Review of The Rise of Hastinapur by Sharath Komarraju
Re-imagination of the longest epic poem,
Mahabharata, in world is a daunting task. Not only the author runs the risk of
offending the loyal fan of epic (and the religious fundamentalists) but have to
add enough novelty to the story to keep readers interested, always keeping
their eyes on big picture of the epic: 18 days war. The author has to view the
epic from a previously unused angle (like looking through the prism of female
characters), use new plot points (taking threads of epic or use his/her
imagination), and build a new world for characters to inhabit in order to push
characters to their edge (taking help of geographical location of old
world). This new retelling of epic tale
Mahabharata: The Rise of Hastinapur, is a special one because Mr. Sharath
Komarraju views the epic (or a part of epic) through matriarchal lens, in
contrast to patriarchal lens, which had been used several times overs in TV
serials or books written through the point of views of major male characters of
epic (Arjuna, Yudhisthar, Bhima, Karana etc). This book is actually a
collection of three novellas about three important female characters of
Mahabharata: Amba, Kunti (Pritha), and Gandhari. The author reimagines the
childhood of these female characters and fuels their adult life with rabid
desires to bring out their distinctly grey personalities. Sex or sexual
undertone is threaded through these stories, not always as the driving force
but as a mean to satisfy wants/desires of female characters. Writers or makers
of Hate Story Franchise should take notice of such a rich heritage we have.
The book is hard to put down in first (Amba) and
third part (Gandhari). Even though the second part (The Black Stone) is richly
imagined and intricately plotted story, it drags because it takes too long to
reach to the conclusion. I could give following explanations: the story started
out as Devaki/Kamas story and turns into Pritha’s story, the story takes too
long to return to Mathuram takes too long time to explain the importance of
Black Stone, or too many characters in
this story (Nabha, first priest, and High priest). Also, Durvasa/Surya love
angle with Pritha didn’t have enough steam to sustain the story for so long.
Overall, this is a fascinating book on Mahabharata
told passionately through female characters. If you have ever wondered while
watching/reading Mahabharata what Amba went through after she left hastinapur,
if you want to know how Prita (Kunti) gave birth to Karna, and why Gandhari
chose to marry Dritrashtra, this book will not only answer your questions but
also make you think, “Oh! That’s why they did this.”
Here is the link on Amazon
http://www.amazon.in/gp/customer-reviews/R3ERKOP1WJ2SPM/ref=cm_cr_pr_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=9351773760
No comments:
Post a Comment