Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Sushma Joshi's "The Prediction"

Sushma Joshi's latest collection of seven stories "The Prediction" contain average stories that didn't please me much. I found the stories lacking aesthetics.

"The Discovery of the High Lama" is unbelievable even if the writer claims it to be based on real events. A dunce becoming a learned Lama through serendipitous incidents is beyond belief and I find it somehow condescending to Tibetan Buddhism.

Stories like "The Promise", "Hunger", "The Prediction", "Shelling Peas and History Lessons" portray ancient Nepal full of superstitions and discriminatory attitudes towards women. They are able to arouse pathos in the reader.

I couldn't relate with the characters of "A Boleria for Love" and "The Best Sand Painting of the Century", set in foreign locations. The stories lack universal appeal.

Copy-editing is a huge problem of the book and I'm surprised that the book containing errors in every page got published. Joshi had disappointed me with her previous collection. I was hoping for improvement this time. No such luck!

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