Recently, when I was talking to a friend of mine about my love for the almost-lost art of letter-writing and my desire to recreate that habit among my friends, she told me about the movie 'The Japanese Wife'. It is the story of a simple school teacher from Bengal, who befriends a Japanese woman over letters. They strengthen their bond through letters and soon end up exchanging marital vows through letters. They don't come to meet one another and live together even after their 'marriage' through letters. After spending almost a long time thus, the woman whom the school teacher should originally have got married to, were it not for his love for his foreign wife, arrives back in his house, with her son borne through another husband. The subtle emotional changes that happen in the relationship between the long-distance couple and the eventual 'end' are the rest of the story.
The moment my friend from abroad described this tale, I felt quite moved and immediately searched to find whether the movie was based on any book. The moment I found that it was, I ordered the book. But only then did I find out that it was only a short story. Well, if such an intense plot could be offered in such a tiny package, won't that make an even more interesting read? Also, if the first tale itself could be such a beauty, won't the rest of the tales in the book make for a feast?! It was with these expectations in my mind that I bought the book. But it turned out to be one of the most insipid books that I have read in recent times.
Except the titular story and to some extent another tale - The Accountant - the rest don't tug much at the reader's heart at all. Of course, the tales are all unique and portray a whole gamut of human emotions. But it is the writing style that fails the book. There are some tales that feel too lengthy to hold your attention throughout. The author's attempt at making the reader feel in place of the plot by making use of various cultural references and jargon is a failure too. Some of the stories sound like either they are incomplete or run-of-mill melodrama.
Some interesting, some OK-ish, but mostly insipid. To sum it up, this is a book that I would not buy for my friends.
The moment my friend from abroad described this tale, I felt quite moved and immediately searched to find whether the movie was based on any book. The moment I found that it was, I ordered the book. But only then did I find out that it was only a short story. Well, if such an intense plot could be offered in such a tiny package, won't that make an even more interesting read? Also, if the first tale itself could be such a beauty, won't the rest of the tales in the book make for a feast?! It was with these expectations in my mind that I bought the book. But it turned out to be one of the most insipid books that I have read in recent times.
Except the titular story and to some extent another tale - The Accountant - the rest don't tug much at the reader's heart at all. Of course, the tales are all unique and portray a whole gamut of human emotions. But it is the writing style that fails the book. There are some tales that feel too lengthy to hold your attention throughout. The author's attempt at making the reader feel in place of the plot by making use of various cultural references and jargon is a failure too. Some of the stories sound like either they are incomplete or run-of-mill melodrama.
Some interesting, some OK-ish, but mostly insipid. To sum it up, this is a book that I would not buy for my friends.
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