infinimata 's review for:

Samskara: A Rite for a Dead Man by U. R. Ananthamurthy

5.0

---

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.