“Fiction has been maligned for centuries as being “false,” “untrue,” yet good fiction provides more truth about the world, about life, and even about the reader, than can be found in non-fiction.” (Clark Zlotchew)
And this notion regarding short stories becomes all the more evident in Amit Shankar’s Café Latte, Eighteen unusual short stories. Author of three national bestsellers, Mr. Shankar has proved his mettle in writing lovely fictions yet again but this time with a compilation of eighteen short stories which vary in their themes and plots yet strike a chord of accordance in presenting the bits and pieces of life.
The author while telling the stories has delved into the mysterious realms of human psyche as the various facets of human mind are explored in the short stories. The author shows how unpredictable human mind is as in the short story “Let Me Help You Die” where the protagonist finally understand the value of life after having attempted suicide on four occasions. In “A Highway Called Life”, there is an element of inspiration for all as it is shown how human beings can defy all odds if they have enough confidence in their abilities. While these two ends on a positive note, “The Black Widow” creates an ambience of eeriness with its supernatural happenings. “26 Down Express” saddens us as the cruelty of fate is depicted with great artistry.
The most striking feature of this anthology lies in the way the short stories are interwoven in the space of 193 pages. The theme of death plays an articulate role in stitching together the short stories. Here we can trace a parallelism with Srijit Mukherjee’s renowned movie ‘Chotushkon’ where the three short stories are clubbed together with death being the theme of accordance. However Amit Shankar besides depicting death has slowly moved ahead with the progression of the book into the celebration of life. In doing so, the author has shown his mastery in creating characters. Each character differs from one another in its basic features and it shows the author’s capability of creating a microcosmic world which enables the readers to come out of a monotonous world.
Mr. Shankar’s style of writing also makes the reader curious about the upcoming twist. The lucid style of writing with the use of colloquial terms enables the readers to relate themselves with the characters in the story. But at times the short stories become a bit predictable like in the “Temple of The King”, “The Jazz Player”, yet there is nothing much that will restrict the reader from turning over to the next page.
In all, Amit Shankar has managed to publish a book which is comprised of eighteen short stories which are indeed unusual, as the title itself suggests. “Short stories”, as Neil Gaiman says, “are tiny windows into other worlds and other minds and other dreams. They are journeys you can make to the far side of the universe and still be back in time for dinner.” And Café Latte has managed to keep accordance with this.
My Verdict
4
Amit Shankar has managed to publish a book which is comprised of eighteen short stories which are indeed unusual, as the title itself suggests.
