The Slate of Life: More Contemporary Stories by Women Writers of India [Paperback]

Kali for Women (Editor), Chandra Talpade Mohanty (Introduction), Satya P. Mohanty (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1994 | ISBN-10: 155861088X | ISBN-13: 978-1558610880

   This sequel to Truth Tales contains ten stories by ten of the most renowned and inventive writers of India, translated from nine different languages. Rich in regional flavor, each story offers a glimpse into the everyday lives of Indian women, from the passionate political commitment of a freedom fighter to the struggle of a temple sweeper to survive with dignity. Because India is a huge and higly diverse ccountry, the lives and experiences of these women are vastly different, separated by geography, class, and background. The authors included are Meena Alexander, K. Saraswathi Amma, Bani Basu, Ajeet Cour, Indira Goswami, Binapani Mohanty, Dhiruben Patel, Chudamani Raghavan, Rajee Seth, and Wajida Tabassum.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The editors' wish, in this sequel to Truth Tales, that "the women in the stories... not be read either as exotic natives or as mere victims of patriarchal, class and caste violence" is fulfilled by the sheer quality of the 10 short stories they have selected. Translated from nine languages, these tales of women facing daily life span the subcontinent's variegated cultures and social strata, but hold in common an unsettling mix of natural beauty and the threat (or actuality) of violence and oppression. As the female protagonists straddle these extremes, their choices are sometimes dramatic and unpredictable, as in K. Saraswathi Amma's "The Subordinate," which recounts a temple-sweeper's struggle to maintain her daughter's sexual dignity; while in Chudamani Raghavan's subtle, symbolic "Counting the Flowers," a pretty girl counts the phallic-shaped blossoms of a nagalinga tree as her father "sells" her into marriage to the son of a wealthier family. A very intimate sense of rebellion pervades-perhaps explained by most of these accomplished writers coming of age during the mid-century's anti-Colonial era-and poignantly demonstrates that, in fiction at least, the personal is political enough.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Once again, the New Delhi publisher Kali for Women has edited a significant collection of short stories by Indian women, with nine of the ten stories having been translated from various Indian languages. This sequel to Truth Tales (LJ 8/90) combines realism with fantasy, actuality with dreams. In "Dead End" Ajeet Cour successfully depicts the hunted and the hunters. In "Offspring," one of the best stories in the collection, Indira Goswami describes a childless old man so desperate for a child of his own that he impregnates a notorious prostitute. These stories are truthful portrayals of women's lives in India. Recommended for literary and women's studies collections.
Glenn O. Carey, Eastern Kentucky Univ., Richmond
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Library Binding edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: The Feminist Press at CUNY (November 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 155861088X
• ISBN-13: 978-1558610880
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,749,722 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)