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Unlikely tails
How much do you know about women? Do you really know them even when you know them?
17 stories. Various shades.Unexpected revelations. But... the question remains, do you still feel you know them even when you know about them?
17 stories. Various shades.Unexpected revelations. But... the question remains, do you still feel you know them even when you know about them?
125 pages, Hardcover
First published July 1, 2017
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3 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 5, 2017
Sometimes, we don't have time to read a lengthy novel. Hence, short stories are interesting to read during spare time. It is difficult to find a good quality short story book in the competitive world. The Unlikely Tails is a collection of short stories by Mani Padma, who is a well-known author among the community.
The book consists of 17 chapters spanning 140 pages. After a short introduction, the author begins with a story named Prince Charming. The author talks about a fairy Godmother and also talks about an item which you use daily. You will learn the activities carried out during the end of the day.
I would love to read short stories separated by day and the second chapter examines eight days of hectic lifestyle surrounding few persons. I am not disclosing the name of the person in question here. Let it be a suspense. The story talks about a stuff which he got when he needed it. A major twist happened on Day 8 and the reason for the incident is indeed shocking. The whole story is written in a crispy format in a gripping style.
The next chapter talks about how to lead a life in harmony and it revolves around places such as Manali and Dalhousie. Towards the end, the author discusses a person who did something for the first time. Will it be a miracle? You have to read the story to find it out.
The story 4 explores the length and breadth of the relationship of a family and it begins with a big quarrel between father and a daughter. The story centers around Devraj, Rana including a police officer from a nearby police station.
The fifth story delves deep into an escort service. The twist is that the person in question avoided his life partner and dialed somewhere else. The broken heart story talks about a lady who is in her 40s and the content is a bit longer than the previous one. If you would like to know how to work with your partner, then the next story is a must-read.
The vegetable vendor appears on the picture followed by a breakfast. Does a newspaper with a stunning ad appears in the story? You have to find it out yourselves. The next two stories delve deep into depression and the need to have confidence including the necessity to face challenges based on the changes happening in the life.
The story 14 examines the love story and the women accept the fact that her husband and his secretary were having an affair. He says that his secretary is the best women. Do you think whether she had accepted this fact? This stuff appears to be a true love story with his friend doing a desperate act.
A concrete plan is essential to achieve success in life. However, something different happened during the middle as she was not aware of the place they are traveling to. The final story is all about nine RAS and the whole plot is too intriguing and toxic that you will continue to read forever.
The Unlikely Tails will be useful for readers who would like to read advanced short stories. The book is a deal breaker for readers who are fed up with reading lengthy novels.
The paper quality of the Unlikely Tails book is excellent and is definitely not like others standard novels. Moreover, the title looks like a true library book with cover. You will be able to easily read the book because of the large font size. That said, the book is highly expensive when compared to standard novels. However, I hope that short story addicts will have something to cheer from the content.
The book consists of 17 chapters spanning 140 pages. After a short introduction, the author begins with a story named Prince Charming. The author talks about a fairy Godmother and also talks about an item which you use daily. You will learn the activities carried out during the end of the day.
I would love to read short stories separated by day and the second chapter examines eight days of hectic lifestyle surrounding few persons. I am not disclosing the name of the person in question here. Let it be a suspense. The story talks about a stuff which he got when he needed it. A major twist happened on Day 8 and the reason for the incident is indeed shocking. The whole story is written in a crispy format in a gripping style.
The next chapter talks about how to lead a life in harmony and it revolves around places such as Manali and Dalhousie. Towards the end, the author discusses a person who did something for the first time. Will it be a miracle? You have to read the story to find it out.
The story 4 explores the length and breadth of the relationship of a family and it begins with a big quarrel between father and a daughter. The story centers around Devraj, Rana including a police officer from a nearby police station.
The fifth story delves deep into an escort service. The twist is that the person in question avoided his life partner and dialed somewhere else. The broken heart story talks about a lady who is in her 40s and the content is a bit longer than the previous one. If you would like to know how to work with your partner, then the next story is a must-read.
The vegetable vendor appears on the picture followed by a breakfast. Does a newspaper with a stunning ad appears in the story? You have to find it out yourselves. The next two stories delve deep into depression and the need to have confidence including the necessity to face challenges based on the changes happening in the life.
The story 14 examines the love story and the women accept the fact that her husband and his secretary were having an affair. He says that his secretary is the best women. Do you think whether she had accepted this fact? This stuff appears to be a true love story with his friend doing a desperate act.
A concrete plan is essential to achieve success in life. However, something different happened during the middle as she was not aware of the place they are traveling to. The final story is all about nine RAS and the whole plot is too intriguing and toxic that you will continue to read forever.
The Unlikely Tails will be useful for readers who would like to read advanced short stories. The book is a deal breaker for readers who are fed up with reading lengthy novels.
The paper quality of the Unlikely Tails book is excellent and is definitely not like others standard novels. Moreover, the title looks like a true library book with cover. You will be able to easily read the book because of the large font size. That said, the book is highly expensive when compared to standard novels. However, I hope that short story addicts will have something to cheer from the content.
November 8, 2017
The blurb, the initial pages of Mani Padma's debut book Unlikely Tails announce that it is a collection of seventeen stories. However there are eighteen stories in this book. Two stories are numbered as five in the index and in the interior and that makes the eighteen stories seventeen. This blunder for sure makes a bad first impression.
Feeling of rejection, loneliness and death permeates most of the stories. The opening story Prince Charming is about the fluttering of heart of a young woman when she meets the man of her dreams. I really liked the second story in the book Eight Days with Sushil. In this story a depressed girl meets an old friend who lightens up her dead life. I liked the format which the author chooses for narrating this story. Its end though is quite shocking.
The story Harmony demonstrates how music can bring two unhappy souls together. Pammi's Escort Service is about how we all have the money but lack company. Broken heart is an interesting tale where an old woman tells how she broke a broken heart's heart again. Date with future is all about the games that girls play.
Man, Woman and capitulates the dynamics of a seasoned marriage. The story Sabjiwallah falls into the horror genre. The story Breakfast opens at a breakfast table. It is about a woman locked in a loveless marriage, who is drawn towards an out of marriage relationship. In Pursuit of Fame is a multilayered story about parental pressure on children who are forced into reality shows. I liked this story for the manner in which it welds reality with fiction.
Bhaavya delves into the mind of a mentally unsound woman. The Perfect Plan revolves around infidelity and a perfectly planned murder. Mamma's house shows how attachment to places changes with time. Dulliance deals with bride seeing ceremonies, customary for arranged marriages in India. Keep the Change again deals with issues of marriage and money. The last story in this collection titled The End tries to underline that in any given choice you have the power to chose your reaction. Again the author uses a unique format to weave her story.
What I liked about this book is that the writing is clean. These stories are projected as stories about as to what goes into the minds of women. While some stories indeed relate to this theme, some like Sabjiwallah are out of sync with the theme. Most of the stories are prosaic, too abstract. But yet if you want to read something really different, you may go for this book.
Feeling of rejection, loneliness and death permeates most of the stories. The opening story Prince Charming is about the fluttering of heart of a young woman when she meets the man of her dreams. I really liked the second story in the book Eight Days with Sushil. In this story a depressed girl meets an old friend who lightens up her dead life. I liked the format which the author chooses for narrating this story. Its end though is quite shocking.
The story Harmony demonstrates how music can bring two unhappy souls together. Pammi's Escort Service is about how we all have the money but lack company. Broken heart is an interesting tale where an old woman tells how she broke a broken heart's heart again. Date with future is all about the games that girls play.
Man, Woman and capitulates the dynamics of a seasoned marriage. The story Sabjiwallah falls into the horror genre. The story Breakfast opens at a breakfast table. It is about a woman locked in a loveless marriage, who is drawn towards an out of marriage relationship. In Pursuit of Fame is a multilayered story about parental pressure on children who are forced into reality shows. I liked this story for the manner in which it welds reality with fiction.
Bhaavya delves into the mind of a mentally unsound woman. The Perfect Plan revolves around infidelity and a perfectly planned murder. Mamma's house shows how attachment to places changes with time. Dulliance deals with bride seeing ceremonies, customary for arranged marriages in India. Keep the Change again deals with issues of marriage and money. The last story in this collection titled The End tries to underline that in any given choice you have the power to chose your reaction. Again the author uses a unique format to weave her story.
What I liked about this book is that the writing is clean. These stories are projected as stories about as to what goes into the minds of women. While some stories indeed relate to this theme, some like Sabjiwallah are out of sync with the theme. Most of the stories are prosaic, too abstract. But yet if you want to read something really different, you may go for this book.
November 8, 2017
I normally love reading books written by Indian authors and doctors in particular as they have a ring side view of humanity. HOwer Mani Padma's book is disappointing because of its rather ordinary and plain language. Though each tale has an unexpected ending and a convoluted plot, I feel that some of the stories are downright bizarre. The stories are about human relationships, particularly the ones that are flawed and many of them lean towards unsuccessful love affairs. Some of them are downright bizarre.
The only plus about this book is that it is easy to read - it is thin, slim, light and well produced.
The only plus about this book is that it is easy to read - it is thin, slim, light and well produced.
November 15, 2017
Review at A Bookworm's Musing
Each of these stories made me feel like the author and I were sitting together and having coffee, and she was sharing those stories with me. I liked that casual tone a lot. The book is a page turner. The twists at the end are quite good too, though sometimes, it’s just abrupt and doesn’t go with the flow of the story before it. I quite liked this debut collection of short stories from Mani, and I’m hoping the second book is in the offing soon.
Each of these stories made me feel like the author and I were sitting together and having coffee, and she was sharing those stories with me. I liked that casual tone a lot. The book is a page turner. The twists at the end are quite good too, though sometimes, it’s just abrupt and doesn’t go with the flow of the story before it. I quite liked this debut collection of short stories from Mani, and I’m hoping the second book is in the offing soon.
September 15, 2017
3.5/5
What I absolutely loved about the stories is the feeling that you are hearing them from some one sitting across you. The tone and flow is so real in them. What is lacking is though handling some twists and surprises. Most of the stories just reach a likeable spot and then it never rises. A wonderful debut collection of short stories that made me realize that we all have such stories to share and pass.
What I absolutely loved about the stories is the feeling that you are hearing them from some one sitting across you. The tone and flow is so real in them. What is lacking is though handling some twists and surprises. Most of the stories just reach a likeable spot and then it never rises. A wonderful debut collection of short stories that made me realize that we all have such stories to share and pass.
March 29, 2018
Unlikely Tails, as the name suggests, is a collection of short stories that don't have your usual plots or endings. In the author's own words,
"How much do you know abut women? Do you really know them even when you know them?
17 stories.
Various shades.
Unexpected revelations.
But... the question remains, do you still feel you know them even when you know about them?"
That is undoubtedly the kind of enigmatic book blurb that gets you to pick up a book. Thankfully, the stories are short, easy to read, and suited for a cover-to-cover single-sitting read. Through 17 really short pieces, the author has attempted to reveal the inner workings of a woman's mind in myriad situations. And believe me, they aren't what most people would expect. The stories explore conflicting, often twisted emotions that form part of the psyches of not just women but men as well, a welcome deviation from the author's self-proclaimed intention to primarily talk about what women think.
I had two initial thoughts on the book: What does the cover image signify? And what is 'tails' a play on? It looks like some kind of a primate's hair on the cover image. Maybe there could be an animal theme tying the stories together, or perhaps the undecipherable cover image was a play on the often-unpredictable character of a woman's mind. But none of these elements revealed themselves in the book, so the jury is still out on that one.
What I like about Unlikely Tails
I am welcoming of any and every book that explores women-related themes or has women protagonists, especially if the author is a woman. Mani Padma has done a pretty good job of traversing the slippery slope of the female emotional make-up and revealing some of the emotions that to an untrained eye might seem totally unimaginable. I particularly liked the story 'Dead End' for its investigation of a suicidal person's mind (although the subject merits better treatment). 'Keep the Change' was the one story in the book that kept me guessing (in vain) till the end. 'Mamma's House' was heartwarming and deep, while 'Kinky Kaur' gave me a lot of smug satisfaction.
What could be better
I found nuance and depth missing from the author's treatment of her characters. There was a lot of potential, which was perhaps lost in the somewhat unnatural way the characters talked about themselves. More research and a better understanding of a person's inner voice may help. The introduction to the book, written by another author, also compares Mani Padma's language to that of Ruskin Bond and Maupassant, which I think was a far stretch. I was reminded more of Advaita Kala and Anuja Chauhan for their tongue-in-cheek brand of humour and simple narrative style.
A recurring observation I made throughout the book was the author's obvious unease with tight narration and description. I will attribute that to the author not being a native English speaker, which makes her attempt to write in English commendable. However, the book could seriously use some editing and proofreading. The editorial job is shoddy, with the narrative randomly changing between first and third person for the same character and faulty use of punctuation almost everywhere. If the flaws were few and far in between, I wouldn't make a mention here. But they are really hard to ignore in this book.
Among the many things that bugged me in Unlikely Tails, the first paragraph of 'Dull-iance' stands out, wherein the narrator claims, "There are two things that are found aplenty in our country" and then goes into an exposition on the second thing, completely forgetting to mention what the first thing was. This unresolved curiosity will bug me forever, though the story was honestly a good read.
To conclude, I think Unlikely Tails is a good first attempt at short fiction, though nowhere near perfect. The author has a distinct style of thinking and writing, one that I may not necessarily love because it's fresh, it's different. Given good editing, I expect Mani Padma to come out with a lot more stuff in the future that I would like to read.
"How much do you know abut women? Do you really know them even when you know them?
17 stories.
Various shades.
Unexpected revelations.
But... the question remains, do you still feel you know them even when you know about them?"
That is undoubtedly the kind of enigmatic book blurb that gets you to pick up a book. Thankfully, the stories are short, easy to read, and suited for a cover-to-cover single-sitting read. Through 17 really short pieces, the author has attempted to reveal the inner workings of a woman's mind in myriad situations. And believe me, they aren't what most people would expect. The stories explore conflicting, often twisted emotions that form part of the psyches of not just women but men as well, a welcome deviation from the author's self-proclaimed intention to primarily talk about what women think.
I had two initial thoughts on the book: What does the cover image signify? And what is 'tails' a play on? It looks like some kind of a primate's hair on the cover image. Maybe there could be an animal theme tying the stories together, or perhaps the undecipherable cover image was a play on the often-unpredictable character of a woman's mind. But none of these elements revealed themselves in the book, so the jury is still out on that one.
What I like about Unlikely Tails
I am welcoming of any and every book that explores women-related themes or has women protagonists, especially if the author is a woman. Mani Padma has done a pretty good job of traversing the slippery slope of the female emotional make-up and revealing some of the emotions that to an untrained eye might seem totally unimaginable. I particularly liked the story 'Dead End' for its investigation of a suicidal person's mind (although the subject merits better treatment). 'Keep the Change' was the one story in the book that kept me guessing (in vain) till the end. 'Mamma's House' was heartwarming and deep, while 'Kinky Kaur' gave me a lot of smug satisfaction.
What could be better
I found nuance and depth missing from the author's treatment of her characters. There was a lot of potential, which was perhaps lost in the somewhat unnatural way the characters talked about themselves. More research and a better understanding of a person's inner voice may help. The introduction to the book, written by another author, also compares Mani Padma's language to that of Ruskin Bond and Maupassant, which I think was a far stretch. I was reminded more of Advaita Kala and Anuja Chauhan for their tongue-in-cheek brand of humour and simple narrative style.
A recurring observation I made throughout the book was the author's obvious unease with tight narration and description. I will attribute that to the author not being a native English speaker, which makes her attempt to write in English commendable. However, the book could seriously use some editing and proofreading. The editorial job is shoddy, with the narrative randomly changing between first and third person for the same character and faulty use of punctuation almost everywhere. If the flaws were few and far in between, I wouldn't make a mention here. But they are really hard to ignore in this book.
Among the many things that bugged me in Unlikely Tails, the first paragraph of 'Dull-iance' stands out, wherein the narrator claims, "There are two things that are found aplenty in our country" and then goes into an exposition on the second thing, completely forgetting to mention what the first thing was. This unresolved curiosity will bug me forever, though the story was honestly a good read.
To conclude, I think Unlikely Tails is a good first attempt at short fiction, though nowhere near perfect. The author has a distinct style of thinking and writing, one that I may not necessarily love because it's fresh, it's different. Given good editing, I expect Mani Padma to come out with a lot more stuff in the future that I would like to read.
November 8, 2017
These short stories are really short if your counts words. Well crafted stories do not have a useless display of words. Mani Padma seems to have relatively good vocabulary among contemporary young fiction writers. In a solo collection of short stories, not more than half of these stories satisfy your literary bud. In this collection, I simply satisfied with all stories. Stories are not unusual but written very well.
When writers these focus no marketable stuff and drop literal value, Mani Padma is successful to save literal values. He crafted stories with a simple formula. These are our neighbourhood stories, routine life, but with a good reflection of events and human nature. Stories are being narrated across the table. Their tone and flows are smooth, slow and simple.
Against my earlier presumption, there is no short story in this collection with title “unlikely tails”. After careful reading these stories, I find a smooth twist in the chain of events which usually unpredictable before the last paragraph. These stories do not force you to sit and read in one sitting, do not increase your heart beats after each paragraph, do not increase your curiosity top of your mind, and do not force you to have hot coffee turned cold. No, nothing, stories simply take a smooth turn which you feel unlikely at first sight of reading. These unlikely turns are so smooth, you think twice each time if this is most logical tails of the story. I believe, yes these are.
These stories touch human relationship mostly from the angle of a common girl. Unlikely tails have women protagonist but without pushing fashionable feminism forward. You never feel any hardcore urge for and against any character. Naturally, messages if any there, delivered smoothly in our conscience.
These stories exhibit sharp focus of vision towards day to day events. Take the first story “Prince Charming”, until protagonist point of the observation, you do not note the point and once your note, you agree simply. As a rare instance, writing of the second story may be closed before last few words – explanatory statement by the protagonist. The story may have more impact, though most readers may not notice.
“Pummi’s Escort Service” reveals upon the biased and dirty mind of the middle-class male. “Date with future” is a cute comment upon relationships in the era of reality shows. “Breakfast” looks into the personal relationship of a ‘family’ woman. When one read “Dead – end”, you have silence suddenly after the inner violence of your own thought. “Dull-iance” is a story which comments upon female minds and deviates slightly from the pattern. I do not find in this collection a story which may be called average.
Manipadma is from Assam, now based in Delhi. No story is from Assam in this collection. It may be a conscious attempt to save her from regional writer tag. These stories are based in and around Northern India – the Hindi belt. Same time, no story is really from the medical background.
Mani Padma has good potential to be a good fiction writer. Her style of writing is suitable for short stories not for novels. “Unlikely Tails” is her solo debut.
Unlikely Tails (PostScript) – If you think, there are 17 stories as it seems, you are not the good reader. Though back cover, as well as an index, read 17 stories, these are actually 18 stories. I presume it is the deliberate attempt. You need to find out how these are actually 18. [Hint is hidden in index itself]
When writers these focus no marketable stuff and drop literal value, Mani Padma is successful to save literal values. He crafted stories with a simple formula. These are our neighbourhood stories, routine life, but with a good reflection of events and human nature. Stories are being narrated across the table. Their tone and flows are smooth, slow and simple.
Against my earlier presumption, there is no short story in this collection with title “unlikely tails”. After careful reading these stories, I find a smooth twist in the chain of events which usually unpredictable before the last paragraph. These stories do not force you to sit and read in one sitting, do not increase your heart beats after each paragraph, do not increase your curiosity top of your mind, and do not force you to have hot coffee turned cold. No, nothing, stories simply take a smooth turn which you feel unlikely at first sight of reading. These unlikely turns are so smooth, you think twice each time if this is most logical tails of the story. I believe, yes these are.
These stories touch human relationship mostly from the angle of a common girl. Unlikely tails have women protagonist but without pushing fashionable feminism forward. You never feel any hardcore urge for and against any character. Naturally, messages if any there, delivered smoothly in our conscience.
These stories exhibit sharp focus of vision towards day to day events. Take the first story “Prince Charming”, until protagonist point of the observation, you do not note the point and once your note, you agree simply. As a rare instance, writing of the second story may be closed before last few words – explanatory statement by the protagonist. The story may have more impact, though most readers may not notice.
“Pummi’s Escort Service” reveals upon the biased and dirty mind of the middle-class male. “Date with future” is a cute comment upon relationships in the era of reality shows. “Breakfast” looks into the personal relationship of a ‘family’ woman. When one read “Dead – end”, you have silence suddenly after the inner violence of your own thought. “Dull-iance” is a story which comments upon female minds and deviates slightly from the pattern. I do not find in this collection a story which may be called average.
Manipadma is from Assam, now based in Delhi. No story is from Assam in this collection. It may be a conscious attempt to save her from regional writer tag. These stories are based in and around Northern India – the Hindi belt. Same time, no story is really from the medical background.
Mani Padma has good potential to be a good fiction writer. Her style of writing is suitable for short stories not for novels. “Unlikely Tails” is her solo debut.
Unlikely Tails (PostScript) – If you think, there are 17 stories as it seems, you are not the good reader. Though back cover, as well as an index, read 17 stories, these are actually 18 stories. I presume it is the deliberate attempt. You need to find out how these are actually 18. [Hint is hidden in index itself]
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