Once upon a time, I was the (only)one to surprise, embarrass, torture friends, family, acquaintance with my phone call/email/in person wishes on their special days! With social networking, electronic reminders, now everyone is stealing my thunder! Also, there is hardly any news to exchange these days as it is all posted on the web that I am not able to start any sentence with "theriyuma...."
I bow to the team who uploaded the whole 5 volumes of "Ponniyin Selvan" in tamil on the internet!! Now I join the elite fan club! No doubt that reading the print form wins hands down against the electronic form but I don't know how long I would've had to wait for that to happen.
Like many, Kalki's description of the land and its beauty makes me yearn to visit those places. But I also have to admit that many times I just wanted to skip the descriptions and race through to read what that chapter was leading to! No wonder none stops reading it just once!
I wonder if Kalki named the novel so just because he was the great king Raja Raja Cholan for he hardly qualifies to be the hero! Vandiya devan is a jolly good lovable fellow but it's Aditha Karikalan who really fascinated me! Is Kalki the trendsetter for cinematic situations like the first meeting of Kundavai and Vandiya devan, sidekick Aazhvarkadiyan popping at the right times, twins, look alikes etc.?
Lot of unanswered questions at the end, why? But all said and done, this is my first attempt at a full length novel in senthamizh and my first historical novel. It's helped me get over the mind block I have had against historical novels that I am starting "Sivagamiyin sabadam" next.
4 comments:
Great !! PS caught my imagination so much that I had to bunk a day of work to finish reading it (still fondly remember the 2 puliyotharai's I ate back-to-back reading it). :) SS is an awesome read too. My first Kalki/long novel, which I read when I was 12. Probably would be able to appreciate more now. After that, I recommend u read Chandilyan's 'Kadal pura'.
Just y'day I downloaded a few word games like scrabble and crossword in my mobile, and today I see ' Word with friends'. Just included that too.
I got the courage to read Kalki only after assurances that his Tamil 'nadai' is easier than Chandilyan!!
Reading 'PS' and 'SS' back to back, I find so many characters similar like Vandiyadevan and Paranjothi, Arulmozhi and Narasimha pallavan!! But the next time I go to Mamallapuram, I think I will see the sculptures in a different light!
:) ya, the comparisons are unavoidable. How about the inimitable Brahmamarayan?
Brahmarayan? I'm in the 3rd volume and I haven't met this character yet?!!
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