The Modern Man is a collection of five stories which depicts the existential realities of the current human conscience.
The Face is a story about a self absorbed good looking young man who falls in the spell of his own beauty and dies because of thirst and starvation. The Host describes the tragedy and the superficiality of the party guests who neither notice nor inquire about the missing host. A Pianist is the story of displacement and struggles of belonging of a holocausts survived Jewish pianist and a Russian maidservant in the United States. The Daughter of Comradeji depicts the complex joint family structure , caste system , class system, dowry system and gender based discriminations in the Indian society through the life of Seema who is a daughter of a poor and cheated Comrade. She is trapped into an arranged marriage with an abusive and marijuana addicted man. The Modern Man depicts the futile and the tragic psychological and philosophical efforts , struggles and inquiries of modern life.
Parihar’s love of poetic form shows in one-sentence paragraphs, lines that purposefully repeat structures, with small alterations, building for effect, and an often detached, observational narrative voice: “Stink of their vomit persisted in the house like memories of the lost glories and the glorious past,” the narrator reports, of the bacchanal at the center of “The Host.” Uncertain editing and punctuation makes it hard for Parihar’s occasionally striking insights to shine, and many sentences prove difficult to parse, sometimes because of Parihar’s inclination toward concision and surprise, and at times because of editing errors. The longest story, “The Daughter of Comradeji,” which follows the marriage of Nepalese couple Seema and Mukesh, includes the most developed insights about colonialism, specifically in India and Nepal. Towards its end, Seema visits a supermarket for the first time with her neighbors. The characters do not realize that “the god of profit, the prophet of grid, two saints named colonization and globalization danced inside out, outside in of the supermarket.”
Though these stories prove challenging, on various levels, to read, credit must be given to Parihar for the power and insight of that sentence, plus others throughout. His insights into the genocide, colonialism, and humanity’s zeal to abuse are urgent, presented in often vivid language, though sensitive readers should be aware that the stories plumb deeply into these horrors.
Takeaway: Pained, unpolished post-colonial stories exploring trauma, abuse, and violence .
Comparable Titles: Dean Baldwin and Patrick J. Quinn’s An Anthology of Colonial and Postcolonial Short Fiction
Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: B+
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: C-
Marketing copy: B
THE MODERN MAN BY VIKAS PARIHAR RELEASE DATE: NOV. 27, 2023
A fascinating selection of short fiction.
Parihar explores the lives of modern men in this short story collection.
In “The Face,” one of five stories in this collection, a beautiful man is so enthralled by his own reflection that he forgets to eat or drink. In “The Host,” guests arrive for a party and destroy a house without realizing the host isn’t even there. In “A Pianist,” a piano player struggles with his identity after the Nazis cut off his fingers at Auschwitz. In “The Daughter of Comradeji,” the longest and most complex story in this volume, a woman named Seema contemplates how life might have been different if her late nephew, Timu, were still alive. Timu’s untimely death upset the balance of power in the family: Seema is in an unhappy arranged marriage and has come to resent her powerful father-in-law, who plans to pass his fortune on to her husband’s cruel older brother. This narrative is a little hard to follow and is less successful than the others in the collection—it might have worked better if expanded into a longer story. In “The Modern Man,” a man contemplates what, exactly, makes a modern man as he goes through the motions of a fairly mundane day. Most of the pieces touch on nature and natural beauty, providing contrast to the grind of contemporary life—the theme is a little underexplored, but it pops up as a motif in several of the stories (“The butterfly which came last night died on the Guava tree”). The florid and evocative prose is striking, but it veers into the purple in spots. Some passages are also difficult to read (especially the scenes that take place at Auschwitz in “A Pianist,” described in great detail), and the language is often quite vulgar. Ultimately, each of the stories is a morality tale, working economically (except for “The Daughter of Comradeji”) to deliver a punch, as good short stories should do.
A fascinating selection of short fiction.
BOOK REVIEW Reviewed by K.C. Finn for Readers' Favorite -Four Star
The Modern Man: Short Stories is a work of fiction penned by author Vikas Parihar in the drama, anthology, and slice-of-life subgenres. It is best suited to the general adult reading audience. This collection of five stories delves into the complexities of the human mind, offering a psychological and dramatic look at human beings put to the test in unusual situations. From narcissistic modern fables to tales of shallow partygoers and cross-cultural tensions, each of these fascinating, character-led tales portrays the futile and tragic psychological and philosophical struggles of contemporary life.
Author Vikas Parihar has crafted a work that offers many unique voices, bringing together narratives that capture the essence of modern-day struggles and dilemmas. Each story offers a unique perspective on themes such as vanity, superficiality, displacement, societal norms, and existential questioning. From the tragic demise of the self-absorbed protagonist in ‘The Face’ to the poignant portrayal of Seema's plight in ‘The Daughter of Comradeji,’ the collection confronts readers with the harsh realities of contemporary life while prompting reflection on the human condition. I think ‘A Pianist’ was my personal favorite for all the blunt edges to the narrative style, indicating the difficulties of the character’s internal struggle. Parihar's storytelling is both captivating and insightful, drawing readers into the characters' lives and making them ponder the complexities of the world around them. Overall, The Modern Man is a compelling exploration of the human psyche and the existential challenges of the modern era, and I would certainly recommend it to fans of intriguing dramas everywhere.
