We Beat the Gods
By Saad Quadri
I really like the cover.
The story starts with a mystery and a feel of melancholy.
'He' is waiting. Waiting on the top of poori mountains near an estuary. The narrative is in first person. First few pages, has a philosophical touch to it. I like how the river and the sky are described her in almost a poetic way.
Why is he here amidst the misty woods? He is waiting for someone. But time was passing by and he starts to relate the present with what happened in the past.
Slowly as the story glides to the next chapters 'her' story starts. She is there waching him from far away. Her daughter knows she is supposed be going to meet an old friend. They are not in their usual age when people set up romantic meetings. Who are they? What links them? What happened in their past? Will fate repeat or they will beat the gods? All questions start to line up.
This story touches upon few norms followed by our conventional society that are the basis of many bond break ups.
The storytelling part was nicely woven with emotions. But the nostalgic melancholy suddenly gave in to a thriller part when the murder spree lurking in the city crossed their lives bringing in the actual twist and the titles actual notion to life.
Throughout the story, the narrative style had a mixed style. Somewhere it was slow philosophical soliloquys and at few it was fast and contemporary. As characters were anonymous at times it was confusing at times.
But ultimately it is a nice story and an entertaining read.