Book Review: Small is Big- by Rafaa Dalvi

Small is Big- by Rafaa Dalvi

Brevity is the soul of wit, said Shakespeare; it is the sister of talent, said Chekhov.

Writing flash fiction is challenging as well as deeply satisfying. I have loved all varieties of micro-fiction- as a reader as well as a writer.

Micro-tales compel you to stay focused on your story and to find creative ways of telling it without redundant words. They are also for those who have a powerful command over their vocabulary. Just as a skilled juggler can make the balls dance to his tunes effortlessly, so also can a skilled writer of micro-tales lightly toss words in air and have them create the exact nuance he wanted to put together.

Rafaa Dalvi has made me fall deeper in love with flash fiction. His skill at turning a phrase coincides so perfectly with a twist in the tale that you gasp in delight. For a reader, there is nothing more delicious than to have the writer toss you in the air with an expert and light hand, so that you feel the wind in your hair as you come floating down from the height to which he pitched you.

It wouldn’t be easy for me to choose from this superb collection of micro-tales. Each story is a delight to savor. Each perfectly chiselled story reflects the author’s sombre hued spaces where these stories are born. The stories often hit you over the head with unsavory home truths concealed cleverly in the fold of their words.

If I could suggest an improvement to the author, it would only be to include a large percentage of humor in his next collection. But of course, that is a personal preference. I do feel, however, that the author possesses a fine sense of the ridiculous which has not had enough expression in the present volume.

My rating for the book is 4.5/5.0.

Read the some of my other Book Reviews.

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Disclaimer: Thanks to the author for a review copy of the book in lieu of an honest review. I was not paid or otherwise compensated in any way for this review.

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