The last time I picked up a Chicken Soup series was when i was eighteen I think.It was a time when I was in love, had some of the most amazing friends and was at wits end with my folks (on and off), I took to love stories and stories of friendship, unrequited love, parental struggles and so forth like fish to water.
I was really looking for some catharsis again. If you are/have been where I am now in my life, you might understand. But when life runs past you and when you feel haggard you want to sit and take stock and so I chose the Chicken Soup for the Indian Soul: Teens Talk, Growing Up for review. When I was a teenager, the Indian Soul series hadn't been out, so I empathized and cried along with the American Soul, sometimes understanding fully while at other times not sure what was going on.
The stories in this book, like most Chicken Soup books, focus on some of the many struggles and triumphs teenagers go through. It is a collection of 101 different stories and costs just Rs. 195.
For me the book helped acknowledge some of the things I took for granted about myself and others in my life-like the turnaround inspiration and motivation to pass board exam after consistent failure in school, or like my love for psychology or my mothers ever available presence in my life even after mad fights. As a new parent I think the section on Family Ties gave me some amazing pointers of how to be there for my little one.
The psychologist in me however, was left wanting more emotional expression from these stories. I wanted to delve deeper into the lives of these writers and ask them more questions about their feelings before they were done writing. So the first thing that struck me about these initial stories were that maybe the writers could have delved deeper into their angst and struggles-that's what makes for good catharsis doesn't it?
As I leafed through the stories though, I realized how beautiful they were, each uniquely representing life around us. I realized that it was in that simple and readable writing; in that simple, routine school-home-friendship-studies lives that we discover who we are.
Stories of teenagers learning to cook in the absence of their parents, learning to win the Gold Medal internationally with some very wise words from their coach, etc are what makes them who they are. There were stories of real struggles that inspire. Like teenagers learning to navigate anorexia, obesity, death and diabetes, only to become stronger, more positive and resilient.
But what about teenagers exploring drugs, teenagers navigating love and sex, questioning their identities, searching for their biological parents? I have to say, I felt like there were a few missing aspects.
Teenage is a time where you have crushes all over the place. You fall in love-unrequited or otherwise and you tread the path most of the time by hiding it from your folks, at least that's how it was in my time. I was wondering if that had changed. If parents were open enough to allow kids to date, to go out with their friends and get home by curfew. This was not really explored in this book and I thought this was such a loss. There was a story or two about love gone sour and it was signed "anonymous". That got me thinking about the kind of society we live in. Are we still unwilling to accept that kids will have "feelings" for the opposite sex. That they will want to perhaps hold hands when they go out for movies and that they will be willing to share this with their parents if they were not reprimanded for their feelings? I don't know. Maybe some parents are realizing this while some are still stuck in "Qayamat se Qayamat" days, I wish that this book explored that.
Overall, though, some stories did make me cry in empathy, sadness, and happiness while others made me think about my own life back then. As a teenager, I was often invested on the outside, like most teenagers. What the world thought of me, what I thought the world thought of me, how I looked, how many friends I had, what to wear, what to eat, etc and this focus on the outside often muffled my voice. Even now, as I think about my teenage it is hard for me to make sense of it than as a fleeting attempt to be an adult. The myriad stories in this book is an attempt to change that. It shifts a teenager's ever curious mind within-to the world of emotions, thoughts and ideas to make them a whole individual. However, I close the book and this review with this feeling that it is not the whole picture of today's teenager. Read the book and let me know what you think!
This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!
I was really looking for some catharsis again. If you are/have been where I am now in my life, you might understand. But when life runs past you and when you feel haggard you want to sit and take stock and so I chose the Chicken Soup for the Indian Soul: Teens Talk, Growing Up for review. When I was a teenager, the Indian Soul series hadn't been out, so I empathized and cried along with the American Soul, sometimes understanding fully while at other times not sure what was going on.
The stories in this book, like most Chicken Soup books, focus on some of the many struggles and triumphs teenagers go through. It is a collection of 101 different stories and costs just Rs. 195.
For me the book helped acknowledge some of the things I took for granted about myself and others in my life-like the turnaround inspiration and motivation to pass board exam after consistent failure in school, or like my love for psychology or my mothers ever available presence in my life even after mad fights. As a new parent I think the section on Family Ties gave me some amazing pointers of how to be there for my little one.
The psychologist in me however, was left wanting more emotional expression from these stories. I wanted to delve deeper into the lives of these writers and ask them more questions about their feelings before they were done writing. So the first thing that struck me about these initial stories were that maybe the writers could have delved deeper into their angst and struggles-that's what makes for good catharsis doesn't it?
 |
| That could have been me in that jar |
As I leafed through the stories though, I realized how beautiful they were, each uniquely representing life around us. I realized that it was in that simple and readable writing; in that simple, routine school-home-friendship-studies lives that we discover who we are.
Stories of teenagers learning to cook in the absence of their parents, learning to win the Gold Medal internationally with some very wise words from their coach, etc are what makes them who they are. There were stories of real struggles that inspire. Like teenagers learning to navigate anorexia, obesity, death and diabetes, only to become stronger, more positive and resilient.
But what about teenagers exploring drugs, teenagers navigating love and sex, questioning their identities, searching for their biological parents? I have to say, I felt like there were a few missing aspects.
Teenage is a time where you have crushes all over the place. You fall in love-unrequited or otherwise and you tread the path most of the time by hiding it from your folks, at least that's how it was in my time. I was wondering if that had changed. If parents were open enough to allow kids to date, to go out with their friends and get home by curfew. This was not really explored in this book and I thought this was such a loss. There was a story or two about love gone sour and it was signed "anonymous". That got me thinking about the kind of society we live in. Are we still unwilling to accept that kids will have "feelings" for the opposite sex. That they will want to perhaps hold hands when they go out for movies and that they will be willing to share this with their parents if they were not reprimanded for their feelings? I don't know. Maybe some parents are realizing this while some are still stuck in "Qayamat se Qayamat" days, I wish that this book explored that.
Overall, though, some stories did make me cry in empathy, sadness, and happiness while others made me think about my own life back then. As a teenager, I was often invested on the outside, like most teenagers. What the world thought of me, what I thought the world thought of me, how I looked, how many friends I had, what to wear, what to eat, etc and this focus on the outside often muffled my voice. Even now, as I think about my teenage it is hard for me to make sense of it than as a fleeting attempt to be an adult. The myriad stories in this book is an attempt to change that. It shifts a teenager's ever curious mind within-to the world of emotions, thoughts and ideas to make them a whole individual. However, I close the book and this review with this feeling that it is not the whole picture of today's teenager. Read the book and let me know what you think!
This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!
Total agreement about the book. Anyway I'm planning to gift it to my bro in law as he is in midteens and may find it helpful.
ReplyDeleteI read one of the chicken soup for the soul series way back when I was going through a low phase..it definitely lifts up your spirits.
ReplyDeleteNice review! I too reviewed the same book, so I can completely resonate with your thoughts! :)
ReplyDelete@ Hi Harish! Liked your assessment of the book too :-) Midteen kids are probably ideal readers for this book. I have a neighbour who is a midteen too, perhaps I will give my book to him! Thanks for the idea :-)
ReplyDelete@Uma: Hey! Yea it does lift your spirits. Thanks for reading!
@Akriti91: Thanks Akriti, glad you liked the review:-) Thanks for visiting.
Ages ago I have read some Chicken soup books and now you have made me want to read this one !!!
ReplyDeleteChicken Soup for the soul - I thrived on them when I needed catharsis as a teen just like you. Tempted by this one.
ReplyDeleteLove the book Review babe! You have written it so well, it flows so nicely from what you appreciated to what could have been better, wow! realising that writing book reviews is a real skill and you got it!
@Appi: awesome! I have the book at home and you can borrow it :)
ReplyDelete@P: Thanks babe:-) I was inspired to starting writing reviews because of you, because you write them so well. I am humbled by your compliment :-)
Hi! I am Rishika, the anonymous writer? I was in class 7 when I sent Aarti this story. I was at the time very scared that my parents would be reading it! I didnt even think it would be published!
ReplyDeleteFrom the next edition onwards, my name will be published in the book.
Thank You for mentioning me anyway. :)
-Rishika Basu Majumdar
Hi Rishika! So wonderful to hear from you:-) Glad you can identify yourself with the story now, it was probably the only one on love and that made the book a tad bit more real (in terms of a holistic perspective on teens) I know what you mean by being scared that your parents will find out. I would have been too. I do wish our parents were different about love matters though :-) Hopefully I can be there for my baby girl when she has crushes, falls in love and figures out herself as a teen :-)
DeleteHaha, my parents seem to be pretty fine with it! :)
ReplyDeleteActually, too fine! :P
And thanks again :D
Hi Aarathi,
DeleteThanks for an objective review of the book and must say am happy to see people have read the stories. As one of the contributing authors ('Colour of the uniform' and 'A lesson he taught'), its good to know what readers would expect and identify with.