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Four Strokes Of Luck
Amma is unable to live without Seemaatti, her beloved buffalo. Kumaresu has found success in business, but he has never been able to overcome rejection by his childhood sweetheart. Every day, Murugesu hides in a neem thicket, where he extorts money from young couples. Mocked all her life for her dark skin, Saraswati is kept going by her burning private passion for a movie star. From one of India’s most acclaimed and beloved modern writers, Four Strokes of Luck is a collection that will delight every admirer of Perumal Murugan, and introduce new readers to his hallmark empathy, humanity and humour. These stories of lives on the margins, of loners and outcasts seeking meaning and happiness, are tender, heartbreaking and always surprising.
216 pages, Hardcover
Published January 23, 2021
5 people are currently reading
108 people want to read
About the author
Perumal Murugan
97 books380 followersPrimary profile for this author.
Do NOT merge author profiles in different languages/spelling.
Per GR policy, books published in another language/script should have the name on that book as secondary author, with Perumal Murugan as primary author.
Perumal Murugan is a well-known contemporary Tamil writer and poet. He was written six novels, four collections of short stories and four anthologies of poetry. Three of his novels have been translated into English to wide acclaim: Seasons of the Palm, which was shortlisted for the prestigious Kiriyama Award in 2005, Current Show, and most recently, One Part Woman. He has received awards from the Tamil Nadu government as well as from Katha Books.
Do NOT merge author profiles in different languages/spelling.
Per GR policy, books published in another language/script should have the name on that book as secondary author, with Perumal Murugan as primary author.
Perumal Murugan is a well-known contemporary Tamil writer and poet. He was written six novels, four collections of short stories and four anthologies of poetry. Three of his novels have been translated into English to wide acclaim: Seasons of the Palm, which was shortlisted for the prestigious Kiriyama Award in 2005, Current Show, and most recently, One Part Woman. He has received awards from the Tamil Nadu government as well as from Katha Books.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
March 25, 2022
Crazy read.
Ten short stories which will remain unforgettable once you read them. Even if you do not like a particular story, it will stay with you because that’s what the author does with his writing!
I find this story collection much better than any of the short story collections I have read so far. I am just a bit biased with the rating as I find most of the stories with open endings which didn’t sit well with me. But did I not like any of the stories? No.
Yes, a few of these stories and characters you would be uncomfortable with but yes, once you read them and know about these characters they are not going anywhere.
My favourites from this collection would be Four Strokes of Luck (character with OCD and a unique family), Beloved Face, Seemaattii the Buffalo, This Will Do, Ice Apple and Pondaatti. I find reading the story Pork Roast really uncomfortable to read as it describes in detail about killing a pig for cooking. I did not need to read that in order to enjoy a good story.
Overall, an unforgettable read.
Ten short stories which will remain unforgettable once you read them. Even if you do not like a particular story, it will stay with you because that’s what the author does with his writing!
I find this story collection much better than any of the short story collections I have read so far. I am just a bit biased with the rating as I find most of the stories with open endings which didn’t sit well with me. But did I not like any of the stories? No.
Yes, a few of these stories and characters you would be uncomfortable with but yes, once you read them and know about these characters they are not going anywhere.
My favourites from this collection would be Four Strokes of Luck (character with OCD and a unique family), Beloved Face, Seemaattii the Buffalo, This Will Do, Ice Apple and Pondaatti. I find reading the story Pork Roast really uncomfortable to read as it describes in detail about killing a pig for cooking. I did not need to read that in order to enjoy a good story.
Overall, an unforgettable read.
April 12, 2021
3.5 stars. Great writing as usual. But felt like I wanted more from it. Good glimpses/vignettes into people's lives. Perumal Murugan is great with that.
February 14, 2024
Eclectic collection of short stories.
August 25, 2021
If I can take some liberty, Perumal Murugan can be considered Saadat Hasan Manto of the 21st century, for there is so much similarity in the writing style, choice of subjects, the underlying theme of the stories, the narration style, and the way of ending each story that it's impossible to not notice it. Just like Manto, Perumal Murugan's subjects are often common people who go unnoticed while living their mundane life but each one has a story of their own to tell. Flawless narration, easy dialogues, simple subjects, heartwarming stories with sudden endings are just a few qualities to mention which distinguish these writers from the crowd.
Four strokes of luck, a collection of 10 short stories, which was released in January this year, is an extraordinary work by Perumal Murugan. It brings forth the stories from the life of ordinary people to which everyone can relate. Originally written in Tamil, the English translation is equally entertaining and has all the essentials to give a feel of the dialogues if spoken in Tamil. Each of the stories highlights the day-to-day incidents from the life of ordinary people living in a village or a small town, which forms the soul of this book. Be it a poor boy who loves reading, or an old lady who can go miles to protect her buffalo or a poor boy who gets a government job of a school teacher and takes upon himself to enforce discipline everywhere, or a girl who gets teased (read harassed) by everyone for her dark skin color, these stories are a portrayal of our society, our culture, stories which are part of every common person's life. Without adding extra baggage, the stories flow like a river through simple dialogues (with a pinch of humor), simple scenes, and heartwarming emotions which are common across different strata of society. It is a delightful, fast-paced, and engaging read which anyone can read in a single sitting. A perfect read for a lazy weekend.
Four strokes of luck, a collection of 10 short stories, which was released in January this year, is an extraordinary work by Perumal Murugan. It brings forth the stories from the life of ordinary people to which everyone can relate. Originally written in Tamil, the English translation is equally entertaining and has all the essentials to give a feel of the dialogues if spoken in Tamil. Each of the stories highlights the day-to-day incidents from the life of ordinary people living in a village or a small town, which forms the soul of this book. Be it a poor boy who loves reading, or an old lady who can go miles to protect her buffalo or a poor boy who gets a government job of a school teacher and takes upon himself to enforce discipline everywhere, or a girl who gets teased (read harassed) by everyone for her dark skin color, these stories are a portrayal of our society, our culture, stories which are part of every common person's life. Without adding extra baggage, the stories flow like a river through simple dialogues (with a pinch of humor), simple scenes, and heartwarming emotions which are common across different strata of society. It is a delightful, fast-paced, and engaging read which anyone can read in a single sitting. A perfect read for a lazy weekend.
March 29, 2021
Four Strokes of Luck by Perumal Murugan is the most recent work of the author published this year. It is translated from the Tamil by Nandini Krishnan.
It is a collection of 10 short stories with diverse themes revolving around casteism, patriarchy, about rural India, lives of the margin and the outcast.
Murugan does not write about big things,he writes about the mundane- the myriad 'deep and meaningless' facets of everyday lives. His stories drip with cultural and social nuances and are like mirrors that reflect the life and feature of a society in minute details and extraordinary ways.What I absolutely love about Murugan's writing is his skill of bringing the mundane and the simplicity of village lives into play which otherwise would have been sidelined.Also one can see how animals occupy an indispensable part in Murugan's writing.
Like in 'Seemaatti the Buffalo' Murugan vividly captures the interdependence of humans and animals in the rural.It is a story about an Amma who cannot live without her buffalo,Seemaatti who had accompanied Amma as seeru(gift)to the maternal home when she came as a bride.One day her husband sold off Seemaatti owing to her growing old without Amma's knowledge.What hit me is when Amma stated that she wouldn't have stayed in this house had it not been for Seemaatti!!
In the story 'Pork Roast' men of a community of caste Hindu relish pork as a special meat.But it is not the same for the women of that community,for pork is considered as a pollution and would neither cook nor eat pork.So pork cooking and eating is strictly conducted outdoor.It is at this time where the high caste and the low caste are bonded-for it is the low caste who has to indulge in anything dirty that involves with catching, bludgeoning and skinning the pig.
In 'Bypass road' and the titular story 'Four Strokes of Luck' I thoroughly enjoyed the humour associated.The former is about double entendres associated with gendered language. The latter is a story about a cleanliness and a discipline freak man who is taught later by his daughter that 'there is no such thing as order' and that everything is bound to break sometime.
Murugan's prose is simple, yet exuberant and posseses the ferocious power of observation. His story telling is so gripping and engaging that there is no way of putting the book down till you have reached the last page.
Recommended.
It is a collection of 10 short stories with diverse themes revolving around casteism, patriarchy, about rural India, lives of the margin and the outcast.
Murugan does not write about big things,he writes about the mundane- the myriad 'deep and meaningless' facets of everyday lives. His stories drip with cultural and social nuances and are like mirrors that reflect the life and feature of a society in minute details and extraordinary ways.What I absolutely love about Murugan's writing is his skill of bringing the mundane and the simplicity of village lives into play which otherwise would have been sidelined.Also one can see how animals occupy an indispensable part in Murugan's writing.
Like in 'Seemaatti the Buffalo' Murugan vividly captures the interdependence of humans and animals in the rural.It is a story about an Amma who cannot live without her buffalo,Seemaatti who had accompanied Amma as seeru(gift)to the maternal home when she came as a bride.One day her husband sold off Seemaatti owing to her growing old without Amma's knowledge.What hit me is when Amma stated that she wouldn't have stayed in this house had it not been for Seemaatti!!
In the story 'Pork Roast' men of a community of caste Hindu relish pork as a special meat.But it is not the same for the women of that community,for pork is considered as a pollution and would neither cook nor eat pork.So pork cooking and eating is strictly conducted outdoor.It is at this time where the high caste and the low caste are bonded-for it is the low caste who has to indulge in anything dirty that involves with catching, bludgeoning and skinning the pig.
In 'Bypass road' and the titular story 'Four Strokes of Luck' I thoroughly enjoyed the humour associated.The former is about double entendres associated with gendered language. The latter is a story about a cleanliness and a discipline freak man who is taught later by his daughter that 'there is no such thing as order' and that everything is bound to break sometime.
Murugan's prose is simple, yet exuberant and posseses the ferocious power of observation. His story telling is so gripping and engaging that there is no way of putting the book down till you have reached the last page.
Recommended.
August 24, 2021
#FourStrokesofLuck
#PerumalMurugan
Translated from the Tamil by Nandini Krishnan
Murugan makes the ordinary seem extraordinary. So much that goes unnoticed of what surrounds us is detailed by him. His writing about the day to day life serves as a social commentary on the larger palette. His writing hits home. It’s fierce, it is protective. It is real: be it the old woman who will do anything to save her Buffalo in Seemaatti, the buffalo herself being an allegory for social oppression; or the desire and dreams of a dark complexioned girl harbouring a major crush on a film actor in Beloved Face; or the lover attending the marriage of the love of his life in This Will Do; or the title story where a disciplinarian is taught a life lesson by his little daughter; or Baggage, where the protagonist feels very close to his mother was reminiscent of Murugan’s ‘Amma’. Murugan does not contrive or exaggerate. He fictionalises that which exists laying the societal norms, caste distinctions, the vilification, the rejection threadbare for the reader. His characters, human - animal or the inanimate all stand witness to the inequities or violence in the human world.
#PerumalMurugan
Translated from the Tamil by Nandini Krishnan
Murugan makes the ordinary seem extraordinary. So much that goes unnoticed of what surrounds us is detailed by him. His writing about the day to day life serves as a social commentary on the larger palette. His writing hits home. It’s fierce, it is protective. It is real: be it the old woman who will do anything to save her Buffalo in Seemaatti, the buffalo herself being an allegory for social oppression; or the desire and dreams of a dark complexioned girl harbouring a major crush on a film actor in Beloved Face; or the lover attending the marriage of the love of his life in This Will Do; or the title story where a disciplinarian is taught a life lesson by his little daughter; or Baggage, where the protagonist feels very close to his mother was reminiscent of Murugan’s ‘Amma’. Murugan does not contrive or exaggerate. He fictionalises that which exists laying the societal norms, caste distinctions, the vilification, the rejection threadbare for the reader. His characters, human - animal or the inanimate all stand witness to the inequities or violence in the human world.
August 13, 2023
Lovely little read full of rich and unpatronising glimpses of Indian village life. It’s a fascinating account of: Indian obsessions with cleanliness, caste, colour and marriage. While Perumal is broadly unsympathetic to the reactionary dispositions and past times, he manages to give voice to their lives. It’s a still enjoyable experience set of stories, that help me get over my recent fantasy induced reading hump.
September 6, 2021
Short stories paving the reader a few moments from the life. Reflecting the relationship of how people along various kind of persons, places, animals.
One can read in a sitting and it's quite interesting enough.
One can read in a sitting and it's quite interesting enough.
April 17, 2025
A book that speaks real life. Author has eloquently spoken about the Nitty gritty facts of love , religion, , Caste, love for animals and shed ligh on messy but Interesting life of villagers.
Murugesa , Kumaresa, Chellaiyan!! Saraswathy's love for Arvind Swamy !! Semmati, the buffalo 🐃!!
Murugesa , Kumaresa, Chellaiyan!! Saraswathy's love for Arvind Swamy !! Semmati, the buffalo 🐃!!
May 16, 2021
Riveting and entertaining stories. Originally written in tamil, It's translated into English.
Wide range of social settings, characters of various ages and inclinations... It was enjoyable
Wide range of social settings, characters of various ages and inclinations... It was enjoyable
June 20, 2021
as usual it's a great short stories
August 9, 2022
10 stories that are translated into English. Well-written and translated.
Currently reading
April 2, 2025Very good
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 25, 2022
There are writer who like following certain rules of writing: like the beginning, middle and end, like every story should have a moral, or that every story should be a highlight event. Perumal Murugan doesn't follow any such rules. His stories (translated in English) carry a raw, honest, slow rhythm of rural life. There is a strange quality to the subtle social commentary...it's not critical, rather just matter-of-fact. The weird, unending endings of the stories remind me of Japanese authors, who have a non-linear, non-prescriptive way of narrating stories...where a lot is left to the reader to imagine in the end.
September 15, 2023
What always stands out in Murugan’s writing is his characterisation of animals. And even when there aren’t any, these stories take you to the micro moments of often marginalised lives.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews