The Man who Never was

The Masterful Cat Is Depressed Again Today, Vol. 1 by Hitsuji Yamada My rating: 5 of 5 stars View all my reviews My procrastination has once again prevented me from writing down thoughts in regard to this wonderfully wholesome slice of life manga which I read months ago. One thing I love about manga is how, the number of subjects covered is so expensive, one can almost always find a story which caters to your particular tastes. Even if those tastes are particularly macabre. I’m reminded of the many works under the Psychological/ Tragedy/ Mature tags, where several acts which can be considered as an affront to nature are put on page. But enough of that; we’re talking about cats. And  ‘Dekiru Neko wa Kyou mo Yuuutsu’  is the type of manga that scratches the particular mental itch to satiate the cat lover in me. While there have been several other titles featuring cats as protagonists or glorified mascots, the anthropomorphizing o

ഓട്ടോറിക്ഷക്കാരൻ്റെ ഭാര്യ | Autorikshawkkarante Bharya by M. Mukundan My rating: 3 of 5 stars In a series of short stories, M. Mukundan, the eminent writer of Mayyazhi, paints for us the day to day, slice of life fictionalized tales of the people in everyday lives. The tales he composed range from OK, to good, to head scratching, to thought inducing, a full cornucopia. But sad to say, there isn’t much meat to these stories, a collected anthology from the stories he’d penned in various news publications. Mukundan himself seems the most soulful and engaging, when delving into the semi fictional tales that he crafts about his beloved Mayyazhi; with its colorful history and ever more colorful coterie of characters. Out of all the collections of stories which are printed here, the one which connected with me the most, is the one titled ‘Malayali Daivangal’ (Malayali Gods). The tale is about a French tourist couple that come to visit Mayyazhi and Kerala