Customer Reviews

Street Singers of Lucknow and Other stories

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The book is a collection of short stories by a great novel writer Qurratulain Hyder. All the stories have Indian background with typical Indian characters and the early Indian society with Nawabs and Rajas(though some of them are set in the modern times) and typical Indian proverbs such as 'eating the air', 'qadambosi'.

Just to give you an idea of what is included in this book:

'Story of Catherine Bolton' is set in early times in the subcontinent and is about the life of a girl, who was born in the *untouchables*, and her survival. The end is though unpredictable.

'Guest House' is about the once famous and well-knowns (people, place, things) that lose their importance and value as time passes. 'Beyond the speed of light' is set in comparatively present time than the rest of the stories and is about time traveling. There are some which are not so easily understood such as 'Hyena's Laughter', and that is the reason of 4 star instead of 5.

The writer has also done some commendable work of explaining details of Indian culture, past and present in the beginning of every story to make it easy to understand. For example in 'The missing photograph', she goes on to explain the complexities arising out of marriages below one's caste/status, where the offspring do not inherit the same status as those who are from marriages within one's caste status.