City of Dreams: Stories by Pranaya SJB Rana
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Pranaya Rana’s story telling is too good to be called a debutant’s work. Having read only Samrat Upadhyaya’s works long ago, I started long ago to ignore Nepali writers writing in English. A lot of English books written by Nepali writers are stacked in my book shelf and I think it’s time to kick out my ignorance.

Coming back to Pranaya and his book, I think this is one of the best collection of short stories. Out of ten stories, three stories (Dashain, The Red Kurta and Maya) left me disappointed while other stories are the early signs that ‘this writer’ will not only be better with time but will mark his place high as a writer, as a whole.

I am not going to review each story here. But I recommend everyone to read this book.

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Phirphire by Buddhisagar
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

दुई मित्र, पवन र बसन्त (बन्ते), को कहानी हो फिरफिरे | कथा सरल छ तर नौलो छैन, कथाले हाम्रै गाउँ ठाउँको यथार्थ चित्रण गरेको छ | अपेक्षा गरिए अनुसार, बुद्धिसागरको भाषा मीठो छ | तर उपन्यासको मूल कथा दरिलो छैन | ५४० चानचुन पाना भएको यो किताब, बेला-बेला पढ्दै जाँदा अनावश्यक लम्ब्याएको भान हुन्छ | त्यो हुँदा-हुँदै पनि पढ्दै जाँदा दुई थोपा आँसु नखसेको भने होइन, बेला-बेला नमुस्काएको पनि होइन | जुठी आमै, पिच्कु माझि र बुख्याचाहरुले मन किताबमा तानी रहन्छन् | जुठी आमैले बुनेका कथाहरु उत्कृष्ट छन् | बुद्धिसागरको कल्पना शक्तिलाई त्यहाँ मान्नै पर्ने हुन्छ तर जुठी आमैको भुमिका सक्केपछी, किताब एक किसिमले अशक्त हुन्छ, कनी-कनी अगाडि बढ्छ | त्यसरी घाइते भएको किताब, पवन बिरामी भएर फर्केर आएपछि झन् कमजोर बन्छ | पवनको जीवनको नयाँ सुरुवात सुस्त हुन्छ र अनावश्यक वर्णनले न त पाठकले ‘कठै’ भन्छन् नत त्यसमा रमाउन नै सक्छन् |

समग्रमा उपन्यास औसत छ | बुद्धिसागरको कर्णाली ब्लुज भन्दा फिरफिरेको वजन कम छ | किताब सक्किएपछी पाठकको मन ‘किताब पढी सक्कियो’ भनेर खिन्नता हुन्न | अझै पढ्ने चाह पनि हुन्न | त्यो हिसाबमा यो किताब लेखकको पहिलो उपन्यासको दाँजोमा पछारिएको छ | व्यापारिक रूपमा बुद्धिसागरको मीठो भाषा र छविले गर्दा केहि सफलता हासिल गर्ला | पुस्तक प्रवर्धनले पनि ठूलो भूमिका खेल्ला | तर, किताब विश्लेषकले यो किताबलाई निकै अब्बल दर्जाको किताब भन्ने सम्भावना न्यून छ |

फिरफिरे नराम्रो किताब भने होइन | बुद्धिसागरको लेखन अनि भाषाले छुन्छ भने यो किताबले त्यति धेरै निरास नपार्ला | तर कर्णाली ब्लुज पढेर लेखकबाट अझ उत्कृष्ट किताबको आशा छ भने त्यो यो किताबले पूरा नगर्ला | ‘Goodreads’ मा review लेख्दै छु त्यहि भएर किताबलाई ५ मा ३ अंक दिएको छु | (५००+ पर्ने किताब) बजेटले साथ दिन्छ भने र बुद्धि दाईको जबर्जस्त fan हुनुहुन्छ भने यो किताब (नछुटाउनु होला त भन्दिन) पढ्दा हुन्छ |

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The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a great story of struggle, patience and hope. It hooks the readers to the story; the characters and setting come alive in reader’s mind as if they were real. Only drawback this book comprises is that it’s a tad complex read for those who are not familiar to the tools and terms of fishing. I struggled a bit to have a smooth ride. Other than that, it is a fantastic read. Everyone should go through this book at least once in their lifetime.

Spoiler Alert: ( Following paragraphs contains the summary of the book):

Hemingway’s last piece of fiction, ‘The Old Man and the Sea’ is about an old fishermen who goes 84 days without catching a fish. Abandoned by his young apprentice, Manolin (due to his parents’ pressure), Santiago goes distant in search of fish. After a great deal of patience, he finally manages to have his bait on Marlin, a big beautiful fish. He struggles to keep hold of Marlin for couple of days and nights. In this period, he thinks of ball game and the young boy, dreams of African lions, talks to himself and also the fish calling it ‘the brother’. Next day, he manages to stab the fish and straps it at the side of the skiff and heads home thinking about the market value of the fish.

During the journey back to home, he has to deal with many sharks as they come for Marlin. After the battle with some sharks, he argues with himself if he has created a sin by killing the fish and the sharks. As night approaches, he fails to defend and only the skeleton remains at the sunrise.

He heads home disappointed and exhausted and throws himself on the bed. Manolin as always comes and checks the old man’s place and cries upon finding him safe. He brings him coffee and newspaper and they talk of fishing together. People and fishermen outside regret to find the big fish eaten by Sharks and sympathize for the old man.

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सहनशीला सुशिला by भीमनिधि तिवारी
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

भीमनिधि तिवारीद्वारा लिखित पुरुषवादी समाजको पर्दा उघारेको यो नाटक पठनीय छ | जुवा खेल्न पल्केको पतिको दुर्व्यवहारबाट गुज्रिने सुखमा हुर्केकी कर्नेलकी छोरी सुशिलाको सहनशीलता नै यो नाटकको सार हो | सुशिला माथिको क्रुरताले मन कटक्क बनाउँछ | र त्यो हाम्रो समाजको नाङ्गो यथार्थ चित्रण गरिएको हुँदा, कुन हद सम्म हाम्रो पुरुषवादी समाज नारी माथि हावी भएको छथियो भन्ने यस नाटकले दर्शाउँछ | यो नाटकमा दुई पाटा छन् | एकातिर सुशिला जति नै कुटिएपिटिएलछारिएपछारिए र घरबाट निकालिए पनि पतिव्रता हुन छोड्दिन भने अर्को तिर सुशिलाको घरको सुसारे, सेते, को पत्नी भने गाउँमा सेतेको मायालाई लत्याएर गाउँकै घर्तीसंग लस्किएकी हुन्छे |

नाटकको पछिल्लो भागमा सुशीलाको पतिलाई वेश्याले धोका दिएर लुटे पछीमात्र उसको चेत खुल्छ र सुशीलालाई घर ल्याई सम्मान र माया दिई राख्छ | पछी उनीहरुका दुई जम्ल्याहा सन्तान हुन्छन्, लभ र कुश | यो नाटकले त्यो बेलाको समाजलाई उजागर गर्न सफल भएको छ |

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Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Not long before, one of my facebook friends posted a photo of a bag, full of Haruki’s novels and expressed his excitement. Though I have heard of Haruki before, I never had the chance to go through his books. I zoomed in the picture and noted the books’ names. There were five books namely Norwegian Woods, Sputnik Sweetheart, Kafka on the Shore, 1Q84 and Dance Dance Dance. Not long after that, the voracious readers I know in twitter posted about 1Q84 and his other books praising the author. Right then, I knew that the outer force was conspiring to exacerbate my situation. I had to buy Murakami’s books or else I would not have been at peace.

Of all the books, I chose the thinnest book ‘After Dark’. All other books were somehow thick and all I wanted to do was pick the book which was least talked on. I never saw/read the hype about After Dark. Hence, I wanted to know Murakami through his not so famous book (especially at my part of the world). Though I did not find the plot fascinating, the style lured me. The way he weaved his story was something to adore. Thus, started the love for Murakami. Subsequently, I bought ‘Kafka On the Shore’.

Kafka On the Shore, written by Haruki Murakami and translated by Philip Gabriel, originally published on 2002 is a book based on surreal events and characters. The ride from the UFOs to the spectral worlds will only take the readers to the land of ecstasy. This is a story of mainly two characters. First, a certain 15 year old boy, name changed to Kafka, (abandoned by his mother with his sister) runs away from his sculptor father’s home seeking freedom. He winds up in Shikoku from his home town Tokyo where only Sakura, the girl he met in the train, is less stranger to him. She helps him now and then when he bumps into trouble as they both take one another as siblings separated on childhood. Kafka finds solace in the private library of Shikoku where the cross-gender librarian, Oshima, and its cryptic owner, Miss Saeki, provide him the much needed employment and roof to stay. The other part begins with Nakata, an enigmatic character who along with his school group encountered mysterious accident which made them lose their consciousness in the Shikoku Mountain while collecting mushrooms. All of them recovered after several hours except for Nakata. He remains unconscious for many weeks before waking up as a not so bright person but with the ability to talk to cats. Though, the story starts with these characters completely independent to each other, it muddles the readers how their events, time and space come to meet.

As the story rolls, Kafka falls in love with younger Miss Saeki (the ghost of her older self) who comes to his room in the library every night. One thing leads to another and Kafka makes physical relationship with older Miss Saeki who turns out to be his mother. At the other end, Nakata meets Kafka’s father in the course of his job as a finder of lost cats. Nakata is coerced to kill him as Kafka’s father turned out to be the cat killer. Consequently, Kafka is wanted by police as he has been missing and his father is murdered. To elude the investigation, Oshima takes Kafka to the secret place in the mountains where Kafka finds the semi-real world deep in its forest. Nakata, on the other end, tries to get himself arrested for murder but is dismissed by the cop taking him as an abnormal fellow. Subsequently, Nakata follows his psychic urge and starts his journey towards the west. He meets the truck-driver, Hiroshimo, who helps him in his unusual hunt. And this is where the two stories merge and give birth to this beautiful novel.

Haruki Murakami has been successful to keep the readers glued at this novel. There are no dull moments and until the half one cannot sense how the two stories are related to each other. In that regard, the reader has to be patient. Once the two strands start to relate, the novel gains the speed and keeps the readers at the edge. Overall, it is an exciting read. If you are a fan of surrealism, you are going to love this book.

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U Mareki Chhaina by Bal Krishna Sama
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

‘ऊ मरेकी छैन’ बालकृष्ण समद्वारा लिखित एउटा सुन्दर धार्मिक नाटक हो | बिहान सबेरै कनकवीरको घरमा भिक्षा माग्न आउने शिवगिरिले कनकवीरको छोरी, कान्तिको हातको भिक्षा लिन अस्विकार गर्दछ र सो भिक्षा फालिदिन्छ | स्वास्नी मान्छेले दिएको भिक्षा नलिने भने पछी ‘बच्ची’ कान्तिले ‘किन? के देवताहरुलाई स्वास्नी मान्छे मन पर्दैन?’ भनेर गरेको प्रतिप्रश्न सुन्दर छ | यसमा कान्तिको बिद्रोही र उत्सुक स्वभाव दुवै प्रष्ट झल्किन्छ | आमा बिना हुर्किएकी छोरीको प्रतिप्रश्नलाई कनकवीर आँफैले आफ्नो किसिमले उत्तर दिएर साम्य पार्छ | आफ्नो बुवाको उत्तरबाट चित्त नबुझाई, कान्ति स्वयम् शिवगिरि भएको ठाउँमा गएर अघिकै प्रश्न गर्छे | स्वास्नी मान्छेबाट अलग्ग रहने शिवगिरि कान्तिलाई फेरी ऊ भएको ठाउँमा नआई आफ्नै घर गरेर खाने सल्लाह दिन्छ | हठी कान्ति पनि त्यो सब नमानी, सधै भजन र सत्संग सुन्न आउने र भक्तिभावमा आफ्नो जिवन बिताउने निर्णय लिन्छे | यी सबका बिच, उसले सामना गर्नु परेको सामाजिक व्यवधान, समाजको (कु)द्रिष्टि र विद्ध्यमान चलनलाई लेखकले सुन्दर तरिकाले उतारेका छन् | संसारिक बन्धन, मायाबाट बिस्तारै उठ्न चाहने कान्तिको सोच र इच्छाबाट स्वयम् शिवगिरि पनि हार्दा, नाटकले लिने मोडनै निर्णायक मोड हुन पुग्दछ |

कान्तिको भिक्षा अस्विकार गरे बाट सुरु भएको नाटकको अन्त्य, शिवगिरिको कान्तिसंगको अस्वाभाविक भिक्षा मगाईबाट हुन्छ | त्यसपछिको दृश्यले शिव-सतिको पौराणिक कथाको छनक दिन्छ |
मात्र १३ रुपियाँमा पाइने यो किताब (Can you believe it?) निकै मुल्यवान छ |

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