The Lost Story

Like a box of assorted sweets, with the taste of each one surpassing the other, ‘The Lost Story’ by Amit Goyal and Sudhanshu Gupta is a collection of vigorous, sharp and often darkly morbid short stories intertwined very intricately with the main plot. With an intriguing concept and one-writes-one-half style of writing, the book makes the reader go through a whirlwind of emotions right from the opening story ‘The Hunt’ and the ride thereafter becomes interesting still. A very detailed and life-like portrayal of the characters, successfully binds the readers to them and while the stories invoke feelings of sadness and empathy at some points, they make the reader laugh or feel spooked at others.
Not revealing too much, ‘The annoying old man’ and ‘Fearless’ were my favorite stories of the lot and the story from which the book derives its title, ‘The lost story’ caught me by surprise. For one who prides herself for having read too many books to predict the end of any, ‘The lost story’ baffled me with an unexpected ending. Very few have matched the feat that this wonderful cocktail of parables easily managed, adhering to the overriding principle of the storyteller’s art: Show, Don’t tell.
:)

This book is the work of genius. There is not even 1 single line in the book which is not interesting. Though there are multiple stories in the book there is no single instant which make us feel disconnected from the main story. Both the authors have done such a fantastic job that it has taken the level of Indian author's to much high position. Hat's off to the authors.. Hoping to read some more such kinda books from you both.. Thumps up for the great work :)

I'd never read the work of an Indian author before being the skeptic I am but I finally got my first book and quite literally did not put it down until I’d read the very last word. Honestly, it was worth the blood shot eyes when the sun came calling the next morning.

This one is a story inside a story inside a story and it’s not one of your usual predictable works of fiction where you know how the story ends even before it begins. Here with every story you want to ask, “What happens next?” until the last chapter which unfolds with all them coming together in the end.

The Lost Story is funny, intriguing and even spooky giving you the satisfaction of having read all those genres in one book alone. I would not want to give away more for you need to find that out for yourselves. The authors have done a marvelous job and I’m eagerly waiting for their next book.

I have never been a big fan of contemporary Indian English writers (exceptions galore though!). Their stories have been what you call a time-pass stuff - what you read during a train journey or any other time when you don't want to exert your mind. nothing bad in that, except maybe they don't cater to something that you really crave for- to break out of the usual rigmarole ,to disrupt the status quo, to get out of usual comfort zone and think, get provoked, contemplate, and realize. The Indian authors simply try to titillate the audience, telling them what they want to hear, showing them what they want to see (and I'm most respectful in my observation). Thus, we don't have many writers who could actually live up to ones like S.Rushdie or JK Rowling or William Dalrymple or George Orwell or Nobokov. So, as usual, I was pretty circumspect when I ordered this book. As sometimes, I do like to indulge in those nonsensical (with respect again) time pass books.

To Say that this book was a revelation is an understatement. I must say that the quality is at par with the international standard of writing (don't ask me what that is, you just KNOW IT if you've dabbled enough in good books), The intertwining of two stories, both real and in writing, was a constant interest drawer and the myriad kinds of stories were interesting, especially with all the unpredictability thrown in.
Now about some of the negative reviews already posted here--

1)There was no definite ending in any of the stories: I see that ALL stories ended definitely, it’s just that what you make out of it. Maybe because most of the stories were not happy endings, and what we expect are happy endings. As is explained in the second story of the book itself - An ending may be a start of a new beginning, or it may be a definitive ending in itself....how do you know what it is? so it's not the question of where the story ends, it's where you WANT the story to end. And the writers did a good job at
deciding that. There's another reason, and I'll come to that shortly.

2) The stories are too disconnected from each other and mixed up : Well, that was the premise of a book - Two authors writing a number of short stories. Have you read a book having say, 10 short stories ,and ALL related to a murder mystery? and are they anyways related to each other?

3) The stories were nonsensical: I would rather say 'unpredictable'. And that was precisely what the book aimed for - the whole concept of 2 authors writing one part each of a single story is something that was adapted to bring in that element of unpredictability. The twists and turns were again incorporated to show the essence of the book - that writers can change any story, any time by a mere slight of their imaginations, and therefore, they are unpredictable (the 'other reason' in point 1).
And again, not having a happy ending (or having a literal 'the end' sign an end for that matter) does not make a story nonsensical or vague.

4) Climax was not good: can't really say much about it without spoilers, but I'd say it was in sync with what the authors wanted to convey - of the self made dream world thru which the authors MUST go thru in order to write, actually write really good stories. It took JRR TOLKEIN 18 years of solitude, daydreaming and imagination to write a masterpiece what we call 'Lord of the Rings' today. What I mean is that the book shows a writers predicament, and also tells us that there is no limit of our imaginations, and more acutely so in case of writers(whose bread and butter is imagination, remember?). Though I'm not a writer, I’d say it must be like the movie Inception for them, with all the layers of imagination and questions about 'what is actually real?' thrown in.

In reality, the book does tries to explain its many eccentricities thru many conversations between the two authors, which need to be noticed by negative reviewers here.
This book is not the 'perfect book', but I'm sure it's a milestone in the era of Indian English fiction. I hope that this is not the best work of Amit Goyal and Sudhanshu Gupta - but merely a promise of all the class literature that is to come thru their pens!!

What is ‘The Lost Story’? Is it a thriller? Is it a comedy? Is it a romantic novel? After reading the book, I concluded it is all and none of the above.

When I noticed that the authors were MBAs, I thought the plot would revolve around campus life or post- MBA life, involving a group of friends – one of whom is ‘the party animal’, one who is ‘the bright one’ and the one with whom we all would relate to – ‘the average Joe’. ‘The Lost Story’ deviates from this stereotype and is refreshingly different. Honestly, it did not appeal to me to begin with – “a story about 2 writers” – I thought I’ll use it to put myself to sleep and only for INR 150, it was a friggin’ steal. I couldn’t have been more wrong - the moment I started reading the book, my sleep went out of the window and it became difficult to put down the book.
The story-line keeps one hooked and immerses the reader in the plot. Very soon, the reader is drawn into the plot and becomes a part of the intrigue. The language is simple, which is a good thing, considering the fact that the various twists and turns in the story are not. One needs to read every word, pick up every hint and remember to blink.

“Stories have an end”, yet surprisingly, ‘The Lost Story’ lingers on long after you have finished reading.