Category: A2Z 2018

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – A Happy African Feminist – #BlogchatterA2Z

If you are interested in a true sense of feminism, then you must be aware of this Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. It’s day 3 of April A to Z and it’s time to take our journey to Nigeria. I was first introduced to Chimamanda through a video of a booktuber, Ariel Bissett where she talks about her book “Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions”. Dear Ijeawele is Adichie’s letter of response to the request she received from her dear childhood friend asking her how to raise her baby girl as a feminist.

Chimamanda is delivered her famous talk about “We should all be feminist” at TEDx where she shared her experience of being African Feminist and her views on gender expectations which brought her in front of a wide audience across the world. The talk is later published by Harper Collins as a standalone volume by the same name. But today I want to introduce you to one of her short story collections “The thing around your neck”. While reviewing this book, Daily Telegraph said, ‘She makes storytelling seem as easy as birdsong’.

This collection has 12 stories covering the whole bunch of human emotions and aspects of life like religion, dreams, fears, etc. The stories are set in violence-torn Africa where fear for life is a constant and everyone aspires to ‘American Dream’. But the dream is not as merry as they expected for everyone. First published in 2009, Adichie has marked her sign on the literary world with her signature emotional wisdom.

I am eagerly waiting to start reading this book as it is going to be my introduction to African society. Hope you will enjoy these stories too. You can grab your copy from following links.

Amazon

Flipkart

Paperback: 300 pages
Publisher: Fourth Estate (23 February 2017)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0007306210
ISBN-13: 978-0007306213

Adding this to the amazing bucket of blogs at #BlogchatterA2Z.

April 3, 2018
Ben Marcus – A Spicy mix of traditional narrative and experimental storytelling – #BlogchatterA2Z

It’s a day 2 and after our trip to the Scottish stories, it’s a time to hit the roads in Chicago to meet Mr. Ben Marcus. Ben was born on 11^th October 1967 in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Ben has been writing short stories, essays in leading American periodicals. Ben has been fascinated by some wonderful storytellers like Virginia Woolf, Franz Kafka, Donald Barthelme, Richard Yates, Flannery O’Connor, Thomas Bernhard, Padgett Powell, J. M. Coetzee, Kōbō Abe, Gary Lutz, and George Saunders.

Photograph curtsy by DPA Picture Alliance – Alamy

So, here in this blog, I present you his one of the latest book Leaving the sea: Stories which is published by Alfred A. Knopf in January 2014. This collection covers a span of 12-13 years of his writing and it’s said that we can observe a variety of the storytelling Ben has up in his sleeves from traditional narratives to the experimental storytelling. While describing his art of storytelling, Stuart Kelly writes in his review for The Guardian, “His subtle kinks of syntax, his daring choices of individual words and combinations of them, which seem a quarter tone out but somehow wholly right, the reiterated concerns – a pervading sense of guilt, the surrealism of sexuality, dangerous but necessary generational relationships – do not make for easy reading. That is not to say that he is a difficult writer; merely that he deals with strong emotional material in a unique and experimental style.”

But when Ben talks about the stories in this book at Chicago Humanities Festival of 2014, his words were – “I just hadn’t written a certain kind of story, maybe a more straightforward story. A story which had a chance to reach as deep as I could inside somebody’s body and bring out the stuff that really mattered about it. I wanted to do something which I hadn’t done. About just psychology of the characters.”

I am intrigued by the book because of the span it covers in terms of the writing of the story. The way it deals with loneliness, isolation, death and frustration in dark, funny and unique way puts this book on my TBR list.

‘Never judge a book by its cover’ is a very old cliché, but the cover for this anthology is so pretty and vibrant, you can’t ignore it if you come across it on one of the shelves in a bookstore near you. Guys, what are you waiting for, head out and grab your copy or else you can find it at the following links.

Amazon

Flipkart

Hardcover: 288 pages

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0307379388

ISBN-13: 978-0307379382

Adding this to the amazing bucket of blogs at #BlogchatterA2Z.

April 2, 2018
Ali Smith – The Scottish Nobel Laureate-In-Waiting – #BlogchatterA2Z

Before we start:

Soon after I posted my theme reveal for 2018 April A to Z, I got very supportive comments about the eagerness of you lovely folks of this magic world of the blogging community. You all are excited about reading the stories. Guys I would like to clarify here, I am bringing you amazing 26 authors from Ali Smith to Zakaria Tamer who has put out amazing short stories for us bibliophiles to enjoy. You can follow this thread to get to know them and the books I am looking forward to reading. So, without further ado, let’s meet our Kathaka #1 none other than amazing Ali Smith.

On 28^th June 2016, people from the UK cast their vote on a very important decision for the EU membership of the UK and Ali Smith rushed to her desk with a brilliant story plot to be told. She gifted us the first ‘Post Brexit Novel’ and the first of four seasonal ‘state of the nation’ works. Autumn was published in October 2016. But long before that, Ali Smith had a long affair with the act of storytelling be in a form of plays which were staged at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Cambridge Footlights or be it the short stories.

Photograph Curtsy: Murdo Macleod for the Guardian

First edition cover

The book I am putting in front of you is an anthology of twelve short stories “The Whole Story and Other Stories”. Anthology evolves around the varied nature of love in our life, let it be about nature, books or fellow humans. The book is first published by Hamish Hamilton in 2003 and by Penguin UK in 2004. “In a celebration of connections and missed connections, an inquiry into everything from flies and trees and books to sex, art, drunkenness and love, Smith rewrites the year’s cycle into a very modern calendar.” (from the blurb)

It’s said that Ali Smith has a knack to write stories which are humorous, quirky, inventive and sometimes sad too. I am very eager to get my hands on the copy of this book. Are you excited too? You can find the copy on the links given below.

Amazon

Flipkart

Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: Penguin UK (29 June 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0140296808
ISBN-13: 978-0140296808
Product Dimensions: 12.7 x 1.9 x 20.3 cm

Adding this to the amazing bucket of blogs at #BlogchatterA2Z.

April 1, 2018
Kathakaḥ… #BlogchatterAtoZ Theme Reveal 2018

I bet, there won’t be a soul on earth who haven’t heard a single story in a life. When you are born, your life starts with listening to a story. You are introduced to this amazing form of narration by your own kathaka, Your Mother. As you grow old, many more storytellers take the stage to entertain you.

Personally, I am very fascinated with the stories and the art of storytelling. So to give a tribute to the art of storytelling, I present you 26 pieces on the short story collections by 26 amazing authors around the world which are on my TBR list for this #BlogchatterAtoZ. So guys, if you are bibliophile and storylover, please stay tuned this blog feed and enjoy my previews about these 26 short story collections in April A to Z Challenge 2018.

Linking it to #BlogchatterAtoZ.

March 19, 2018