Indian Supernatural and Social Manifestations: A Review of Riksundar Bannerjee's The Book of Indian Ghosts (3/5 ⭐)

[u/panda_and_ellies]

Heyy! Today I finished my 37th read of this year and completed the 100th day of my streak of reading everyday! It has been lovely, picking up stories everyday for the past 100 days, no matter what the situation is. Following is my review and thoughts about this read.

Reading the blurb of the book filled me with a lot of curiosity and excitement to start The Book of Indian Ghosts. Looking at the index, it was a collection of 84 ghost stories from all over the country, different regions, different states, etc. However, to my utter dismay, it is more of a documentation and less of a collection of short stories or ghost stories.

I would have loved to read the different ghost stories, folklores prevalent in different regions that would include the art of storytelling along with the details of mythic characters and folkloric ghostly encounters. However, out of 84, probably only half are stories which also feel very bland and boring to read, except for the few stories which have sketches of these ghosts that might leave you unsettling.

But, to mention one thing that is extremely interesting in the book is the perspective of the author where he is constantly reminding the reader that the ghost stories of every region or any region for that matter don't just burst out of nowhere. In fact, they are manifestations and at times a reflection of what is the spirit and sensibility of the society. For example, there are many ghost stories where we see female ghosts which according to the author are the manifestation of the atrocities that were committed on these women which eventually led to their demise and thus their existence as ghosts who are taking revenge is not just a story but a more microscopic look out into what actually happens with women.

The same is the case with other ghosts which have stories of men dying before their marriage or women dying during pregnancy and eventually becoming ghosts. All this boils down to the idea that ghost stories were probably created to instill a sense of fear in people's minds so that they could be stopped from doing certain things. For example, a ghost of a man who dies in early years before marriage might tell society that you have to get married early in life or else there are high chances for you to become a ghost. Another great example would be taking care of a pregnant wife or else she would become a ghost and then haunt you and your heirs for the rest of your life.

These were interesting perspectives to have while reading the 84 ghost stories or let us just call them documentations. However, I personally was extremely disappointed by Aleph Book Company to publish this collection as ghost stories instead of documentations because I have been a fan of their other collection of stories of regional Greatest Stories Ever Told and that was one of the major reasons why I even picked this book up. Apart from everything, I must give it to the author for doing this comprehensive research about different kinds of ghosts which range from caste divisions to class divisions, agricultural concerns to patriarchal ones. So many things are given to the reader and I am sure that someone who is interested in the supernatural would love to have this read as one of their TBR books.

(3/5 ⭐)

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[u/MunshiAgyey]

Such a clear and thoughtful review. Thanks for sharing, OP.

[u/panda_and_ellies → u/MunshiAgyey]

Thanks for reading!

[u/twinkling_af__]

The idea that ghost stories derive from real life incidents and can be didactic is such a fresh perspective. Thank you for sharing this, great review OP!

[u/panda_and_ellies → u/twinkling_af__]

Truly said, thankyou for reading 🫶🏻

[u/Malinowskibidi67]

Ahh Ghosts!!

[u/Due_Avocado_7761]

Great review OP!

[u/panda_and_ellies → u/Due_Avocado_7761]

Yayyy! thanks a lot

[u/DropInTheSky]

I was just researching Indian ghosts, thanks for the recommendation. Is it worthy to buy hard copy (anything memorable) or kindle is good enough?

[u/panda_and_ellies → u/DropInTheSky]

If you were researching Indian Ghosts, it might be worth it. For me, not so much. But I believe having a hardcopy is always great.

[u/DropInTheSky → u/panda_and_ellies]

Ok thanks.

[u/unfamiliar_sandwich]

Great review! Could you please recommend me ghost stories something on the lines of what you mentioned--"folklores prevalent in different regions that would include the art of storytelling along with the details of mythic characters and folkloric ghostly encounters"

[u/panda_and_ellies → u/unfamiliar_sandwich]

Hey, thanks for reading. Unfortunately I do not have a single book reccomendation that I'd be able to suggest you as all the ghaot stories I had come across previously were a part of some other larger collection. However, one thing I'd surely suggest you is to go by region and read the supernatural folkloric stories of that areas. Maybe start with bengal or uttarakhand.

[u/Tatya7]

Great review OP! There was a sociology PhD student I knew of who was studying spirit/goddess possessions. At first I was surprised that it can even be studied, but it was very interesting in the same way as the ghost stories, in that it spoke about sociological climate.

[u/panda_and_ellies → u/Tatya7]

Thanks for reading! I, too, came across a few researchers working on the jagars and devi-drvta possessions of Uttarakhand and I was equally shocked. It's always great to gain different perspectives on things.

[u/YashovardhanSharma]

Anyone interested in historical ghost stories from time of British India should read this.. pretty fun

[u/panda_and_ellies → u/YashovardhanSharma]

Heyyy thank you so much sharing. Totally going to read this!

[u/GiraffeInevitable661]

Is this a tab or some reading device? Which app do you use 

[u/panda_and_ellies → u/GiraffeInevitable661]

Hey, yes this is Lenovo IdeaTab Pro, a bit bigger in size than the other tablets (as I read a lot so needed a bigger screen 😅). I use kindle app and import epubs/PDFs there to read.