BOOK TITLE: Lost
Libido and other Gulp Fiction
ISBN: 9788172344177
AUTHOR: Salil
Desai
GENRE:
Fiction / Short Stories
NUMBER OF PAGES: 288
FORMAT: Paperback
SERIES / STANDALONE: Standalone/
Short stories.
REVIEW BY: Dhivya
Balaji
HOW I GOT THIS BOOK: I
thank Fingerprint publishers for this review copy.
SUMMARY:
An
incredible collection of stories about people caught in the chaotic, cultural
flux of urban India and their reactions to the problems, temptations and tricky
choices that life throws at them.
‘Lost Libido throws up some startling and unexpected developments - a pre-requisite for a volume of short stories. Desai's writing is energetic and contemporary’
‘Lost Libido throws up some startling and unexpected developments - a pre-requisite for a volume of short stories. Desai's writing is energetic and contemporary’
REVIEW:
The book is a collection of 17 short
stories about every day human emotions. This review will be a short comment
about each story in the collection.
LOST
LIBIDO:
In what would be a dashing start to
the novel, the title story is about a techie, Aakash, who seems to have lost
his libido. He frets over his predicament and takes the help of his friend to
discuss his problem. The friend suggests the service of a masseuse. When Aakash
sees the masseuse, who seemed to be from a wealthy family, his guilt overwhelms
him and he refuses any service other than the plain massage. He feels better
about himself because he overcame his urge (his libido having never been lost)
to take advantage of a young girl and to cheat on his wife. The ending twist is
ironic, at best!
4/5
WHO
STRANGLED SHARMA? :
A classical case of whodunit. A
manager is found strangled in his cabin, and suspicion falls on all office
employees. In a blame game, each employee blames the others citing some past
clash. This is one story where a lot of reading between the lines is required.
The first line and the story's ending are totally twisted and it is one amazing
analysis into what the human mind is capable of conjuring when it gets a chance
and is emboldened by a success. The concepts of gratitude and betrayal are
portrayed as a gray areas.
4.2/5
HUNCH
ON A HIGHWAY:
Ajay Kale is always on the lookout for
strange happenings and has a weird habit of noting his co passengers in depth
during travel. On an eventful bus journey, he notices a well dressed man
sitting next to another respectable looking man, waiting for a chance to rob
his laptop bag from him. Whether or not Ajay allows the robbery, and whether or
not his methods were right forms the rest of the story.
3.8/5
DROWNING
DEPTH:
A story that analyses the
psychological and emotional trauma of a child who had drowned in water and who
understandably has a fear of water bodies. What happens when this child is
forced to swim? That too in a swimming class where his peers poke fun? Will the
water scare him away and result in another seizure or will he overcome his
fear? Thoughtfully written, and was great until the ending, where the twist
made the reader look with some amount of dubious incredulity at the end.
3/5
THE
MATHS CONUNDRUM:
Manohar gets a random call on his
landline, from a depressed child who thinks his number is the child helpline.
The depressed child wants to commit suicide because he has achieved less mark
for his math exam and was therefore afraid of his parents. Manohar tries in
vain to convince the child not to run away from his home. When the child's
parents arrive home, they see their child missing and blame each other. Whether
or not the child is safe forms the rest of the story. This sheds light on
parenting and education values of the current generation.
3.5/5
BIT
ON THE SIDE:
A story with more than its share of
twists. Arun visits Isha, a woman who supposedly is the mistress of his best
friend Sameer. Arun also claims to be his wife's best friend and asks Isha to
let go off Sameer because he is a middle aged man full of diseases. Sameer
himself learns of this and catches Arun red handed. His fury at having been
called ill in front of his mistress sends Sameer into a fit of chest pain. What
caused Sameer the pain and what made Arun rat him out is a twist in the tale.
But the best and most befitting twist of all comes in the end, when Isha has
her own truths to reveal.
4.5/5
WHEN
THE HORSE BEFRIENDED THE GRASS:
Munna and Raghu are petty thieves who
steal everyday for a living. What happens when they steal money from a man who
has saved it for his son's medical expenses? Do they return it due to prick of
conscience? Have they been caught? A thought provoking story of human mind's
many colours.
3.8/5
OUR
FRIENDLY NEIGHBOURHOOD MURDER:
The peace of a friendly neighbourhood
is disturbed when an old man arrives. He opposes all council decisions and he
creates hell for everyone in the area. All neighbours plan to murder him, but
their conscience wins over and they decide against it. One fine day, the man is
found murdered. Who did it remains a mystery to be solved.
3/5
DUBIOUS
DISTINCTION:
Shyam loves cricket. He tries to get
into the national team, but fails. He tries to associate himself with all forms
of cricket but fails every time. He decides to see a match one last time before
he totally dissociates himself from the game. What happens next and how he
earns a dubious distinction is what the story is about.
3.2/5
THE
SNAKE AND THE STICK:
Yet another murder planning story. A
husband tries to kill a nagging wife and sets up an electrical trap for her.
Whether or not he gets nature's due punishment for the crime is the story.
2/5
THE
RECORD BREAKER:
Maruti Shinde has a different record
in mind. He wants to become India's youngest hangman with most number of
hangings to his name. How he achieves it and society's reaction to it is the
story, tastefully written.
3.5/5
A
SUSCEPTIBLE CONSCIENCE:
An everyday story. A sales
representative allows a street urchin to clean his bike and over a bad day
refuses to give him his pay. What happens when his conscience pricks him and
whether or not the street urchin got his pay forms the rest of the story.
4/5
THE
AMATEUR MURDERER:
A murder planning story once again.
Sathish Rao marries soon after the death of his first wife. But on seeing her
possessions, guilt overwhelms him and he decides to kill of his second wife who
'enthralled him into cheating'. He devises a poison to kill her. What happens
when he urges his wife to take it? Does Karma repay him?
2/5
THE
PERFECT DAY:
Oh, the irony. Prashant Kulkarni
decides to end the lives of his family and himself due to his financial
troubles. But he decides to give them one last day of happiness before this
death. Unaware, his family enjoys this. But what happens when his wife learns
of his plan and tries to convince him to face his problems rather than die?
Irony at its best.
4/5
ONE
MONDAY MORNING:
A busy Monday morning as usual in
Khandekar family starts with the wife locking her husband in and dropping their
son in school. Khandekar expects her to be back in ten minutes but when it
becomes hours, his mind runs in all directions. What he discovers about himself
and his family in that Monday morning is the story.
3/5
CUL-DE-SAC:
A story with multiple endings, many
probabilities and some self depreciation from the author himself. A unique
attempt about all the possibilities in a work place sexual harassment scenario.
The longest and most unique story. Read it for the different endings..
Especially the last.
4/5
SPITE
IS RIGHT:
A road rage story. Three pages quick
read about spite and road rage and its effects. A fitting end to the book.
3/5
WHAT I LIKED: The
language and the tries to give twisted endings to each and every human emotion.
WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER: Most
of the stories are about murder and planning. It is amazing how many people
plot murder for a story that is supposed to be about everyday human emotions.
Even if it might be true in actuality, this sounds a bit far fetched. After some
time, even the twists become predictable, if not in details at least in
context.
VERDICT: Go
for it if you like stories with twists in endings, but expect nothing much from
it. A collection of tales about life and its many human emotions.
RATING: 3.5
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Salil Desai is an author and
film-maker based in Pune. He has penned two crime novels, Killing Ashish Karve
and Murder on a Side Street as well as a collection of short stories, Lost
Libido and Other Gulp Fiction. His next whodunit, Bathed in Blood, the second
book of his Inspector Saralkar Mystery Series will be released in January 2015.
His books have received good reviews in The Hindu, The Pioneer, DNA, First City, The Tribune, Afternoon Despatch & Courier etc.
An alumnus of Film & Television Institute of India (FTII), his dramatized training videos (www.relivingindia.com) are much appreciated in the corporate world, while his short films ‘Making Amends’ and ‘…To Khayega Kya’ have been screened at various film festivals.
Salil also conducts workshops in creative writing and film making for aspiring authors at British Library and leading educational institutions. Over 400 articles written by him have appeared in The Times of India, Indian Express, DNA, The Tribune, Reader’s Digest etc. Know more about Salil at www.salildesai.com
His books have received good reviews in The Hindu, The Pioneer, DNA, First City, The Tribune, Afternoon Despatch & Courier etc.
An alumnus of Film & Television Institute of India (FTII), his dramatized training videos (www.relivingindia.com) are much appreciated in the corporate world, while his short films ‘Making Amends’ and ‘…To Khayega Kya’ have been screened at various film festivals.
Salil also conducts workshops in creative writing and film making for aspiring authors at British Library and leading educational institutions. Over 400 articles written by him have appeared in The Times of India, Indian Express, DNA, The Tribune, Reader’s Digest etc. Know more about Salil at www.salildesai.com
EDITIONS AVAILABLE: Paperback,
Digital
PRICE: Rs.
125
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