Oru Nooru Minikkathakal | ഒരുനൂറു മിനിക്കഥകൾ

VKN is the kind of literary genius that appears very rarely. Though he is basically a satirist, his writings have a certain depth. His writing is not just reactionary rants like many other humorists. His writing has its base deep rooted in history, literature, philosophy, politics, Mythology and even psychology. And thus it serves as profound analytical studies of human kind.

Add to that a certain twist he supplies to his sentences- both linguistically and metaphorically. For example, one of his story has such a beginning:

“The stage was taken by President. Someone from the audience dropped a pin and everyone heard the sound.”

See the clever twisting there..! And this is one of the most simple VKN mischief on display.

It's a pity that the outer world cannot know about his genius, as his works are untranslable to any other language without losing everything that makes it readable.

Speaking about this book, it is a collection of small stories published in several magazines throughout many decades. Many stories are based on events occurred during the time of writing. Without knowing the exact intent behind them, it is difficult to clearly comprehent the authors effort. If anyone picks this as a first foray into the VKN universe, I would advise to try out his novels first.

They may be much more understandable to a novice.