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jjahnavi's review
adventurous
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Karthika Nair paints a poignant picture over several pages. When I began, I was disappointed to find poetry-style writing instead of prose - I'm glad I didn't let it stop me. Despite not being a go-to-poetry reader, I immensely enjoyed this collection of creatively strung words - sometimes, obviously poetry and sometimes challenging this label.
While I have grown up with several stories from Mahabharata, seen depictions on television and read compilations, the large cast of characters always became a blurry schematic map in my mind, difficult to recall the cast behind the obvious stalwarts. Karthika Nair's book helped me retain the cast & connections (across generations) more than any other version so far, even whule giving me more names than I've encountered elsewhere (like those of the 101 kauravs). I applaud this ability to break down a complex epic into retainable parts.
It is easy, as the author says, to think we know an epic by hearing the story of the victors. I had rarely wondered what life then was like for the sons, wives, lovers, soldiers of the pandavs & kauravs. This book, while fictional, takes away the curtain from the eyes of the lesser-heard characters & paints a humane picture of the madness of Mahabharata.
I enjoyed it thoroughly. And it gently nudged me to look for more aspects to a story, or at least wonder on their behalf, minimizing the risk of getting fooled by the glorious cover story that hide the lackluster world.
Karthika Nair says rather well, "But the dead have no songs, child. No melodies for regret or pain or pride. It is we that find and feed them the songs, thw words, the rhythm, cadence, refrain; we that redye the moments, each one; [...] that scurry to rework histories, so you will learn and hold as truth a thousand staves of what you never saw nor heard while nested in soft caul."
While I have grown up with several stories from Mahabharata, seen depictions on television and read compilations, the large cast of characters always became a blurry schematic map in my mind, difficult to recall the cast behind the obvious stalwarts. Karthika Nair's book helped me retain the cast & connections (across generations) more than any other version so far, even whule giving me more names than I've encountered elsewhere (like those of the 101 kauravs). I applaud this ability to break down a complex epic into retainable parts.
It is easy, as the author says, to think we know an epic by hearing the story of the victors. I had rarely wondered what life then was like for the sons, wives, lovers, soldiers of the pandavs & kauravs. This book, while fictional, takes away the curtain from the eyes of the lesser-heard characters & paints a humane picture of the madness of Mahabharata.
I enjoyed it thoroughly. And it gently nudged me to look for more aspects to a story, or at least wonder on their behalf, minimizing the risk of getting fooled by the glorious cover story that hide the lackluster world.
Karthika Nair says rather well, "But the dead have no songs, child. No melodies for regret or pain or pride. It is we that find and feed them the songs, thw words, the rhythm, cadence, refrain; we that redye the moments, each one; [...] that scurry to rework histories, so you will learn and hold as truth a thousand staves of what you never saw nor heard while nested in soft caul."
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape and Sexual content
poojapillai's review
4.0
An exceptional book, hugely ambitious in its scope. Essentially a fragmented rebelling if the Mahabharata, using voices we've never or barely heard before, such as Hidimbi, Satyavati, or Sauvali, the maid raped by Dhritarashtra.
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