CHASO SELECTED SHORT STORIES

(6)

Language:

English

110

₹ 91.3 (17% off)

Available

Ships within 48 Hours

Free Shipping in India on orders above Rs. 1100


Chaso, short for Chaganti Somayajulu, was born in 1915 in Srikakulam and spent most of his life in Vizianagaram. He began his literary journey as a poet in English and later in Telugu. He was also an essayist and wrote one play. However, his true passion was the short story, which he considered a lyrical poem. His first short story, 'Chinnaaji,' published in 1942, was critically acclaimed, and by 1945 he was recognised as a leading figure and master of the genre. He set high standards for himself and, throughout a life dedicated to literature, published only about 50 stories. He was the first Telugu writer to incorporate Marxist ideas into short stories, though his stories are notably free of rhetoric. His narratives often portray the raw lives of the poor and the very poor, characterised by brevity, reticence, and compression. He was a founding member of the Progressive Writers Association. An atheist, Chaso willed his body for medical research, which his family honoured after his death in 1994.

Read more

ISBN
9788126043989
Pages
207
Avg Reading Time
7 hrs
Age
18+ yrs
Country of Origin
India

Format:

Piracy Free

Express Delivery

Secure Payment

About the Book

Chaso, short for Chaganti Somayajulu, was born in 1915 in Srikakulam and spent most of his life in Vizianagaram. He began his literary journey as a poet in English and later in Telugu. He was also an essayist and wrote one play. However, his true passion was the short story, which he considered a lyrical poem. His first short story, 'Chinnaaji,' published in 1942, was critically acclaimed, and by 1945 he was recognised as a leading figure and master of the genre. He set high standards for himself and, throughout a life dedicated to literature, published only about 50 stories. He was the first Telugu writer to incorporate Marxist ideas into short stories, though his stories are notably free of rhetoric. His narratives often portray the raw lives of the poor and the very poor, characterised by brevity, reticence, and compression. He was a founding member of the Progressive Writers Association. An atheist, Chaso willed his body for medical research, which his family honoured after his death in 1994.

Book Details

  • ISBN
    9788126043989
  • Pages
    207
  • Avg Reading Time
    7 hrs
  • Age
    18+ yrs
  • Country of Origin
    India

Recommended For You

Customer Reviews

Be the first to write a review...

(6)

5 out of 5

Book

100%

Chaso: Selected Short Stories gathers the work of Chaganti Somayajulu (1915–), a writer who by 1945 was recognised as a master of the Telugu short story after his debut Chinnaaji won critical acclaim in 1942. Born in Srikakulam and rooted in Vizianagaram, Chaso began as a poet in English and Telugu before devoting himself to short fiction, which he approached as a lyrical poem — compressed, sensory, emotionally precise. His stories inhabit the daily textures of coastal Andhra life: familial bonds, social hierarchies, the weight of unspoken grief. What sets this collection apart is Chaso's refusal of melodrama or didacticism; he renders inner life through image and silence, setting high standards for himself and for the form. For readers who value restraint, regional particularity, and the short story as an art of emotional exactness, this Sahitya Akademi edition is an encounter with a writer who treated every sentence as a line of verse.

What kind of reading experience will Chaso's Selected Short Stories give me?

Chaso's stories offer a quiet, lyrical immersion — compressed emotional landscapes that linger long after the final line. His prose is spare, image-driven, and unsentimental, rewarding readers who appreciate restraint and sensory precision. Each story unfolds like a poem, built on silence and suggestion rather than exposition. The pacing is contemplative, anchored in the domestic and social textures of coastal Andhra. This is not fiction that explains itself; it asks you to inhabit moments and read between gestures. The experience is one of recognition and resonance, not escape or spectacle.

Who is this book best suited for, and what does it expect of its reader?

  • Readers who value the short story as a literary form equal to poetry or the novel.
  • Those interested in regional Indian fiction rooted in place — here, Srikakulam and Vizianagaram — rather than metropolitan settings.
  • Admirers of lyrical realism: writers like Chekhov, Narayan, or Ismat Chughtai, who render inner life through everyday detail.
  • Readers comfortable with restraint and ambiguity; Chaso does not resolve every emotional thread or moral question.
  • Anyone seeking Telugu literary history in English translation, particularly mid-20th-century voices.

What is the cultural significance of Chaso's work to Indian readers today?

Chaso represents a generation of Indian writers who elevated regional-language fiction to an art of international standards while remaining rooted in local life. His stories preserve the social textures of mid-century Andhra — caste hierarchies, joint families, the unspoken codes of small-town life — without romanticising or condemning them. For contemporary readers, this collection offers a window into the emotional architecture of a world that shaped modern India but is rapidly fading from memory. It also reminds us that literary excellence in India has always existed beyond English, and that translation is an act of cultural retrieval.

What makes Chaso's treatment of the short story distinctive?

Chaso approached the short story as a lyrical poem, valuing compression, image, and emotional precision over plot or moral instruction. Unlike many of his contemporaries who favoured social realism or didactic purpose, Chaso focused on interiority and silence — what is left unsaid between characters, the weight of a gesture, the afterimage of a moment. His training as a poet in English and Telugu is visible in every sentence: rhythm, sound, and sensory detail carry meaning as much as event. This lyrical discipline sets him apart in Telugu fiction, where he is remembered for setting exacting standards for himself and the form.

What does this book leave the reader with long after they finish it?

  • A heightened awareness of how much emotional weight a single image or gesture can carry.
  • A sense of place — the coastal textures, social codes, and unspoken sorrows of mid-century Andhra — as a living presence.
  • An appreciation for restraint as a literary virtue: the power of what is withheld, not what is explained.
  • A quiet reckoning with the ordinary tragedies of domestic life — loss, compromise, unfulfilled longing — rendered without sentimentality.
  • A reminder that the short story, in the right hands, is not a minor form but a vessel for profound emotional and aesthetic achievement.

View on Rachnaye →

Hurry! Limited-Time Coupon Code

WORDPOWER
* Terms and Conditions applied.

Offers

Best Deal

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.

whatsapp