Ebbs and Flows by Amitava Chaudhuri: a review

A simple yet bold cover; very unlike the colorful ones every book has nowadays, Ebbs & Flows by Amitava Chaudhuri stands out among the lot. It is a collection of short stories by the author himself portraying what life is about.

On the back cover- Imagine. A person you have wronged years ago suddenly returns to haunt your life or-you are faced with a situation where fate challenges you to dare to follow the lofty things you had so openly preached. Or- a man who shamelessly boasts of his achievements suddenly finds his lie turning into a beautiful reality. Or- you discover a rather sinister side of the person you had secretly worshiped. These situations can be faced by any of us. Correction- probably by none of us. That is because we are common people, destined to lead an ordinary life. However, no power in the world can stop even the most common of common men from imagining. The answer to these imaginations is a tide of emotions-some joyful, some slightly depressing. But then, that is life- ebbs and flows of emotion.

With every story of his, in this book, the author very powerfully narrates the ebbs and flows of emotions that every common man or maybe no common man faces in life. Every story is written in its own way, teaching us something or the other at the end of the story.

Every common man has one power which they utilize and it is proved in this book. The power of imagination. The writer, in this collection of short stories has very well used the power of imagination to teach something or the other to all kinds of readers who reads the book.

Coming to the drawbacks of the book, I , personally couldn't find any other than the fact that there shouldv'e been more stories added in the book. After reading one story after another, every reader wants to read more from the writer and thus, a few more stories would've complimented the book very well, adding to the merit of the book.

The writing style was very simple and straight forward or rather to the point which made the book an overall interesting read. Wishing the author best of luck, I would like to rate this book a 4 out of 5.