Reviews

Honestly, this is the book that has travelled most with me. I carried this book on almost all my trips as I want to capture the words and the place together. A book that I treasure.

The grapes are sour by Arnab Chandra talks about a boy who had many grapes of desires but end up forfeiting them as it was never meant to be, just like the famous story of The fox and the grapes. Not everything we desire is ours, there are things we couldn’t control. Here too the boy realizes he deserves better, will he fight his demons? Gulp down his ego? And handle the chaos?

With beautiful poems and illustrations, divided into 5 parts, it has 99 fantastic poems that will make you fall in love with the book. I loved the concept and the topics the author chose. The way he added empty pages to rage down our feelings, and the strong lines before few poems will surely make the readers curious.

Also Read: Road To Abana by Lata Gwalani – Book Review

Based on the themes of love, hope, happiness, loss, dreams, life and others, the author with his words captures the reader’s attention. The way each poem is penned is commendable. Some poems are short while some are a bit longer than usual, each adding beauty to the book.

It’s an emotional journey I would say. The fascinating and pleasant writing style of the author and the way the author expresses the deepest of emotions with a few words is something I loved the most. Each poem has its own depth, its own emotion that one could relate to.

These poems will bring a smile of realization and love on your face. The way he describes the feeling is magical.

•I tried taking an elevator
To your wholesome heart
Only to end up realizing
You prefer the stairs.•

Which poems like stairs, silent nights, time machine, Van Gogh will bring a happy smile, poems like wings, Mandela effect, Take Control will make you pause for a while and think.

The stunning illustrations added beauty to the book. How he crisply describes the harsh reality of life with such elegance.

Daisy, Dear ma and baba, Maze of Glass, Lost in Carols, Castle of Sand, lock n key are few of my favourite poems from the book.

Love reading poems? It’s a book that you must not skip. An amazing read.

Summary

The age-old fable, “The Fox and the Grapes” is not unknown to us. When the fox cannot reach the grapes he so deeply desires at first, he deems them unworthy. It is this fable by Aesop which led to the origin of the popular phrase, “The grapes are sour.” Love, success, a happy life, companionship are all human desires that ignite in us a fox-like hunger and makes us go out of our way in the pursuit of them, only to realize that not everything can be in our control. What do we do then? We start to question the gravity of our desires and convince ourselves to do without achieving them. In addition to drawing parallels between a moral lesson from a world-renowned fable and the harsh realities of real life, this book talks about grief and how we, as mortal fallible human beings, handle it. “The Grapes are Sour’ talks about a boy who had so many grapes of desires to crave for but ended up forfeiting them because, probably, it was never meant to be. Perhaps, he deserves better. Or does he? Will he be able to gulp down his ego, face his demons, walk through this journey of handling his chaos and come out whole?

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