The Inconceivable Idea Of The Sun – Anil Menon

Description

Right from the wickedly funny table of contents, which belongs not to this collection but an imagined one, this remarkable genre-defying volume is guaranteed to delight the reader in the mood for something original and different.

In the title story, ‘The Inconceivable Idea of the Sun’, a couple finds that reorganizing their home library has an unexpected consequence on their shared reality; ‘The Robots of Eden’ is set in a world where stories are no longer essential to be human, because civilized people have developed better technology to mediate their emotions; in ‘Into the Night’, an old Brahmin leans into the comforts of an ancient language when the future renders him obsolete; and ‘How Not to Tell the Ramayana’ is a Borgesian journey into a Ramayana retelling unlike any other.

This stellar collection of short fiction, as poignant as it is playful, blurs the distinction between what lies inside a story and what lies outside it. It demonstrates yet again why Anil Menon is one of the most formidable names in contemporary Indian writing.