#3// short stories and rainy days
Celebrate Asia this month...
Dear Reader,
A brand new week. How are you? It has been a week of fried snacks in my house — Bohri keema samosas, chilly jackfruit and spring rolls (which were too burnt and had to be thrown away). The rains have been maddening here. The weather updates in other parts of India are definitely not pretty either. I hope you are safe, wherever you are.
I find myself pressed for time to read but am slowly making my way through Kevin Kwan’s newest Sex and Vanity. So far it doesn’t grip you straightaway like the Crazy Rich Asians (here are more books like Crazy Rich Asians) but there are the usual rich-people-stuff with yachts and holidays making the novel quite irresistible. I hope I’ll have more to say about it soon.
A book I keep thinking about
Day and Dastan by Intizar Husain, translated from the Urdu by Nishat Zaidi and Alok Bhalla is a worthy book to spend your time on. The novellas are very different in tone. Day is more rustic about a joint family, financial troubles and an innocent love. It is a clash of moral landscapes and physical displacements. In contrast, Dastan is strange, more lyrical and fantastic, stuffed with magical realism in a historical story. So you have a faqir prophesying the 1857 war of independence, and historical real-life-people getting cameo appearances. Reading both, one after the other, makes you gasp at Husain’s command over different kinds of storytelling.
Read
Good short story collections are hard to come by but what a joy when they reveal themselves! I compiled a list of 5 Asian short story books published in early 2020. Some, like The Timeless Tales of Marwar are pure indulgence through folk tales and myths. Crazy stories about lice, clever talking animals and princesses! The other books make you think about gender roles, gender norms and how cities shape stories.
In case you have a bit more time at hand than to devote solely to short stories, try some of the 18 new-ish fun Asian books that are too good to miss.
From the archives : 3 amazing Japanese books that I highly recommend — (ft. eccentric lone girl, a love story and a dystopia that eerily makes me compare the present Covid times and the fictional world).
PS: The list of bookshops open for home delivery in India is still being updated. If a bookstore in your city has opened for operations, send me an email please.
Watch
The Dragon Prince, a totally binge-able show. If you really resist the temptation, you can slowly watch it bit by bit, episode by episode, but either way it is a total entertainer. This fantasy animation series created by Aaron Ehasz and Justin Richmond is magical and action packed. Also a treat to see characters of different skin colours and accents playing important roles.
The story goes like this. Once upon a time humans, dragons and elves co-existed peacefully in the land of Xadia where everything brims with magic. But humans, being devoid of natural magical abilities, began to turn to dark magic which is essentially squeezing out magical essence from other creatures. Rift, fight, deaths, split — now the humans are driven to the west and magic thrives in the land in the east only. The humans and elves have remained on bad terms ever since. Two princes and an elven assassin need to make a journey which, if successful, might restore peace among the kingdoms. There’s the usual treachery and politics but also infinite times more magic and plot twists. Also magic mirrors, dragon eggs, primal stones, moths, worms and moon illusionists. I've said 'magic' too many times. Sorry, not sorry.
(Now streaming on Netflix)
For K-drama lovers, Itaewon Class is totally addictive
Amazing links
- This conversation between Lisa Taddeo and Carmen Maria Machado about puzzles, comfort movies and sex writing (AnOther)
- Social Distance, a graphic short story by Mark Haddon about ‘solitary man finding isolation no different that normal life until he has an unexpected encounter at Co-op (The Guardian)
- Photos of strangers that look like twins (Demilked)
- How do I figure out what I want in life when everyday feels the same? (Jezebel)
- How the 1896 Bombay Plague changed Mumbai forever (Atlas Obscura)
That’s it for today. I hope your week was good.
Stay safe.
Until next time,
Resh x
If you chanced upon this newsletter, you can subscribe here , forward to a friend or share via your favourite social media.