Evolution of Insanity - Paperback Edition
An author having a conversation with his fictional character, or losing control of his character, mind numbing points leading one twists and turns spinning the mind of the reader with hallucinogenic colors, concepts, and eurekas. The short stories begin simplified, and walks together with the author as he takes a personal journey deep within the universe of his own consciousness, dwelling, prodding, dissecting, and creating...
The Story Behind This Book
Most of the stories were written at the oddest times. The stories are also spontaneous, wherein it is only after writing that I have to read again what I wrote.
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Praise and Reviews
This collection of short stories runs the gamut, from poignant to poetic to darkly humorous.
Daswani plays with words like a child plays with toys - each story is different, each character a surprise. He takes small moments and puts them under a microscope; he looks at life and questions why.
His perspective varies as well - from first person to second to third. There's some deep thoughts here, some solid creativity. But just when you think Daswani is taking himself too seriously, he throws in a wink and a nod to let you know he's not.
His characters are memorable - funny, sad, puzzled and argumentative - often finding themselves in fairly desperate straits.
I'll admit - this isn't the type of book I normally pick up - my books are usually far more straightforward whodunits and mysteries. But part of reading is expanding your comfort zone, trying new things. In this case, it was fun to try something new.
A vast and impressive number of arrows in Daswani's quiver lead the narrative. The reader shifts from reading as a careful annotator to racing through popular fiction.
The writing is literary, meaty and puts a blanket over you to read on to the finish.
Bravo and six stars out of five for Haresh Daswani’s Evolution of Insanity
You ask me, how can a novel walk through The Waste Land, read as Fast as I never Promised You a Rose Garden and have the mourning ache of The Woman in White? It is here.
I highly recommend you read it and the answer is in The Evolution of Insanity.
When Cervantes set out to draw Don Quixote did he fall in love with his breath?
I'm smitten.
And would the seeing bring us closer to understanding? Or would it bring us closer to our own insanity--and there is where you find, The Evolution of Insanity.
I have not enjoyed reading something so much in my life. I believe we'll be listening to Heresh Daswani on great talk shows, like Chicago on NPR, showing his delightful insights, for many years to come.
I easily gave this book 5 stars
This is a book that hasn't been done before, a remarkable book with surprising depth, beautiful writing, and certainly no dumbed down language to allow it to fit into a genre. When it comes to the language, I'd call it literary; the voice, however, is sharp and educated with plenty of humorous layers to it. The stories are connected in their depth and ability to link reality with fiction, dreams and mysticism with satire and belief, lifestyle and choice with art, and many, many more.
It is a philosophical read, and while I'm into all that is philosophical, I often find philosophical books bordering on the boring side. Evolution of Insanity kept me reading from one tale to the other, wondering what would come next. I particularly liked the observational nature of the tales and how they brought to light all that is dark, hidden and twisted in human nature, giving insight into the various facets of humanity in a unique way. I was astounded at the immense creativity and diversity of this book, and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a bit of dark fiction with plenty of humour and excellent writing.
Stories that would have you believe that Santa was killed, "tongue in cheek" stories, stories intermingled with intellectual descriptions of body functions, of the human despair and condition. Stories like the one about a long suffering psychiatrist finding his "emotional wastebasket", Adam and Eve personas, Herman of whom we all know one of, the passing of the torch of thoughts and observation as depicted in "London in the Mind". Stories that enlighten us about the complexities of the interrelationships between the opposite sexes.
Haresh Daswani is a complex writer who writes with intellectual wit and philosophy interlaced with humor.
“We are all insane who hide in rooms further making us insane”.
A great read!
The book is a collection of short chapters that contain virtually no dialogue. The descriptions of simple things take on a kind of poetic oscillation that are always moving and impossible to pin down.
This book abandons standard narrative structure and embraces a James Joyce type stream-of-consciousness that will make you sometimes smile and sometimes scratch your head. I liked it. It felt fresh and different from the norm, even if I don’t feel smart enough to understand all of it.
In many ways, Mr. Haresh Daswani’s book, The Evolution of Insanity, gave me my much needed doze of intellectual stimulation through the interesting ways he worded his anthology and the eerily realistic plot points that will surely leave you thinking.
If I was given a dollar for every utterance of “Oo nga noh!” I would’ve been a rich girl by now. I remember the countless of times I stopped reading because I was bombarded with mind numbing bouts of self realization after reading a particularly sharp and moving line. I would then continue reading only to stop and ponder some more… it’s truly an eye opener! Mr. Daswani’s witty writing style gives the reader a better experience of what it is like to find sanity in the "insane" and vice versa.
I love how both subtlety and bluntness played with each other fairly well in this book. If Chuck Palahniuk and Paulo Coelho made a novel together, I bet it would be just like Mr. Daswani’s The Evolution of Insanity…an intellectually filling piece packed humor, wit and philosophy.
Truly, this book kept its promise… it sparked my interest, fueled my fascination to continue reading and left me wanting for more.
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