A guide to Kathmandu’s people

I don’t need to say Pranaya Rana’s City of Dreams is good. The hype train is already rolling with this one. With the positive word of mouth it has going for it, I am pretty sure we won’t have to wait for another 5–10 years for Pranaya to write another book.

What I do want to talk about is how this book is a personal read. Especially for someone who has navigated Kathmandu & wondered what stories lie hidden. Pranaya’s stories are centered on the average Kathmandu citizen–whose stories are not thought of. Be it 3 friends drifting away or a loveless marriage, all these characters are people we have met or even “are”.

The people in Pranaya’s stories are not wildly different from our everyday lives. An INGO worker, a domestic help, an eccentric wanderer; all these faces feel like people ripped out of our daily commute. Perhaps that familiarity is what makes City of Dreams so compelling. Reading it from start to finish feels like living a day in Kathmandu in its seedy, mystical, heartbreaking glory.

Of the 10 stories, I personally loved the namesake — City of dreams. I could identify with the meandering ways of Kanti and I am sure anyone who has grown up in Kathmandu has spent at least one morning navigating this anthill.

Dashain, Our Ruin, & Maya all are great character studies, each piling on the emotional intensity in increasing order. Maya stood out to me amongst the three stories especially with its gut punch of an ending. I did feel some of the latter stories leaning on the “twist ending” trope but the stories do not entirely rely on it. Thinking back on it, it feels like a case of ‘withholding details’ rather than a gimmick. I think the weakest story for me was Presence of God. There is nothing wrong with it structurally but for a book that is filled with great character driven tales, it kind of sticks out as a sore thumb.

If I were to continue trying to find flaws in City of Dreams, it would perhaps be nitpicking of the highest order. In short, I loved it, you should read it and then re-read it.