Book Review: Manto Ki Badnaam Kahaniyan

About the Author:

Saadat Hasan Manto was born in 1912 in Ludhiana and was a famous story teller, play writer and essay writer. He was famous for his stories written about the scenario which prevailed during the period of Independence and was tried for obscenity several times before and after Independence. His stories were written in Urdu and translated in many other languages. He is considered as one of the best Urdu writers and I think it is a fact nobody can disagree to.

About the Book: 

The book, Manto Ki Badnaam Kahaniyan is a book which is a collection of thirteen short and most famous stories written by Saadat Hasan Manto. It consists of all the stories the writer was tried for during the time of Independence. It is a collection of short stories which has been compiled by Varsha Agarwal. Through his stories, the writer has addressed important issues which were not talked about at that time. People felt that talking about issues such as prostitution, impotency, patriarchy, etc. is an act of shame and therefore nobody even dared to throw light on the incidents which the writer has described through his stories. The famous stories which the writer is most known for- Kali Salwar, Thanda Gosht, Toba Teksingh, etc. are all a part of this collection of short stories. The stories have been compiled into this book in 2018 only and has been published by a publishing house in Allahbad. It’s one of the many books which have been published on the stories written by the author. The author wrote about twenty stories before and after Independence and his most famous thirteen stories are a part of this collection.

Review: 

So I got this book at The Lucknow Book Fair just for rupees fifty. It was the first time I read something written by the author and I was very much excited about reading the book. The stories written by Saadat Hasan Manto are considered to be very beautiful and so when I saw this book, I just bought it at once. After reading just two stories, I completely fell in love with the book. I think that the stories are very bold. I was able to relate to the fact that why were these stories frowned upon during the time of Independence. The type of prostitution which was going on, the fate which the prisoners were suffering, etc. are some topics which no one paid any heed to during the time about Independence. The author was the only one who was raising his voice and was trying to bring to light such topics by the way of his stories. The way the author has brought out the scenarios of that time is just amazing. It is definitely very difficult for me to decide that which story is my favourite since there were multiple stories which touched my heart. Kali Salwar and Thanda Gosht were the two stories which I loved the most. These two stories were the ones that sent a chill down my spine. Since I was reading a book in Hindi after a really long time, it was a very different experience for me and I think that these stories can be best told in Hindi. When I read the English versions of some of these stories again, trust me, I found that the versions written in Hindi were more beautiful. Reading these stories has been a wonderful experience for me and I am definitely looking forward to reading more stories and essays written by the author.

To Read or Not to Read: 

I think that the stories by Saadat Hasan Manto should definitely be read by everyone. Trust me, they’ll make you feel a lot of things. Kali Salwar, Boo, Thanda Gosht and Toba Teksingh are some of the stories which I highly recommend. The people who are into reading Hindi literature or storytelling, will definitely find these stories to be very emotional. So do read these stories. You can buy any the book on the short stories written by the author since many of them are available through different publishers. You can also find these stories on the internet in both English and Hindi. So just give one of these stories a try and trust me, it’ll make you want to read more.

Rating: 5/5

Thank You for reading. :)