Not an easy thing, spending on books, in these times of recession. The roller coaster ride of waiting, searching, pushing and finally reading the series is over.
The books in question: Ponniyin Selvan, translated version of the Tamil historical novel by the same name, penned by Kalki R Krishnamurthy.
Based on the events around the time of Raja Raja Chola of the Chola dynasty, it is an interesting read - for its plot, the description of those Tamil Nadu landscapes and rivers many centuries ago, and the book's ability to keep the reader glued.
A lot is lost in translation. I wish I could read Tamil. And the translated version, probably done some decades ago, has its share of flaws, spelling mistakes (unforgivable in a book), words that may sound out of place for a particular paragraph, etc.
If you are the kind with a feel for history and urge to know the politics of those centuries, it is a read worth it.
When I first saw a friend hooked to it and finishing a volume in one go, I wondered what it had to attract a reader.
Yesterday, the last volume and the sixth book arrived by courier at 8 pm. I read through a few hours at night. By this afternoon, I was done with the book.
A lot of questions about the characters remain. Like, if Nandini, the plotter from the Pandya side within the Chozha palace really had a Pandyan father or her father was Sundara Chozhar. What happened to her after she vanished from the novel and under what circumstances did she die?
Questions pertain to other characters too. I may re-read a few pages to grasp some incidents better. Still, nothing has been as satisfying as finishing the entire series of six books - a first for me (reading a series).
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