My Father, the Watchmaker

by Gaurav Monga

My Father, the Watchmaker takes us on a metaphysical journey in which countries and cities merge and generations get drawn out longer than usual. Following the narrative of an uprooted home, we are constantly left wondering whether we are walking the streets of Lahore or New Delhi. At times we are spectators of a house, slowly disappearing or sitting at the back of the bicycle of a delivery boy meandering through the streets, delivering packages. Like the mythical Atlas, the watchmaker’s shop is condemned to carry the weight of the clocktower upon its shoulders. The ticking of time feels unsettling and it's erasure almost comes as a relief. The stories, the author says, are full of lies.

70 pages, Paperback

First published November 6, 2020

About the author

Gaurav Monga is an author originally from New Delhi, India. He taught himself German to read the works of Franz Kafka. His debut book Tears for Rahul Dutta was published by Philistine Press in 2012. He is also the author of Ruins (Desirepaths Publisher, 2019), Family Matters (Eibonvale Press, 2019), Costumes of the Living (Snuggly Books, 2020) and My Father, the Watchmaker (Hawakal Publishers, 2020)

Much of his writing has appeared in various literary magazines such as: B O D Y, Fanzine, Tammy Journal, Birkensnake, Queen Mob's Teahouse, Juked, Dismantle Magazine, Spurl Editions, The Fabulist, Ethos Literary Journal amongst others

Reviews

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

In Monga's spare, introverted stories, Delhi and Lahore echo each other. Bruno Schulz' Drohobycz joins the chorus, an implied harmony to this narrative of fraying ties and a father like a wounded, wayward godling, somehow magnificent in his bereft, threadbare state.

[Gordon Eldridge]

This book is really composed more of story fragments than of short stories. I enjoyed reading it and appreciated the nature of the little windows onto the life of the author and his family. In the end, though, I was left feeling like I simply was not offered enough as a reader. - feeling unsatisfied. I wanted more details to grab onto. Maybe this type of writing is just not for me.