Anthology of short stories

VALLIKKANNAN SIRAPPU SIRUKADHAIKAL: Vallikkannan; Pavai Publications, 142, J.J. Khan Road, Royapettah, Chennai-600014. Rs. 60.

THE PLEASURE of reading at a stretch this exquisite collection of Vallikkannan's short stories (18), after nearly four decades of their publication, one after another, in the noted little magazine, Saraswathi (now defunct), is for one to experience. Even today they are just like fresh-cut flowers with a delicate fragrance — lively, luminous, elegantly written, delightfully entertaining.

Storylines: merit at a discount; truth is tough; two portraits of one driven to prostitution; self-abnegation; mother indulging the child too much has brought about his ruin; a boomerang effect of a deep hurt; a superstar's dilemma; story of an ungrateful wretch; a dual personality; a rare gesture of a poor labourer witnessed on an arterial road; a deserted wife who is not willing to forgive her husband; a mother's sentiments; a hallucinatory experience; social unrest caused by inequalities in wealth; the plight of the poor; a pathological fear of spiders and the generosity of a child who seems a visible god.

Budding writers will find this anthology immensely useful. It will help them find their way through the maze of details governing the writing of a successful short story. For this reason the stories should reach a wider audience through competent translations. One cannot however, overlook the misprint regarding the year in which Vallikkannan bagged the Sahitya Akademi Award.

P. SUNDARESAN

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