The Great Indian Novel
From my review at SolomonSays:TGIN is Shashi Tharoors masterful melding of two great Indian obsessionsculture and politics. He takes the story of Indias freedom struggle and recasts it with characters from the great epic Mahabharata. The result is an irreverent historical narrative which is identical yet almost unrecognizable from both the history of school books and the mythical story of ages past. The recast can actually be said to flow both ways, and the story can be seen as a re-playing out
Thoroughly enjoyed it. The rather wild parallels, the masterful language, the totally irreverent tone and the lovely yarn. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves to read.
Shashi Tharoor's merging of the Mahabharata and the story of India's independence struggle has the potential, of course, to go horribly wrong. What a relief it is to realise, then, and fairly quickly, that it does not. With passages of quite brilliant, sparkling prose interspersed with doggerel verse, Tharoor takes the reader through the life and times of the characters corresponding to Mahatma Gandhi (Bhishma), Nehru (Dhritrashtra) and Bose (Pandu), all the while keeping tongue strictly in
I'd actually give this book 4.5 stars or 9 out of 10. I only give 5's to books I'm certain I will want to read again. While this is an excellent read, it does require an investment of time so I probably won't be able to revisit it.Anyway, it sat on my TBR shelf for nearly 20 years and I am so glad I held on to it!This story is based on the Mahabaratha, a classic epic of Indian mythology , and is quite a journey: Intense, heartbreaking, beautiful, hilarious. Just like India herself. It
5* for the last two chapters.Dr. Tharoor has struck goldmine here: this novel is fail-safe because of the intricate richness of its source material--the grand epic 'Mahabharata' with its original dysfunctional family, bedroom politics, palace intrigues & counter intrigues; grand notions of duty, honor, courage, sacrifice, boons & curses; envy, bitterness, greed & hatred -- all of these leading to a full-fledged fratricidal war.Tharoor superimposes major events from Indian political
Shashi Tharoor
Paperback | Pages: 423 pages Rating: 3.88 | 5534 Users | 397 Reviews
Specify Books During The Great Indian Novel
Original Title: | The Great Indian Novel |
ISBN: | 1559701943 (ISBN13: 9781559701945) |
Edition Language: | English |
Literary Awards: | Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best Book in South Asia and Europe (1990) |
Explanation As Books The Great Indian Novel
In this widely acclaimed novel, Shashi Tharoor has masterfully recast the two-thousand-year-old epic "The Mahabharata" with fictionalized - but highly recognizable - events and characters from twentieth-century Indian politics. Blending history and myth to chronicle the Indian struggle for freedom and independence, Tharoor directs his hilarious and often outrageous satire as much against Indian foibles and failings as against the bumblings of the British rulers. Despite its regional setting, this work can be enjoyed by readers unfamiliar with Indian history.Details Regarding Books The Great Indian Novel
Title | : | The Great Indian Novel |
Author | : | Shashi Tharoor |
Book Format | : | Paperback |
Book Edition | : | Special Edition |
Pages | : | Pages: 423 pages |
Published | : | February 26th 1993 by Arcade Publishing (first published 1989) |
Categories | : | Fiction. Cultural. India. Asian Literature. Indian Literature. Historical. Historical Fiction |
Rating Regarding Books The Great Indian Novel
Ratings: 3.88 From 5534 Users | 397 ReviewsCrit Regarding Books The Great Indian Novel
The book maps the story and characters of the Mahabharat to those of the Indian freedom struggle and a few decades after it (up until the Emergency). So, Gandhi is Bheeshm, Nehru is Dhritrashtr, Patel is Vidur and so on. It's a nice concept, but the execution stutters and strays after a while. All in all, its a good book to carry along in a journey, its easy to read and full of some interesting observations from the former MoS in MEA. Here are two from the page I have open in front of me. :) onFrom my review at SolomonSays:TGIN is Shashi Tharoors masterful melding of two great Indian obsessionsculture and politics. He takes the story of Indias freedom struggle and recasts it with characters from the great epic Mahabharata. The result is an irreverent historical narrative which is identical yet almost unrecognizable from both the history of school books and the mythical story of ages past. The recast can actually be said to flow both ways, and the story can be seen as a re-playing out
Thoroughly enjoyed it. The rather wild parallels, the masterful language, the totally irreverent tone and the lovely yarn. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves to read.
Shashi Tharoor's merging of the Mahabharata and the story of India's independence struggle has the potential, of course, to go horribly wrong. What a relief it is to realise, then, and fairly quickly, that it does not. With passages of quite brilliant, sparkling prose interspersed with doggerel verse, Tharoor takes the reader through the life and times of the characters corresponding to Mahatma Gandhi (Bhishma), Nehru (Dhritrashtra) and Bose (Pandu), all the while keeping tongue strictly in
I'd actually give this book 4.5 stars or 9 out of 10. I only give 5's to books I'm certain I will want to read again. While this is an excellent read, it does require an investment of time so I probably won't be able to revisit it.Anyway, it sat on my TBR shelf for nearly 20 years and I am so glad I held on to it!This story is based on the Mahabaratha, a classic epic of Indian mythology , and is quite a journey: Intense, heartbreaking, beautiful, hilarious. Just like India herself. It
5* for the last two chapters.Dr. Tharoor has struck goldmine here: this novel is fail-safe because of the intricate richness of its source material--the grand epic 'Mahabharata' with its original dysfunctional family, bedroom politics, palace intrigues & counter intrigues; grand notions of duty, honor, courage, sacrifice, boons & curses; envy, bitterness, greed & hatred -- all of these leading to a full-fledged fratricidal war.Tharoor superimposes major events from Indian political
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