15/1 Story Avenue by Avishek Gupta


15/1 Story Avenue15/1 Story Avenue by Avishek Gupta
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

“People who say it is a long story, mean it's a stupid short one that they are too embarrassed and couldn't be bothered to tell”
― Cecelia Ahern, Love, Rosie

Avishek has covered varied topics through his stories in the book. Love, technology, hacking, Physics, Sound, nostalgia, marriage, friendship, journalism, divorce and many more. Short stories are very different from novels as they tell about short period and two or three characters. It is a challenge to tell short stories as you have extremely less space to set the context and say the story.

First let us see in brief what the stories are all about:

1. Our Unique Love Story- A simple Engineering college romance.

2. Drift-or some of these young couples, divorce is just an extension of break-up – a legal stamp to part away happily.

3. Mandroid- A psychological thriller about suppressed anger of a timid man.

4. The Burning torch of truth - It is a political thriller with investigative journalism thrown in.

5. Vinashak- Thrilling account of hacking World.

6. Weeds- Addiction of weed and love.

7. A honeymoon to remember- A comical honeymoon.

8. A Ganges full of Love- Love blossoms on Ganges in a newly married couple

9. The Lost Umbrella- Emotional attachment to an object.

10. Total Eclipse- Scene of a riot in Calcutta

11. The Perfect Photograph- Right to privacy of homeless

12. That Stupid Bug Called Love- Something like fault in our stars. .

13. Many Silences in My Soul- Sound of silence through the voice of a Physics professor.

14. Let’s go India gate- A couple’s trip to India Gate, India’s very own war memorial.

15. Vishwakarma Fervor- Vishwakarma Pooja is a big event in eastern part of India.


This book has many emotions as I told earlier. This book is a mixed bag, As the author tried to cover many varied emotions and topics (varied from love to cyber hacking), the result is also mixed. Some stories are excellent, some average and some downright poor.

The first story is like any other college romance. Nothing unique about it. It happens all the time on campus and will keep happening. Still the story is sweet. Though I feel the girl wasted 3 precious years ;).

I liked Mandroid very much as this is very plausible and can be related to, by every meek, introvert person. The bug which went into his eyes may be a metaphor of the suppressed anger.

Drift again is very topical and I agree with Avishek 100%. Now a day’s young couple mistake infatuation with love and marry. But if love is sleep then marriage is an alarm clock. They wake up to the harsh reality of married life and the world comes tumbling down. Which leads to ugly separation. That some people might think of cashing in on this also, is a scary thought.

Some stories were so rushed that they made no sense or were ended abruptly. I would like to put Vinashak, The Burning torch of truth, That Stupid Bug Called Love (clichéd done to death concept), weeds etc here. Vinashak is the lamest story. How can a Hindi professor who is kidnapped write an antivirus software in few hours? This is totally implausible and factually wrong.

Some stories are very lazy and I think Avishek wrote them just to fill the quorum and most of them are at end of the collection like Vishwakamra Pooja (it’s like an essay by a school kid).

The story I liked the most is “The Perfect Photograph”. This is a heart touching story and wrote with all the sensitivity for poor, homeless and all humanity.

Overall it is a very good first attempt. Highly recommended. I give it 3.5/ 5 stars.

Where to buy:

https://www.amazon.in/dp/B06XWV1QBQ/r...

Blurb:

15/1 Story Avenue - an address where you'll come across 15 soul touching stories by one author. Be it a heartwarming campus romance, a spine chilling thriller, or a wonderful travelogue, you will find all under the same roof. The stories in this collection touch upon everyday lives. They speak of scenarios and characters you can strongly identify with. And yet, these tales rip your attention from the word go. Come, open the door and enter the house of stories. Wonderful surprises await you inside!

About the author:

Avishek Gupta works in a senior position in a leading software organization. Avishek has had multiple short stories, poems, articles and blogs published in various magazines, corporate newsletters, and websites.

Other than writing, Avishek's hobbies include reading, music, movies and quizzing. He works and lives in Kolkata.

Hi book 15/1 Story Avenue has received positive reviews from readers on Amazon and Goodreads. He is currently working on his debut novel.

You can reach him at:
Email: words82@gmail.com


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