The Japanese Wife And Other Stories (2008) - Plot & Excerpts
This book is pure disappointment.Basu does well by conjuring characters and placing them in non conventional settings. You visit Moscow and Rajasthan and the effect is quite nice. HOWEVER, the plot is disappointing, always. What could have been developed well and ended poignantly and tastefully seems melodramatic and unnecessary. It could be either the fault of lack of imagination or style of writing. But the stories leave you bland and in some case saying 'whaa'. Just saying. Grab a copy only if the other on the shelf is Chetan Bhagat. Absolutely horrible. So so boring. Basu tries to make his stories - ugh, how should I describe it - quietly poetic, with a relaxed but strong appeal to aesthetics. He strains to create the same atmosphere and attraction predominant in the movie "Hero" (sorry, I can't think of a book reference, forgive me ... great movie, by the way), failing utterly. Almost every line can be equated to a fluffy filler. And the endings! Ugh! The endings are preferentially melodramatic, predicable, ridiculous, or a combination of the three. They are also abrupt, as though he spent so much time 'filling,' desperate for poeticism, that when he happened to realize the desired word count had been reached he just slapped on a conclusion - usually, "oh, and they're dead now." 0 (ZERO) STARS! and a time-out for bad literature. Naughty Basu.
What do You think about The Japanese Wife And Other Stories (2008)?
its a collection of short stories.......some are completely confusing......bounce over the head
—shelly
Except the first story and the daughter of a snake charmer, I did not like any of the stories.
—2Wheeler
Japanese wife is exceptionally good. But rest of the stories failed to catch my attention.
—skirubas
Short stories. The Japanese wife story was a good one.
—bobina
