Tall Man Small Shadow by Vipin Behari Goyal

Tall Man Small Shadow starts of very smoothly showing a happy family where the young girl is just about the best possible fir for the handsome guy next door. The chapters are short and crisp. The slow narration is filled with rich imagery which really brings out the cheerfulness in any human being. The introduction to the characters is quite delightful and their emotions and feelings are well portrayed. The author also analyses simple situations through multiple points of view which results in the reader getting a wholesome picture of the effect of any situation on the society.

Gratitude is a way of reducing the importance
of what somebody has done for you

The book is beautifully narrated and touches on many aspects of life. Many traditional beliefs and practices are contested in the novel like homosexual desires and suicides, which are sadly shunned by the society. The author has used these situations quite effectively and sends a positive message to enlighten the reader and develop a mindset to counter these beliefs.

The book picks up tremendous pace at the end and it seems as if the author was in a hurry to just finish it off. There are just too many events to digest in the last few chapters and the placement is quite haphazard. It almost seems that the author has forcefully brought it to a halt to suit the fairy-tale "Happy Ending". However, the last chapter which gives quite a contrasting picture of the wife, Sulekha is eye-opening as it shows how a scheming mind could bring together families (we have seen it breaking families on many saas-bahu serials) and make them all seem like a coincidence. The twist is quite ingenious and should be one of the major selling points of the book.

The plot, though somewhat unrealistic in today's lives, greatly articulates the need for a modernistic approach at dealing with situations as Anupam and Sulekha do. The foreword practically summarizes the entire story and is like a spoiler which lets the reader know what is going to happen. Some of the dialogues are extremely silly and stupid (especially the part where Salil asks Aalya for her shadow which she ponders about like a dumb dodo). There are numerous editing mistakes and grammatical errors, a book which is so descriptive should have been proofread better to prevent such petty mistakes.

Though this 152-paged novel can be read in a single sitting, it should be done so in multiple sittings to truly enjoy and cherish the complexities of life explained through philosophy.

Bytes and Banter Verdict :  A Good Read  -  3/5

The book was received as part of Reviewers Programme on The Tales Pensieve.