A History of Objects by Carlo Pizzati: #BookReview

Book Title: A History of Objects
Author: Carlo Pizzati
Published by: HarperCollins India
Published on: February 12th, 2022
Genre: Fiction/Short stories

**This review is powered by Blogchatter Book Review Program.There was no obligation to give this book a certain rating.

A candy box reveals a son’s true feelings for his mother. A fish sculpture creeps into a budding and healthy relationship. A splint on a music teacher’s finger threatens to expose a secret.

Objects can come to hold great power over life and the course it takes. This collection of short stories explores the nuances of the human experience as objects of sentimental value, nostalgic appeal or cultural significance bear witness and shed light on all that remains unsaid. A History of Objects expertly demonstrates the ways in which the inanimate are far from lifeless.

I am not really into anthologies and short stories mainly because I love seeing a character develop over the pages and the plot thickening as and when the chapters go about. But the blurb of A History of Objects piqued my interest and I applied for the book review program.

🔥🔥🔥“I remember a file with the word ‘Objects’ in the title. What did it contain?”

A History of Objects is a collection of short stories weaved around a theme- day-to-day objects that surround us, say, a coconut scrapper, hard driver, sweater, smartphone, and the like.

The book begins with the protagonist losing some important files stored in a hard drive where each file is centered around an object. These objects are equated with memories and the author weaves stories around them. The objects play a pivotal role so each story in the book is named after them.

You get to experience a myriad of emotions through these stories and most of them are relatable for they provide a realistic glimpse into human nature. What more? There is a subtle wit with which the author narrates these stories.

Some are better than others and a few noteworthy mentions include:

The Coconut Scraper is whimsical and talks about artistic pretensions;
The Sweater is mainly a test of friendship;
The Smartphone focuses on the insane race to garner social media attention by an Instagram-obsessed couple;
Many nuances of lost love are portrayed through stories like The Shoes and The Jade Stone;
How a man is convinced he is given a second chance at life after he got a fracture on his pinkie finger through The Splint;
How a man turned vegetarian in the midst of changing diapers in The Diaper;
The Mask focuses on the pandemic and everything we have been through over the last two to three years.

🔥🔥🔥“I have attempted to contemplate what is fictional within what is real, as I’ve tried to capture what is real in the fictional. Living can be experienced as a fictional story and reading a fictional story can be extremely close to a real-life experience.”

🌟Get the Book here:

A History of Objects is delightful and poignant. I took my sweet time to devour each story for it gives a lot to ponder on. They are thoroughly entertaining and a smooth, uncomplicated narration makes this book a great read!

In a gist, here’s what you can expect from this book.

💫Poignant 💫Thought provoking 💫Tongue-in-cheek

I hope you like this book as much as I did.