmin, yokemates etc. I loved the vast cultures and places this short story collection targets and feel that though the initiative was a good effort from MSN and Random House India, they should still have taken more time to filter some stories that were very loose on the theme and could thus, have been filtered from the collection.

I give "She Writes" a 2.5 out of 5 because I feel that though it an OK book, it can still be a good travelling companion but otherwise, you can skip buying the book and can instead go for borrowing from a library or a friend.

This review is also available at http://njkinny.blogspot.in/
Checkout the blog for more reviews

[Pri · Rating 2 out of 5]

Title: She writes
Publisher: @randomhouse
Publishing Year: 2012
Genre: Fiction, Short stories
Pages: 195
Choice of content: 3/5
Aesthetically: 3/5
In May 2012, @randomhouse India conducted a short story contest in association with @msnbc and hunted for India’s finest women writers.

Beginning with a foreword by acclaimed author @preeti.shenoy, this book has 12 stories by women ranging from a globetrotter, award winning journalist, home maker, literature graduate to a college professor from different cities of India. I read this in 2015 and came across it today while rearranging the book shelf.

The stories like Mantras of love and Other people’s lives are “stay together forever” kind of a work. Though some of them have content which was forcefully thrusted on the base narrative but most of them were raw yet enticing and built on a good plot. The fact that the writing style of each writer is different keeps you engaged all the while and with central theme being woman, I believe it won’t be a mistake to binge read it.

.

[Varsha Seshan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a mixture of contrived, silly stories and good ones that I actually enjoyed. What I particularly liked was the range of geography this book encompasses, and the last story is probably responsible for my giving this collection a higher rating than I otherwise would have. Something that put me off tremendously was the number of typos and other minor errors. Many of the stories had a highly artificial way of including the lines required by the competition; some were so seamless and got me so involved in the story that I didn't even notice the lines being slipped in.

[Saritha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a compilation of stories selected for a contest with interesting theme and mandatory line prompts.

My favourite stories in the collection were Spaces, Mirage, Boston Brahmin and Yokemates. While the prompts have been used well, I really wish the overall collection could be notched up a bit in terms of just pushing the envelope on the writing. Having said that, i did skip reading a few stories because the beginnings just didn't rein me in.

A good collection none the less.

[Priyank · Rating 3 out of 5]

The concept of the book about women writing with fixed themes and mandatory lines was what attracted me to grab the book.
While a few stories are very average, some stories were really good. As these are short stories, the interest span remains even though you dont like a particular story.
The vast geography covered in the book adds to the interest.
Its kind of a book you can pick up when traveling.

[Madhusmita · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this book because I liked the concept behind the book. Also, the fact that stories of women from different parts of the country have been compiled in one book increased my interest further. I did not find all the stories interesting. However, a few caught my attention. Overall it’s a mixed bag kind of book.

[Pooja Pillai · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an interesting collection, but not because all the stories are good. Some of the stories are over-laboured, while others flow more smoothly. But they all address a range of topics - from old age to gender relations to summer flings.

[Jaasindah Mir · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would give it a two point five. I think the stories were nice, but a few made my head ache. Pretentious and much adoed stories are what you'd see in the anthology. But you will like some stories for sure.

[Namitha Varma · Rating 2 out of 5]

While a couple of stories in this collection are pretty good, the others are just mediocre. The only allure is that it contains stories in a vast variety of themes, different places and and many kind of characters.

[Aruna Kumar Gadepalli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some how these stories though good, but didn't appeal to me much. 2-3 Stories in the collection interesting. You can read to see the trends in reading.

[Mansi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice collection. Though some stories seemed very normal, the very idea that this book has encouraged women to write and has given them a platform, is exciting.

Overall, a "Goodread".

[Jincy Varghese · Rating 1 out of 5]

Average book - bits and pieces of stories

[Samarpita Sharma · Rating 2 out of 5]

http://sankshvet.blogspot.in/2012/12/...