Mumblings from the Depth by Jithu Thomas is a power-packed collection of 21 short stories with poems working as prefaces. Every story is different and stands tall with a thematic stature and I loved the purity of thoughts reflected in the actions and sins of the protagonists. Nearly all stories are heavy with emotions and try bounding the readers in some or other way. To an extent, I was under the daze, but stories about international exposure made me contrived to them. Otherwise the collection is brilliant with a tight and measured pace and ambience, I was amazed to get so much in just a few pages, the stories were extremely short, however conveying way beyond their boundaries.
As I got started with the first story about rain, a poor girl, war miseries, I had no look back then. I completed the collection before the wee hours and when I woke up, I found myself indulging and brooding about my guilt and blunders that could have caused troubles to others. It is not a gala-gala collection or laced with innocence, it took me on a roller coaster ride of emotions and pains and much more. Life is not just about living, there is more than we think. I got to meet myself, the inner self through the voices of the characters.
Mumblings is a very apt title. Isn’t that we often mumble about pains and guilt, as opposed to grievances? All stories are mature, except that Syrian refugee and Batman and that of bar one in England. They too have had meanings only and if I could understand them lucidly. Jithu Thomas is not a casual writer. One has to be serious while reading his content. It’s filled and well-researched. I had my own way to deal with this collection. It’s not a light one. You may finish it in one round, but it would take a few days to get the proper lighting around all the stories. Often in a collection, first story makes an excellent narrative and impression. I would love to know why? Even this collection did the same to me. I was swept by the intensity of the first poem and thereafter the story.
Mumblings or murmured voice is the common thread that ropes in all the stories. Jithu has successfully brought forward the feelings of pain, love, despair, misery, guilt, contrition, hope and much more. With life as one theme, the stories take turns to show the various vagaries of life and its allied shades. Overall, a satisfying experience. Kudos to the new author!
Happy Reading !
ibooksta 