Of Marriage And Madness – Book Review
Author: Sacheth
Paperback Edition: 112 pages
Publisher: Readomania (31st July 2022)
Language: English
Genre: Anthalogy
ISBN: 978-9391800024
Buy it here.
About The Book:
An important phone call comes too late.
A man is plagued by his wife’s extreme idiosyncrasies.
A forbearing woman finally retaliates against her domineering husband in a spectacular way.
A couple’s marriage is bordering on madness.
This collection consists of eight dazzling stories that brilliantly portray the violence and mysteries in the lives of ordinary people. Each page of the book is shot through with precise language, vivid details, and intense emotions, making it a refreshing read.
About The Author:
Sacheth is a postgraduate in Creative Writing from the University of York, UK. He loves reading and writing fiction of realism, magical realism, and mystery genres. He is also a technical communications professional, and he has authored numerous technical publications for multinational companies. In his spare time, he likes exploring medical-research literature and hitting the gym. He currently lives in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. You can connect with him on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter. His social-media handle is @authorsacheth.
My Take:
Without sugar-coating the varied scenarios, the author takes his readers through a ride of emotions with eight stories revolving around the multi-faceted relationship called marriage. Each of the stories in the book explores a different topic.
The book, overall, is a breezy read. I read it while on my road trip and I admit it was a great companion while the trees passed by and music played along. Not filled with much jargon, the book is very easy to read conveying emotions in a simple language.
All eight stories are very realistic and completely relatable. They are majorly about the situations we might have encountered ourselves or have heard about already. The plots of all the stories are fairly simple leaving little to surprise the reader. The stories are about the everyday modern couples and the challenges encountered by them. The book certainly gives a glimpse of contemporary marriage and the bittersweet experiences it brings with itself.
The flow of the scenes in most stories is simple but in a few ones, it seemed the train of thought has drifted away from the central story. Many times, the story jumps into its topic without much character development hence quite a lot is left for the reader’s imagination. Because the depth of these characters is left undefined, they become much forgettable after the story is finished. Some charaters are also found to be quite stereotyped.
My favourite of all was ‘The Callback’. This particular story tugs the heartstrings and makes one wish that the end was otherwise. The worries of a mother whose daughter is unmarried, the pretence of the father in front of his family during the tough times, and the feelings endured by the daughter are wonderfully portrayed.
Another piece which caught my attention was ‘The Spark’ which exhibhited the reality of compromises and hope to keep the marriage afloat. The ability to accept each other with their flaws and desire to change oneself for the betterment, is something every couple could take away from this story.
The author has done a good job of addressing all types of marriages or the lack of them. Ranging from sweet love to excess of it, from lack of space to growing apart, he has unearthed the dynamics of marriage from a psychological point of view.
The good thing about the book is that the stories depict the situation as is and do not end in mushy forevers. However, after finishing the book, the reader might realize that a few happy-endings would not have hurt, after all marriage is not just madness. There is a charm to it too, for those who find it.
Bottom line: A quick read with some conversation starter stories.
My Rating:
3/5
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