Book Review




Prisoner of War is a collection of twenty six short stories which have matured like a fine wine  over a period of time.

The volume has been authored by Manish Sharma whose short stories have appeared regularly in popular magazines, anthologies and blogs. It’s published by Ocean Books, New Delhi. 

The collection represents a rainbow of life, exploring its various colors and shades. It highlights the freedom of choice we all have and what we do with it. And how it imparts our ordinary stories their extraordinary edge.

The writer has cast his tales in different genres be it literary or experimental, tragedy or fantasy. Due to it's wide range, the book appeals to all age groups be it young adults, elders or children. 

The first story of this collection titled A Point of View has been made into a short film and was telecast on National Television. You can watch it at http://vimeo.com/64458771

Wings of Freedom traces the desire of a teenage girl to grow 'wings' and discover uncharted territories. Prediction talks about how fast love evaporates in a relationship and how it is finally regained. Necklace is about a house wife in search of a perfect necklace as her own existence turns vegetative. Elephant delineates the enormity of a young man's anger whereas Dilemma explores a mother's longing to celebrate her daughter's birthday in a meaningful way. Quite poignantly, Elusive Shower portrays how a poor farmer is driven to the edge under the most trying circumstances.

The Curse brings out the pain of being an outcast and untouchable in Indian society.  This story has also been published as a screenplay in an anthology of creative English complied by Delhi University titled World within Words.

Last but not the least; Prisoner of War is one of the most moving stories in the assortment which delineates grueling saga of a war widow engaged in endless waiting for her husband who has fallen into enemy hands.

The tales, vivid and unpretentious, touch you deeply. The book explores your most intimate thoughts and emotions with a disarming simplicity. What you notice immediately is an original style of writing that extracts the special from the mundane.

And though the characters are drawn from everyday life, they often find themselves in very challenging, make or break situations. What strikes you in the face is the shocker of an ending that almost every story is pregnant with.

The writer presents his innermost feelings in a subtle manner thereby allowing you, that is the reader, to bring in his own discretion. In so doing, he turns you into a participant and you realize that his truth is your truth and his voice has a universal quality.

As layers after layers of our collective subconscious are uncovered, we discover a thread that makes us fall back to ourselves and leads to a gratifying reading experience which stays with us like a mysterious fragrance.

Most of the stories in the collection can be read within a short span of time thus turning Prisoner of War into a good buy for the busy generation. Moreover, you can read these 26 tales one at a time, thus prolonging your joy of reading.
  
The book is economically prized at Rs.200 and available with all major online portals. Some links for placing the order are:

https://www.amazon.com/Prisoner-War-COL-MANISH-SHARMA/dp/8184301014

https://www.pustakmandi.com/prisoner-of-war


The writer can be contacted at 
nectarmks@gmail.com



 Reviewed by 
 Aanchal Sharma


Comments

  1. Anonymous23 March 2017 at 09:58

    Great review of a great book.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Manish Sharma23 March 2017 at 19:40

      Thanks for reading my blog.Please share your name and contact.

      Delete
  2. Mukul Mangla23 March 2017 at 09:58

    Very nice stories and extremely touching. Great work!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Manish Sharma23 March 2017 at 19:41

      Thanks Mukul. Hope to listen from you soon again.

      Delete
  3. Arushi Bhasin23 March 2017 at 10:01

    Amazing piece of work!! Completely fascinated:)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Manish Sharma23 March 2017 at 19:42

    Thanks Arushi. Hope to see you often in this space.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Shalini Singh4 April 2017 at 14:36

    An awesome collection of short stories which are meaningful and beautifully written. These stories not only touches deep but teaches lessons of life in a very subtle way. Each story is so unique and gripping that it excites the curiosity to engrossly read till the end. And while reading you are bound to become one of the characters of the story. As these stories seems inspired by the real life incidences and sometimes correlate us with our own life experiences.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Manish Sharma6 April 2017 at 22:14

      Thanks Shalini for a short and sweet review.Some of these stories have indeed been inspired by real life incidents. Believe me, life is stranger than fiction.

      Delete
  6. Unknown29 April 2017 at 23:34

    Very nice
    Book review is added last year in B.Ed. course.
    How to write book review.
    It is a good example.

    I would like to buy this book soon sothat I can enjoy more interesting true tales.


    ReplyDelete
  7. Manish Sharma10 May 2017 at 16:12

    Thanks Dr. S.P. The link to this post can be shared with the students and they can treat it as a sample book review.

    ReplyDelete

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