Coinman: An Untold Conspiracy (Book) - 9/14/2016 9:15:26 AM
The narrative intermingles Coinman’s recollections of interaction with family, education, social settings, an arranged marriage, work and day to day living.
Writer Mishra has produced a provocative narrative told as a series of short stories. His skill as a storyteller is well honed.
An unusual, thought provoking paperback about coming of age, finding your identity and accepting who you are while trying to fit into the expected norm of the society in which you live Coinman an Untold Conspiracy is a tale written by an author with a fine command of language. Coinman, the main character in this work, is pretty socially obdurate, inept, awkward and to top it all has a thing for coins. The sound they create as he touches them or just walks around and the way the feel in his hands is very satisfying; even though the habit tends to drive those near him to distraction.
I received a paperback book for review, read whole review on AD mjhollingshead den page.
Enjoyed the read, happy to recommend.
m
The Friendship (Short Story) - 9/4/2016 1:54:47 AM
interesting read. I find compelling the opportunity to read work presented from another writing, perhaps culturally infused standpoint.
keep writing, and post more please
m
The Friendship (Short Story) - 7/27/2016 5:22:40 PM
Hi Ronald, Eva: you got it. This story is intentionally highly absurd and portrays a dysfunctional friendship where one of them is a psycho and the other one lacks courage of facing a conflict--he is quite spineless. The sincerity of beginning part only shows that the narrator himself is quite messed up with his state of mind in logically connecting the two concepts :) - again intentional. If you want to think of a parallel, think of something like Kafka's "In the Penal Colony" kind of genre.
While it's not a true event, the two personalities portrayed and the fragile friendship between them were not uncommonly observed by me during my teen years.
The Friendship (Short Story) - 7/27/2016 5:28:54 AM
Very well written, but I agree with Eva that I don't understand the one-sided "fight." It may very well have been a real event that you observed, and it may not have been so bizarre in that context. I also found your use of "a neighbor" and his "friend," a little bit off. I would have preferred if you had given them names and used those.
I see no redeeming value in a one-sided fight between friends, even if the one being the bully is annoyed because his friend continued to speak nonsense.
It did remind me of a colleague of mine who I kidded once in a while. Finally, I guess Mehar got fed up and called me a "back biter." I wasn't able to convince him that I meant no harm before I left for my doctorate.
Ron
The Friendship (Short Story) - 7/26/2016 11:44:52 PM
You have a fine command of language to hone a story. My cultural barrier may be preventing me from "buying" the story as I don't find the conversation between two teens distinguishable from the storyteller. I'm not "getting" the mental picture of teenagers or how a fight could escalate to such proportions over the topic opened up.
This is just my personal take. I could be far out like one of those lizard-like beings you mention.
AuthorsDen Review of Coinman (Article) - 9/22/2016 7:39:46 AM
While a bit repetitive of something I recently read about your book, I find that stigma (the title of the book I read in graduate school) still exists wherever disparate groups of people are thrown together like in schools and in the workplace. While I think in India with all of the folklore and mythology, cultures and languages, the situation is exaggerated, bullying and mistreatment in the workplace still does exist at many levels.
The one thing that I think your novel brings out is the understanding that we are all the same and different at the same time. Respecting our differences goes a long way in having smooth relationships less fraught with pain and ignorant abuse.
Ron
