Dissent | Deepak Kaul | Book Review

STORIES: 3/5
THEME: 2/5
CHARACTERS: 3/5
WRITING STYLE: 3.5/5
ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 3.5/5

[perfectpullquote align=”left” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“A Short story is a different thing all together- a short story is like a kiss in the dark from a stranger” – Stephen King[/perfectpullquote] Another quote says that a story should be like a miniskirt: long enough to cover the subject but short enough to be interesting.

With these highly illuminating words of wisdom, I choose to begin my review of this collection of 11 short stories which was provided to me by Writer’s Melon in exchange for an honest review.

Now, there was a contest called Write India Campaign by the Times of India group. They invited entries from all over India. The stories to be submitted in this contest were to be spun from story prompts provided by bestselling authors in India including Chetan Bhagat, Preeti Shenoy, Amish Tripathi, Ashwin Sanghi etc.

Dissent was Deepak Kaul’s submission to the contest and all the stories are thus spun from the prompts.

Since the prompts were given by different authors there is no particular theme to them and hence this book also does not have a particular theme which in my opinion is a good thing since the reader is bound to be surprised at every end.

I liked the fact that many of the stories addressed burning social issues, while others explored the depth of human emotions and the tragedy of human life in general.

I had a couple of favourites from Dissent.

I really enjoyed Hell’s Kitchen as it explored the journey of a woman chef who suddenly lost her job because of the beef ban in India.

I also enjoyed Taboo and Void. The concept and context of all stories were unique from each other and that was one thing which I liked about the book.

However, there were a couple of stories that were lacklustre and did not make a lasting impression.

Some even had a dull and/or abrupt end which I particularly don’t enjoy much.

The best part of Dissent is the author’s writing style which is easy and uninhibited. I firmly believe that a little more experience and constructive criticism will do wonders for his writing.

All in all, the book is a decent one time read and especially a great one if you are looking for a light read.

I end this review by rating the book three and a half out of five stars while recommending it as a “try out a new author” read to my readers. I personally and definitely look forward to reading the next book from the author’s kitty.