Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
ನಾನು ಓದಿದ ಅತ್ಯುತ್ತಮ ಪುಸ್ತಕಗಳಲ್ಲೊಂದು. ಎರಡನೇ ಬಾರಿ ಓದಿದೆ. ಪ್ರತಿಯೊಂದು ದೃಶ್ಯ ಮೈ ನವಿರೇಳಿಸುವಂತದ್ದು. ಪ್ರಾಣೇಶಾಚಾರ್ಯರ ಹಾಗೂ ಪುಟ್ಟನ ಕೊನೆಯ ದೃಶ್ಯಗಳು ಇಡೀ ಪುಸ್ತಕಕ್ಕೆ ಕಿರೀಟವಿದ್ದಂತೆ. ಪ್ರಾಣೇಶಾಚಾರ್ಯರ ಮನಸ್ಸಿನ ಒದ್ದಾಟಗಳನ್ನು ಲೇಖಕರು ಅದ್ಭುತವಾಗಿ ಚಿತ್ರಿಸಲಾಗಿದೆ. ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಮೇಲ್ದರ್ಜೆಯ ಓದುಗರೆಲ್ಲ ಓದಲೇ ಬೇಕಾದ ಪುಸ್ತಕ. ಗೊಡ್ಡು ಸಂಪ್ರದಾಯದ ಬ್ರಾಹ್ಮಣರ ತಲೆಗೆ ನಿಜವಾದ ಜ್ಞಾನವನ್ನು ಕ್ರಾಂತಿ ಮಾಡುವ ಮಹಾನ್ ಶಕ್ತಿ ಈ ಕಥೆಗಿದೆ ಎಂದರೆ ತಪ್ಪಾಗಲಾರದು.
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It's true that reading Indian literature in translation is radically different from Indian literature composed in English and often with a foreign audience in mind. This novel is beautiful and powerful, but also quite hard to comprehend if one hasn't lived in India, I suspect. The nuances and issues that emerge around caste and what it means to be a brahmin are quite complex. That said, it is beautifully rendered by author and translator alike.
I was just talking the other day with friends about Sembene Ousmane's "Guelwaar", in which a Senegalese Christian is mistakenly buried in a Muslim cemetery and hotheaded forces on both sides fan the flames. "Samskara" starts with a similar dilemma but spirals outwards into very different territory: it deals with a would-be apostate brahmin notorious for flaunting the rules of his caste, and whose death forces his fellow brahmins (chiefly the most pious and self-effacing of the troupe) to figure out how best to handle his funeral in accordance with their laws. It sounds like it should be tiresome and tedious, but the storytelling and the way the author explores the implications of the idea -- what it means for everyone involves, and how that in turn has even greater meaning -- all lend it mythic weight. This isn't a novel about religious codes and obeisances, but about how we choose to define ourselves within our skins and between ourselves.
Some understanding of Indian culture might be needed to fully appreciate the story, but the Kindle edition has many key terms linked to a glossary in the back.
Some understanding of Indian culture might be needed to fully appreciate the story, but the Kindle edition has many key terms linked to a glossary in the back.
I read th original Kannada version and I'm so happy I did,
Before I talk an about the story I'd like t talk about the narration of this, U R Ananta Murthy has exceptionally described the characters and their feelings!
The disgust praneshacharya feels with his wife after the incident with Chandri made me feel the disgust he felt himself.
Now talking about the story! I'm still in awe how the story ended he made the choices but the author doesn't want to reveal the aftermath and has left it to the readers imagination so so good I felt like watching a Michael Hanneke movie.
The subject is very strong more so for the time in which it was written but you could feel all the emotions there.
First book of U R Ananta Murthy and I'm sold out! Give me more
Before I talk an about the story I'd like t talk about the narration of this, U R Ananta Murthy has exceptionally described the characters and their feelings!
The disgust praneshacharya feels with his wife after the incident with Chandri made me feel the disgust he felt himself.
Now talking about the story! I'm still in awe how the story ended he made the choices but the author doesn't want to reveal the aftermath and has left it to the readers imagination so so good I felt like watching a Michael Hanneke movie.
The subject is very strong more so for the time in which it was written but you could feel all the emotions there.
First book of U R Ananta Murthy and I'm sold out! Give me more
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is not an easy or friendly book to people outside the specific culture represented in the story, so I would suggest unfamiliar readers to a) do their research on Hinduism/Brahmin culture b) read the AK Ramanujan translation, which has a helpful index at the end, or c) skip this one entirely.
Getting into the actual book: this was a layered, frankly phenomenal look at caste and culture within a small, village community. I love how the author examines the complex, arbitrary rules and self-policing a community might come up with—and the paranoia that such self-policing results in. The way religion works is that its rules or laws are meant to guide people in times of distress. However, the central conceit of Samskara is that the villagers have landed themselves in an unsolvable dilemma that has no easy answer in the religious texts. I think the book does a great job at expressing the discomfort of a community when it can't turn to its usual sources for solutions. It also does a decent job representing the hypocrises of people, and how they're willing to bend religious codes to fit their own personal agendas. As an anti-caste novel, this book expertly shows how arbitrary and meaningless caste rituals can be.
However, I like how, even if it's arbitrary, these particular identities are inescapable. We try to free ourselves from the shackles of our identity but they still follow us, as seen inpart 3. It was intriguing, structurally, how the book went from a plot-focused contemplation on caste in the first two parts to a stream of consciousness narrative that is existential and philosophical in part 3. I admit, part 3 did throw me off track often with its confusing ambiguity, but the confusion seems intentional on the author's part and I don't think I could have accepted a straightforward answer at the end of it all, so yes, the author does manage to stick the ending—all things considered. How can a decaying community reconcile with its decaying values in a rapidly growing world? This seems to be one of the more interesting questions the novel asks.
I'm still wondering how I feel about the portrayal of women in this book—on one hand, it IS an accurate depiction of time and place and I can buy the attitudes the men have towards them, but the repeated, overtly sexual vision of the "lower" caste women in the book did give me pause, even though lust plays a significant role in the story and the men's attitudes are believable for their demographic.
A pretty thought-provoking novel overall with a simple style that is lightly humorous. There's a comedic element to the notion of purity, and the author draws on it well without overdoing it. Ultimately there are no easy answers in Samskara, but the journey to the end offers a lot of intriguing questions.
Getting into the actual book: this was a layered, frankly phenomenal look at caste and culture within a small, village community. I love how the author examines the complex, arbitrary rules and self-policing a community might come up with—and the paranoia that such self-policing results in. The way religion works is that its rules or laws are meant to guide people in times of distress. However, the central conceit of Samskara is that the villagers have landed themselves in an unsolvable dilemma that has no easy answer in the religious texts. I think the book does a great job at expressing the discomfort of a community when it can't turn to its usual sources for solutions. It also does a decent job representing the hypocrises of people, and how they're willing to bend religious codes to fit their own personal agendas. As an anti-caste novel, this book expertly shows how arbitrary and meaningless caste rituals can be.
However, I like how, even if it's arbitrary, these particular identities are inescapable. We try to free ourselves from the shackles of our identity but they still follow us, as seen in
I'm still wondering how I feel about the portrayal of women in this book—on one hand, it IS an accurate depiction of time and place and I can buy the attitudes the men have towards them, but the repeated, overtly sexual vision of the "lower" caste women in the book did give me pause, even though lust plays a significant role in the story and the men's attitudes are believable for their demographic.
A pretty thought-provoking novel overall with a simple style that is lightly humorous. There's a comedic element to the notion of purity, and the author draws on it well without overdoing it. Ultimately there are no easy answers in Samskara, but the journey to the end offers a lot of intriguing questions.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Religion makes people do weird things. I enjoyed learning more about Hinduism and India through this novel and appreciated the main character's struggle with what his religion requires of him. One of his fellow Brahmins dies, but he was a bad Brahmin, so the others are not sure if they should give him a Brahmin's burial or if that would endanger themselves. So they let the body rot while trying to figure it out. They recognize that's ridiculous but still can't figure out what to do. I liked this, but it was definitely a message-driven book and not so much a character-driven one.
Amongst the most powerful books I have ever read. It is a slim novel, and I know I will be returning to it over and over again, just like I do with Hermann Hesse's 'Siddhartha'.