Evolution of Insanity was nothing I had expected. It totally opened my eyes. Darwani takes you on a journey of many intriguing tales. Each tale includes unique characters and settings. Although these characters are fictitious, you can’t help but wonder if the author has ever come across someone like them before. He paints a perfect picture of each distinctive lives and their struggles, observations and thoughts. This story enlightened me in many different ways. Sometimes I felt sorry for the characters, sometimes I was humored, and there were times when I thought if such person can exist. As each story ends, I couldn’t wait to read the next. Every story draws you into the character’s lives as if you were right there observing them. I would love to hang out with Haresh and just listen to his story all day. I bet he has tons to tell and each just as amazing as the other. This is not the type of book I would just pick up and read, but I’m glad I did.
I don't know author Haresh Daswani; I've never met him. But I bet that among his friends he's the storyteller, the one they wait for to liven up their nights, the one that can make any story seem interesting - from a trip to the grocery to a night out at the clubs.
This collection of short stories runs the gamut, from poignant to poetic to darkly humorous.
Daswani plays with words like a child plays with toys - each story is different, each character a surprise. He takes small moments and puts them under a microscope; he looks at life and questions why.
His perspective varies as well - from first person to second to third. There's some deep thoughts here, some solid creativity. But just when you think Daswani is taking himself too seriously, he throws in a wink and a nod to let you know he's not.
His characters are memorable - funny, sad, puzzled and argumentative - often finding themselves in fairly desperate straits.
I'll admit - this isn't the type of book I normally pick up - my books are usually far more straightforward whodunits and mysteries. But part of reading is expanding your comfort zone, trying new things. In this case, it was fun to try something new.
Haresh’s novel combines narrative styles as short passages to uncover the center of madness. His work shifts from the poetry of T. S. Eliot, Cervantes, Joanne Greenberg and Willkie Collins.
A vast and impressive number of arrows in Daswani's quiver lead the narrative. The reader shifts from reading as a careful annotator to racing through popular fiction.
The writing is literary, meaty and puts a blanket over you to read on to the finish.
Bravo and six stars out of five for Haresh Daswani’s Evolution of Insanity
You ask me, how can a novel walk through The Waste Land, read as Fast as I never Promised You a Rose Garden and have the mourning ache of The Woman in White? It is here.
I highly recommend you read it and the answer is in The Evolution of Insanity.
When Cervantes set out to draw Don Quixote did he fall in love with his breath?
I'm smitten.
This author has a wonderful way of making you think about, and observe, your world around you. I felt like I was in Chicago, and though I have only spent a few months there, I have watched a lot of thses types of antics go on around me. If we could slow our world down, and really pay attention, what would we see?
And would the seeing bring us closer to understanding? Or would it bring us closer to our own insanity--and there is where you find, The Evolution of Insanity.
I have not enjoyed reading something so much in my life. I believe we'll be listening to Heresh Daswani on great talk shows, like Chicago on NPR, showing his delightful insights, for many years to come.
I easily gave this book 5 stars
Evolution of Insanity is a book consisting of a great number of short stories, which, on a first look, don't seem to have much in common. Some are darker than others, some are funny and some are sad, like my favourite one, the protagonist who commits suicide because they cannot live up to their own expectations and would rather sink into their own despair than allow themselves to be as they are. As the reader progresses through the book, they'll start to realise the stories are all interlinked, giving the impression of moving from one book character to the next, from one life experience to another.
This is a book that hasn't been done before, a remarkable book with surprising depth, beautiful writing, and certainly no dumbed down language to allow it to fit into a genre. When it comes to the language, I'd call it literary; the voice, however, is sharp and educated with plenty of humorous layers to it. The stories are connected in their depth and ability to link reality with fiction, dreams and mysticism with satire and belief, lifestyle and choice with art, and many, many more.
It is a philosophical read, and while I'm into all that is philosophical, I often find philosophical books bordering on the boring side. Evolution of Insanity kept me reading from one tale to the other, wondering what would come next. I particularly liked the observational nature of the tales and how they brought to light all that is dark, hidden and twisted in human nature, giving insight into the various facets of humanity in a unique way. I was astounded at the immense creativity and diversity of this book, and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a bit of dark fiction with plenty of humour and excellent writing.
The Evolution of Insanity is a collection of tales, stories, and fables about a variety of beings. Imagine for a moment you are able to stop and listen, see, witness and understand a segment of the lives of a collection of beings - Gods, godlike, god hating and god wannabes, the dead, the living, the fictional, the alien, male, female, the young and the old.
Stories that would have you believe that Santa was killed, "tongue in cheek" stories, stories intermingled with intellectual descriptions of body functions, of the human despair and condition. Stories like the one about a long suffering psychiatrist finding his "emotional wastebasket", Adam and Eve personas, Herman of whom we all know one of, the passing of the torch of thoughts and observation as depicted in "London in the Mind". Stories that enlighten us about the complexities of the interrelationships between the opposite sexes.
Haresh Daswani is a complex writer who writes with intellectual wit and philosophy interlaced with humor.
“We are all insane who hide in rooms further making us insane”.
A great read!
Haresh Daswani is not your usual author, and it is no surprise he’s written a pretty unusual book. The title “Evolution of Insanity” is an exercise in truthful advertising. Either Daswani is nuts or he’s operating on a level way up there in the stratosphere.
The book is a collection of short chapters that contain virtually no dialogue. The descriptions of simple things take on a kind of poetic oscillation that are always moving and impossible to pin down.
This book abandons standard narrative structure and embraces a James Joyce type stream-of-consciousness that will make you sometimes smile and sometimes scratch your head. I liked it. It felt fresh and different from the norm, even if I don’t feel smart enough to understand all of it.
I have always been interested in books that deviate from the typical writing styles present in most literary pieces. Books that feature intellectually stimulating themes and an equally rousing writing style are my weaknesses. Give me the promise of these things and I will surely devour that book until my curiosity is sated. I think this is one of the reasons why I have always loved reading transgressive fiction and post-modern books.
In many ways, Mr. Haresh Daswani’s book, The Evolution of Insanity, gave me my much needed doze of intellectual stimulation through the interesting ways he worded his anthology and the eerily realistic plot points that will surely leave you thinking.
If I was given a dollar for every utterance of “Oo nga noh!” I would’ve been a rich girl by now. I remember the countless of times I stopped reading because I was bombarded with mind numbing bouts of self realization after reading a particularly sharp and moving line. I would then continue reading only to stop and ponder some more… it’s truly an eye opener! Mr. Daswani’s witty writing style gives the reader a better experience of what it is like to find sanity in the "insane" and vice versa.
I love how both subtlety and bluntness played with each other fairly well in this book. If Chuck Palahniuk and Paulo Coelho made a novel together, I bet it would be just like Mr. Daswani’s The Evolution of Insanity…an intellectually filling piece packed humor, wit and philosophy.
Truly, this book kept its promise… it sparked my interest, fueled my fascination to continue reading and left me wanting for more.
