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penguinlost's review
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
tejaswininaik's review
2.0
I think George Eliot once said "Don't judge a book by it's cover" and I should have adhered. But I saw a glimpse of Vikram Seth's name on this book and thought that it really can't be so bad and I bought it on a whim.
This is one of the books in the series of elements of Nature released by Oxfam. Several authors have submitted the first chapters of their upcoming novels in this book and all the proceedings go towards environmental conservation. There are similar ones on the lines of Earth, Fire and Air. I bought this from a second-hand shop so my money didn't definitely go towards the cause.
I was also enticed by the prospect of getting to read unheard of authors. All the stories are in some way related to water or forms of water. Beach, Rain, Ferry, Sea, Monsoon Season. Even Water Borne Disease. But none of them stay with you. I think Vikram Seth's poem is the only one thats worth mentioning. After reading these stories, I neither learnt anything new nor got interested in reading the full novel through free chapters by the authors. I'm really wondering how much money was raised through these books.
You can definitely give this book a miss.
For the love of Vikram Seth since I'm reminded of him,
“In life's brief game to be a winner
A man must have...oh yes, above
All else, of course, someone to love.”
― Vikram Seth, The Golden Gate
This is one of the books in the series of elements of Nature released by Oxfam. Several authors have submitted the first chapters of their upcoming novels in this book and all the proceedings go towards environmental conservation. There are similar ones on the lines of Earth, Fire and Air. I bought this from a second-hand shop so my money didn't definitely go towards the cause.
I was also enticed by the prospect of getting to read unheard of authors. All the stories are in some way related to water or forms of water. Beach, Rain, Ferry, Sea, Monsoon Season. Even Water Borne Disease. But none of them stay with you. I think Vikram Seth's poem is the only one thats worth mentioning. After reading these stories, I neither learnt anything new nor got interested in reading the full novel through free chapters by the authors. I'm really wondering how much money was raised through these books.
You can definitely give this book a miss.
For the love of Vikram Seth since I'm reminded of him,
“In life's brief game to be a winner
A man must have...oh yes, above
All else, of course, someone to love.”
― Vikram Seth, The Golden Gate
mandi_m's review
We just read this series with book club. The stories came from some fabulous authors and I really enjoyed many of the stories, although the short story is not my favourite genre. Everyone identified with different stories as their favourites and the scores we gave the series (not just this title) are:
8/7.5/7/9/5/7/7
8/7.5/7/9/5/7/7
frickative's review
3.0
I wasn't overly enamoured by this collection. For me, there were only two real stand-outs: Hari Kunzru's "Kaltes klares Wasser", about the ferryman of the dead, and Zoë Heller's "What She Did On Her Summer Vacation", a coming-of-age tale about a 14-year-old American girl abroad. Both powerful in their own way, and though I hadn't read anything by either author before, I definitely would in future. Their contributions happened to be amongst the very few that were actually real short stories, as opposed to extracts from novels, which is my chief annoyance with Water.
The introduction explains that not all of the authors contacted actually write shorts, and so contributed what they could. Fine, but it meant that very few of the stories felt like self contained units, more teasers and advertising for longer works. The only two I'd even consider buying the full versions of are Michel Faber's "Walking After Midnight", about a missionary in a far-distant land (though Google frustratingly gives no indication of when the novel it's taken from, The Book of Strange New Things is due for publication), and possibly Michael Morpurgo's "Look At Me, I Need a Smile", though I can't stand his other works and the premise seems as exploitative as it does intriguing. (A boy mourning the death of his father is taken on holiday to Indonesia, goes on an elephant ride on the beach, when oh, the 2004 tsunami hits and the elephant whisks him off into the jungle. Actually, no, all things considered I'm really not going to read it.)
A bit of a dud, then, but it did introduce me to at least two authors I'd be happy to read in future.
The introduction explains that not all of the authors contacted actually write shorts, and so contributed what they could. Fine, but it meant that very few of the stories felt like self contained units, more teasers and advertising for longer works. The only two I'd even consider buying the full versions of are Michel Faber's "Walking After Midnight", about a missionary in a far-distant land (though Google frustratingly gives no indication of when the novel it's taken from, The Book of Strange New Things is due for publication), and possibly Michael Morpurgo's "Look At Me, I Need a Smile", though I can't stand his other works and the premise seems as exploitative as it does intriguing. (A boy mourning the death of his father is taken on holiday to Indonesia, goes on an elephant ride on the beach, when oh, the 2004 tsunami hits and the elephant whisks him off into the jungle. Actually, no, all things considered I'm really not going to read it.)
A bit of a dud, then, but it did introduce me to at least two authors I'd be happy to read in future.
halfmanhalfbook's review
2.0
The final book in the Oxfam Ox-Tales set was not quite as good as the others, even though the authors are equally illustrious.
The links to water are a little tenuous too, with only one of two picking up on the theme. Most of the stories were ok, but the story by Michael Morpurgo called Look at Me, I Need a Smile was magnificent and poignant.
The links to water are a little tenuous too, with only one of two picking up on the theme. Most of the stories were ok, but the story by Michael Morpurgo called Look at Me, I Need a Smile was magnificent and poignant.
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