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A review by kartrick
The Legends of Khasak by O.V. Vijayan
5.0
Although, being a Malayali, I could understand and imagine some of the tones of the native language even in the translation (like the luggage-carrier's warm and kindly "kutti"), I'm sure there's a lot of the original nuance that couldn't be salvaged in the English version, as the author himself stated. I can only imagine how good the book must be in Malayalam.
Admittedly, there was something which very slightly irked me, and that was our protagonist's decisions and his justifications for them. The very reason he set out on this long pilgrimage, this journey, seems flaccid at most and make me question his logic and balance of mind, which otherwise seem to be decent.
Aside from that though, the novel was an absolute joy to read, and I also learned a lot about my homeland. Deeply intense descriptions of Khasak, its inhabitants, their unique turmoils but also their simple idiosyncratic charms, the various dynamics---mythical, social, political, cultural, sensual---, and not to mention the hills, the trees, the animals, the seasons... I could go on, point being that it was simply fantastic prose that left me dreamy on more than one occasion.
~~~
One of the most poetic, wistfully beautiful and elegant renditions of the tale of evolution I can imagine:
On the other hand, superb humour:
Dark yet exquisite:
Admittedly, there was something which very slightly irked me, and that was our protagonist's decisions and his justifications for them. The very reason he set out on this long pilgrimage, this journey, seems flaccid at most and make me question his logic and balance of mind, which otherwise seem to be decent.
Aside from that though, the novel was an absolute joy to read, and I also learned a lot about my homeland. Deeply intense descriptions of Khasak, its inhabitants, their unique turmoils but also their simple idiosyncratic charms, the various dynamics---mythical, social, political, cultural, sensual---, and not to mention the hills, the trees, the animals, the seasons... I could go on, point being that it was simply fantastic prose that left me dreamy on more than one occasion.
~~~
One of the most poetic, wistfully beautiful and elegant renditions of the tale of evolution I can imagine:
Long before the lizards, before the dinosaurs, two spores set out on an incredible journey. They came to a valley bathed in the placid glow of sunset.
"My elder sister," said the little spore to the bigger spore, "let us see what lies beyond."
"This valley is green," replied the bigger spore, "I shall journey no farther."
"I want to journey," said the little spore, "I want to discover." She gazed in wonder at the path before her.
"Will you forget your sister?" asked the bigger spore.
"Never," said the little spore.
"You will, little one, for this is the loveless tale of karma; in it there is only parting and sorrow."
The little spore journeyed on. The bigger spore stayed back in the valley. Her roots pierced the damp earth and sought the nutrients of death and memory. She sprouted over the earth, green and contented ... A girl with silver anklets and eyes prettied with surma came to Chetali’s valley to gather flowers. The Champaka tree stood alone—efflorescent, serene. The flower-gatherer reached out and held down a soft twig to pluck the flowers. As the twig broke the Champaka said, "My little sister, you have forgotten me!"
On the other hand, superb humour:
Into this carnival walked a frail old man. The black and silver stubble on his shrivelled cheeks was days old, the customary coat was frayed and clumsily mended. Shod in sandals of crude buffalo hide, he took each step timidly, almost apologetically. This was a poor materialization of the State. Khasak felt let down.
Dark yet exquisite:
The lice knew the coming of death, like seers who sensed the advance of the distant hurricane or the earth tremor. On the journey back from the hospital, they fled the strands of hair, they raced down the precipices of facial wrinkles, then across the interminable desert of the cart’s matting, and over the edge of the cart’s frame plunged into the infinite void beyond.