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A review by lauren_endnotes
Mad Country by Samrat Upadhyay
4.0
Upadhyay's story collection incorporates larger themes of political unrest, class and race struggles, and personal and institutional freedoms (freedom of speech, free press, etc.) Through seven stories and one longer self-described novella, we see these notions in both Upadhyay's native Nepal, and his now-home, the US.
Many of the stories have a amorphous dream-like quality that made me question whether the events were truly happening. The novella "Dreaming of Ghana" was most notable for this. A Nepali man begins having vivid dreams of (what he believes is) Ghana. He soon meets a woman who he believes to be from Ghana and almost instantly falls in love with her. As readers, we question whether this woman is real, and wonder if the narrator is reliable. No definitive answers, but still a unique and compelling story.
Upadhyay's political stories ("Fast Forward", the eponymous "Mad Country", and "America the Great Equalizer") introduce a strong narrator and the events that surround them, unrest, struggle, and suppression. In "Fast Forward", we see a plot to suppress a reporter and a magazine from reporting on the government, "Mad Country" carries the weight of political dissidence and and imprisonment, and "America the Great Equalizer" follows a Nepali man living in Missori during the riots of Ferguson, Missouri after the murder of Michael Brown in 2014.
Mad Country is a strong collection, and I'd recommend it for short story lovers, and anyone wanting to learn more about Nepal.
**I talk about this one on Ep 123 of Reading Envy: Godlets and Forests. Check it out!
Many of the stories have a amorphous dream-like quality that made me question whether the events were truly happening. The novella "Dreaming of Ghana" was most notable for this. A Nepali man begins having vivid dreams of (what he believes is) Ghana. He soon meets a woman who he believes to be from Ghana and almost instantly falls in love with her. As readers, we question whether this woman is real, and wonder if the narrator is reliable. No definitive answers, but still a unique and compelling story.
Upadhyay's political stories ("Fast Forward", the eponymous "Mad Country", and "America the Great Equalizer") introduce a strong narrator and the events that surround them, unrest, struggle, and suppression. In "Fast Forward", we see a plot to suppress a reporter and a magazine from reporting on the government, "Mad Country" carries the weight of political dissidence and and imprisonment, and "America the Great Equalizer" follows a Nepali man living in Missori during the riots of Ferguson, Missouri after the murder of Michael Brown in 2014.
Mad Country is a strong collection, and I'd recommend it for short story lovers, and anyone wanting to learn more about Nepal.
**I talk about this one on Ep 123 of Reading Envy: Godlets and Forests. Check it out!