Cherry by Mary Karr | कस्तूरी मृग by शिवानी | Book Reviews

(6 & 7 of 2021)

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It is a heart-stealing picture perfect sun-weds-blue-sky kind of a spring day. I remember spending such February noons sky-gazing during my pre-board leaves and falling in and out of a blissful slumber hugging my Physics or Punjabi text book. It has been years since those times but till date, blue skies in the spring never fail to make me happy.

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Hence, I decided to get off my lazy bum (well only metaphorically folks) and write this one for you. So, in the last two weeks, I went through 2 very different books. 

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I will start with ‘कस्तूरी मृग’ by शिवानी. This one is a collection of Short Stories like the last one of my Shivani reads. I wanted to read stories of Indian Purvanchal and Kumaon, and this one just got me that. ‘कस्तूरी मृग’, ‘माणिक’ and ‘जोकर’ were stories of more modern nature and are interesting to read. But coming to the forté of the author, ‘तर्पण’, ‘रथ्या’ and ‘शर्त’ are some stories from the hills which will make you smile and cry, and would steal your heart by the end of it. If I could fix a weather to go with a book, then today’s starkly sunny and colorful day is just made to read a book like this one. For taking me to hills without the motion sickness, I will give this one 4.5/5.

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On the other hand, if you read this late or someplace where there is no sun today, feel free to pick up ‘Cherry’ by Mary Karr. It is a sequel of The Liars’ Club, which talked of early childhood and late 20s of the author, and addressed the void of teenage life story of the Author. From being a late bloomer to struggling to mingle with the school crowd, the tryst with drugs and lockups, and surviving with a gorgeous elder sister and a troubled mother, this book is not your typical Coming of age parable. It is forthright, hard hitting and ugly. Mary Karr seems to lose her Beginner’s Luck with TLC. This one is a good read, not a superlative one though. Giving it 3.5/5. Worth reading if you are like me, deriving voyeuristic pleasure knowing about the troubled teenage of a troubled adult.

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Happy Reading!!

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