Every once in a while, you come across a book that is not meant to be read all at once. You would want to read it slowly and try to take in each page as much as you can.
Every once in a while, you come across a book that is not meant to be read all at once. You would want to read it slowly and try to take in each page as much as you can. And if that book is a collection of twenty two short stories spanning only 119 pages, that makes it ever so rare. Humra Quraishi’s new book More Bad Time Tales is such a book. Her previous collection of stories called Bad Time Stories was released in 2007. As the name suggests, this isn’t a happy book. Far from it. The stories here are dark, brutally honest and depict the harsh realities of our lives. And just because it is designated as a collection of short stories, it oversimplifies the content of this book. With understated elegance, Quraishi has drawn the reader in her dark world of violence, hatred and the social unrest. It all feels real and very easy to believe. Her writing style isn’t particularly innovative; but the beauty in her writing is found in its ordinariness. She has an elegant style and does not try any tricks to distract you from her narrative. Her stories are about ordinary people in not so ordinary situations. They aren’t extraordinary in their lives by any means, but it’s the author’s projection of them that make them seem extraordinary. Quraishi’s stories range from the depiction of Kashmir in all its turmoil, the killings, the mental illness, the violence in society, the sex and state of broken relationships. Her stories do not move gently, she has not soft coated her words; they hit you like a bag of bricks and make you question your emotions. You would keep on reading in the hope for a happy ending but they rarely come. The endings often leave you wondering and guessing: maybe that is why you want to move on to the next story. The stories all hurt, really, they leave you feeling like you just had a hole punched in you. Everyone is so unloved, so lonely, so despairing, so violent, so scared yet they feel like just like any other person you know. Of Flesh and Blood and Those Placid Waters are stories not to be missed. Her writing in these stories paints a melancholy picture that makes the reader feel queasy and sometimes uncomfortable. This is quite a feat considering most stories are barely two-three pages long. Avoid this book if you are looking for a lazy Sunday reading, for it is not for the weak hearted.
