Miscellaneous
The dreamcatcher
With City of Dreams, his debut collection of short stories, hitting the shelves last week, Pranaya SJB Rana—a big Kurt Vonnegut fan—hopes his work will help take Nepali literature a step further. A short story writer, as he calls himself, Rana’s craft of weaving stories have awed many. In this interview, the Post’s Marissa Taylor caught up with the author to talk about his stories and his connection with cities.With City of Dreams, his debut collection of short stories, hitting the shelves last week, Pranaya SJB Rana—a big Kurt Vonnegut fan—hopes his work will help take Nepali literature a step further. A short story writer, as he calls himself, Rana’s craft of weaving stories have awed many. In this interview, the Post’s Marissa Taylor caught up with the author to talk about his stories and his connection with cities. Excerpts:
Did you always want to be a writer?
Yes. From as long as I can remember, I have always wanted to become a writer. When I was really young, I was never really good at anything. But then I started writing and I realised that it was something I actually enjoyed doing. I was slightly better at it than at anything else; that’s how I decided to give it a shot.
How did City of Dreams come to be?
I wrote most of the stories before I had even given thought to the idea of publishing a book. The oldest story in my book is Maya which I wrote in 2007 or 2008. I wrote these over the years, let’s say a span of 5-10 years. In the years I have been working on them, they have taken many forms. They never really had a purpose until a journalist friend, from India, Atul Thakur, suggested that I publish a book.
Regarding the theme, I am a city person. I have always lived in cities; I have lived all my life in Kathmandu. The only time I moved away was to live in New York for a few years. So, the thread I drew through all my stories was the experience of cities. I wrote a few more stories keeping that central theme in mind.
What other themes have you played with in City of Dreams?
Cities are my central theme. Although it might not be immediately obvious, there is a role they play in shaping all of the characters. But these stories all come from different time periods. When I wrote Maya and Our Ruin, two of my oldest stories, I was a very different person. I had different interests and predilections, which I’ve retained over the years because they capture a different persona. I’ve also tried to explore concepts like memory, time, inspiration, and desire.
As someone who is just starting out, I wanted to acknowledge everything that has been written before and take it slightly forward. The stories I have in this collection are slightly different from what you may find in other Nepali English writing. I also wanted to experiment with form and voice and structure.
Why did you start with a collection of stories instead of a novel?
Because, right now, I am a writer of short stories. I am not really a novelist. I have never written a very long work. Although, I think it is something I should start doing. A lot of my ideas tend to terminate early. It is difficult for me to sustain a narrative for long; I see the end coming too soon. I have been toying with the idea of writing longer pieces and I think, I would like my next book to be a novel. Let’s see how that goes.
How is the book being received?
It has been pretty good, actually. I was really afraid that maybe my stories would seem too juvenile and not polished enough. Nepali readers nowadays are very hard to please; they read Salman Rushdie, Arundhati Roy, Gabriel García Márquez, and if you’re writing in English, they will pit you against these writers, either consciously or unconsciously. And these standards are extremely high. I was afraid I would fail to meet expectations. But nobody has yet come up to me and said they hated the book-—which is a big relief. Most of the reviews have been positive, especially from younger readers. They seem to have found it very relatable. I like that, I’d like to think of myself as a young person.
Who do you consider your prime literary influence?
Kurt Vonnegut. I tell this to people all the time—if there is one person I would like to be like when I am much older, it’s him. I don’t think I could never write like him. I wouldn’t say he is a stylistic influence, even though I have enjoyed everything he has written. Vonnegut was a humanist, a writer with a very dry and dark sense of humour. He writes about very dark subjects but he treats them with levity. If you are someone who has suffered through a lot, you realise that you cannot to be so serious all the time; you have to learn to laugh at things, at all the absurdity of existence. This is something that shines through in all of Vonnegut’s books, a steadfast gaze, both poignant and playful, upon all the banalities that make up life. I too would like to have a human centre to everything I write. I’ve learned this from Vonnegut and it is something I hope to work towards all my life.
From your 10 stories, which one is your favourite?
My favourite is The Smoker. It is a story that I always wanted to write. I am more attached to it than any other story I have ever written. I have worked through it so many times; it has taken 10-15 different forms, but it is the story I like best.
Any favourite character?
In the story, The Smoker, there is a character named Pranaya SJB Rana; that’s the literary me. Actually, there are two Pranayas in that story and they are both me and not me at the same time. Maybe they represent an image of what I would like to be in life or what I probably was at one.
What do you hope to achieve with your first book?
Our generation is reading literature like never before. And this is just the beginning. The market is growing and people are reading works from across the world. Yet, there is a set standard for Nepali writers, which is not the same as for writers from across the world. We have to try to write for the world, not just Nepal. We need to try to get to a place where we are respected for the literature we produce because it is good for the world, not just ‘good for Nepal’. That’s what I aspire to reach. I’m certainly not there yet.