Author: Santhosh Komaraju
Genre: Literary fiction
Order: Amazon Kindle
My review
What actually made me grab this book – Walks through Life: Stories – is my reminiscence of Jataka Tales, the one that was an integral part of my childhood. I guess this book can be lined along with Jataka Tales in a way as Walks through Life with respect to its name takes your older self on a walk through the chapters of life, giving out a few take away lessons to inculcate you. I was quite taken with the blurb as those one liners about the stories the book holds present an intriguing charm for the readers to pick it; I found it very creative and catching, they themselves are seeds to your thoughts and your curiosity. I personally got hooked with the part – ‘Can you be my mother? – a boy requested of a pretentious lady’
It was quite interesting to follow along each story, how it frames about the moral of it in an effective way. The story telling style of the author is commendable is doing justice to the whole concept of the book as I believe he succeeds in keeping his readers engaged in his short stories giving ways to think upon. What makes the book all the more caught to it is that, it is just not about few life lessons or morals that it serves, it is also about being a reflection to our society, the light, the dark and the shadows! Stories like Blessing of a Curse calls out this point constructively.
The after taste left by stories like Rise of a Mother and A letter from the Well is quite touching as well as heartwarming. King of All and Divine Axe will serve you a lot more of your childhood memories as it reminds you of those classics you covered during your school days. The characters each story presents are quite etched or are framed up quite well to even stand on their own, some will reflect, some will contrast you; the prince, the mother, the woodcutter, the villager… they all tell you their fair deal of life through the pages of the book. I think each one of you would be able to connect or relate with at the least on or two out of them. There is a great deal to read in between the lines as even though they are quite simple, it delivers a great deal to feed your mind and work on further. It also paves way to our ethnic essence too.
I felt that the book is a mixture of different types of stories where some are quite suitable or are for young minds while others are actually for grown hearts, I think one can pick out stories to read out for their kids out of them suiting their taste. The book cover design is quite impressive but the black and white thing was not for me, I do appreciate the creativity though.
Overall, it is a great pick, I feel the ideology of the book is to share the light of life that’s around us, passed on over generations and that if you open your senses towards them, it is easy to be enlightened! The book contains an impressive collection of interesting stories with pretty good moral lessons and it is a very good medium to take you down the memory lane or to have a great reading session with your kids or so. It would make a great addition to your reading collection for revisits. I would love to get it in paperback version and would like to request for it, it would be great if that can be worked out!
About the book
Find that majestic mango, your problem will be solved – a mystic ordered an individual who asked for help.
My ax is my guru – declared a woodcutter.
Instead of preparing a plan to kill it, why can’t we offer help? – a villager questioned in the middle of the assembly.
I could not be relieved even after undertaking efforts to end my life – a scholar declared in public.
Can you be my mother? – a boy requested of a pretentious lady.
I wish I had more life to undo my past – a mischief-maker contemplated in his letter.
I would never relinquish them, even if I had to sacrifice my life – a young prince swore putting his life on the shore.
I was chained by limitations, yet I prevailed – a butcher made a victorious cry.
You climbed up the ladder. I did not. Who reached the top? – a brother questioned his sibling who cried for help.
Walks Through Life is a collection of stories in which each story reverberates the same principle of truth in its own unique ways. These are stories serving as plain reminders of the supreme learning that was handed over to us a long time ago.
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