I have never written a proper book review in my life except at school where our library teacher usually asked me to give a short review of the books that I used to read every week and returned to her promptly on the due date. In hindsight, when I used to think about those days, I am in complete laughter now as those reviews were very very amateurish. It's more like reading the short synopsis given at the back of a novel in an elaborate manner!
I wondered for a long time why not try my hand at book review again and see how I am faring - whether I am still at the same old level or whether I have improved at least marginally. That is left up to the reader of the blog to give their feedback to me.
So, here goes the review for "Of Bridges Among Us" by Neeru Iyer.
What is it that excites people about marriage? Your dear and near ones getting married? Fun and frolic with friends and relatives? New dresses and jewelry? Yes. Very much. The reasons are aplenty and is certainly distinctive for every individual. But, there is one more important constituent in a wedding ceremony without which a marriage ceases to exist and which unites all the people from every social strata together. Of course, it's the mouth-watering and delicious food.
Be it the grand Kerala Sadhya where you are served with a variety of indispensable necessities like Parippu, Sambar, Rasam, Olan, Kaalan, Avial, Pachadi, Papadam, Chips and Mango pickle or the famous Tamil Nadu Saapadu with an amalgam of different essentials such as Thayir Pachadi, Kootu, Poriyal, Curry, Sambar, Rasam, Payasam, Vadai and Appalam, any marriage cannot even think of existing without the celebrated wedding cuisines.
What relevance does a ceremonial food has got to do with this book review? EVERYTHING!
Just like the distinct and independent delicacies in the menu on the plantain leaf which offers a sumptuous meal to the guests, "Of Bridges Among Us" is a collection of several short stories that is as unique and tasty as the food items in a marriage union.
Every story has something or the other to offer to the reader. For instance, O Henry would have been really proud if he had read the 'Falling Stars'. The twist was such that it would really give the reader an unexpected and shocking surprise at the end of the story. 'Somewhere over the Rainbow' and 'Moonwalker' are extremely progressive and ahead of time in character and nature that would make any person who truly believes in the equality of all the people, irrespective of professions and conventional marriage system, to be very very happy. Likewise, the rest of the collection had their own clear-cut moments of romance, hope, optimism, faith and tragedy.
The abyss mindset of the female protagonists in the stories has been well-explored in breadth, length and depth for the reader to clearly understand how a woman thinks from her point of view and how she perceives the world to be from her perspective. It is very insightful to get to know at least the partial functioning of a woman's highly complex brain at a cerebral and emotional level so that as a reader , you are able to empathise with the grief, anguish , happy and jubilant states of the heroes a.k.a heroines in the stories.
"Of Bridges Among Us" is an exceptionally satisfying and very palatable nourishment to make it an enjoyable munching and crunching experience. The concluding story " She's not afraid of spiders" ends up with the line " It was definitely worth it". Yes. The book was definitely for sure. I am expecting and wishing Neeru Iyer all the best to write a full-fledged novel soon.
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