The Royal Ghosts: Stories

A collection of short stories set in Kathmandu during the late '90s and very early '00s, The Royal Ghosts focuses on people grappling with relationship issues against the backdrop of the Maoist insurgency and then the infamous massacre of the Nepalese royal family. Samrat Upadhyay writes emotionally convincing and complex POV characters (some question marks next to his framing of female characters, however), and provides a fascinating glimpse of a time and place I know very little about. How well this collection works for you probably ultimately depends on how cool you are with open/ambiguous endings—they mostly, but not entirely, worked for me here.

Set in Kathmandu during the Maoist insurgency of the late 1990s, these 9 stories lovingly explore the struggles of regular people dealing with the caste system, political upheaval, and weight of cultural expectations of modern Nepal. I found myself compulsively reading one story after another, finishing the book in one day and feeling as immersed by the whole as I usually do after a good novel - a mark in my book of a well-chosen collection.

Two things intrigued me when I saw this book posted at BookCrossing: the Nepal setting and how much the reader loved the book.Story one left me regretting my decision to join the ring for this book. What? I thought. But then I got into the way the author writes and I liked it. Each story felt like the author had written an entire novel about the characters and then randomly deleted the first fifty and the last hundred and fifty pages. Abrupt starts and stops. Unfinished narratives. Events, conversations that sounded like they could have been taking place in my small Texas town and then, suddenly, the author throws in a Nepalese festival or food or riot and I realize, Hey, wait, this is not Kansas.But it turns out that I liked the book a show more lot. Yes, I’d recommend it. show less

[The Royal Ghosts] is a collection of short stories by Nepali writer [[Samrat Upadhyay]]. All of the stories feature individuals who are juggling personal struggles in the context of political upheaval. For example, in “A Refugee,” the protagonist, Pitamber, struggles with his duty to help a young refugee woman whose husband had been killed in front of her by Maobadi rebels. The story explores the human desire to help, and the toll that can take on both the helper and the helped. In “Father, Daughter,” Shova comes to terms with his daughter’s failure to be happy with a marriage within their own caste. He has to choose between his love for his daughter and his desire for social approval. In the title story, the main character show more is an edgy, taxi-driver, who deals with his own violent reactions to an abusive childhood and a complex relationship with his brother. This takes place at the same time that the news breaks of the Royal Family Massacre, in which it was believed that the heir to the throne, Prince Dipendra, killed nine members of his family and himself.

Upadhyay is a very good writer, and manages a tremendous amount of character development within the short story format. I really liked this book. show less

A collection of short stories based in Nepal. There are common themes, one being the upheaval of life in Nepal following the death of members of the royal family, but also of the effect of modern times on traditional Nepalese life and values.

The titular tale is set off by the the massacre of the royal family by one of its members, but focuses on a man coming to terms with his brother's sexuality.

The Wedding Hero is another good story, a trio of friends become involved with the personal life of a man at work, but this well intentioned interference has some negative consequences.

The conflict of traditional father and modern daughter is well depicted in Father, Daughter. The father in question is a film star who has recently been coaxed show more back into the industry. He disapproves of his daughter's more materialistic bent.

A good collection, some stories are better than others, but overall it works. I felt that I understood better what Nepal is like now and the struggles they are facing, from political to social issues. show less

I had never heard of Upadhyay until he popped up on a "similar author" list. I was pleasantly surprised! The short stories were all drastically different, yet each one was great. While the author makes it clear that these stories are based in a different culture, very different from ours, the characters are still relatable and you find yourself quite attached. While each story could easily have been an entire novel, Upadhyay does a great job shrinking it into 20-30 pages, leaving the reader thinking about their background stories and what will happen next long after the story is over.

I enjoyed reading these stories. Some of the stories I would definitely give 4 stars to. i kept trying to related these stories to my experience in nepal, but it was difficult. everything in nepal always seemed so chaotic to me, but i guess that had a lot to do with language barriers and cultural differences. it was interesting to read these stories and get a different perspective on nepali culture.