Saadat Hasan Manto (1912–1955)

Again, after all my reading, I was expecting to come away impressed. Manto is held in very high esteem and his works (including some 22 collections of short stories) are considered among the best Urdu writings of the 20th century. Unfortunately, I didn’t find this collection particularly likeable and this time I don’t fault the translation. (I was very interested to read this in a review on Amazon, however: “another translator/scholar, Mohammad Asaduddin, argued that [this version] omitted or summarized large portions of Manto's original texts, thereby eliminating key elements in the portrayal of character and theme, added bits of text not by Manto, and changed unnecessarily the titles of some of the stories. In some cases, more than 10% of a story's original text was cut, it was claimed. An example of a changed title would be "The Return," which should be "Open It," a phrase that was uttered in the original to prompt a haunting gesture.” If this criticism is accurate, it might be good reason for a new translation—or for me to see whether there is another more recent collection available in English.)
These stories, generally about the downtrodden (his protagonists are often prostitutes) and the underworld, simply don’t rank with the best of what I have read about that time and place. Part of it is a stylistic habit of Manto’s: stories often end quite abruptly with the conclusion implied (at best). I don’t generally have a problem with that style but there was something about his conclusions, in story after story, that simply failed to impress me and often led to a story falling flat in my estimation. Few of these stories or even characters “spoke” to me in a way I could truly feel and empathize with. I suspect my reaction is a distinct minority (he is very highly rated on Goodreads, for instance) and I cannot help but wonder if my opinion will change with time.… (mehr)

Book Title: Shadows of Night
Author: Priyanka Lal
Format: Paperback

Book Title:
The title of the book ‘ Shadows of Night ‘ is different and intriguing.

Book Cover:
The cover image of the book is an abstract digital image of shades of black and gray depicting the life experiences.

Plot:
The book is a collection of thirteen short stories that talk about teenage love, adolescence, and early adulthood, ups, and downs that a growing individual faces, societal pressures, and chaos created in life due to political riots and etc.

The book is a good platter of varied types of stories. Though short in length, every story has a takeaway for the readers. If only the quality of the paper was better, the experience of reading this book would have enhanced.

What I like:
1. Short stories that are very relatable
2. Definitely nostalgic stories
3. Some stories make us introspect ourselves.

What I didn’t like:
It’s a light read and there is nothing to be disliked.

Characters:
Every character in the story happens to be the reader i.e. the stories are so realistic that the reader identifies himselfherself very easily.

Narration:
A simple and easy narration makes the book a good read.

Language & Grammar:
The normal language with uncomplicated yet good vocabulary is found.

My Final Verdict:
Reminiscing read.

Book Title: 3/5
Book Cover: 3/5
Plot: 3/5
Characters: 3/5
Narration: 3/5
Language & Grammar: 3/5
Final Rating: 3/5… (mehr)