Great Indian Novel Paperback – August 10, 2014

I finished the book recently, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, which is saying a lot because my paperback edition is around 600 pages. I wouldn't consider the book a "literary" work, and I'm not sure what genre it can be categorized under (historical fiction?), but it's certainly a one-of-a-kind book, and a masterpiece.The concept behind the book is ingenious. Tharoor uses the great Indian epic, The Mahabharata, as the ground for writing a book on 20th-century Indian history and politics, like a Greek writer using The Illiad as the basis for a novel on modern Greek politics. The importance of that is two-fold: It shows the continuing relevance of this ancient epic in modern times, and it places the history of Indian independence and modern India within a mythic framework, like a continuation of the mythical history of India. The narrator is the original storyteller of the mighty Mahabharata, Vyasa, and, of course, his scribe is a representation of the original scribe, the deity Ganesha.Tharoor weaves the story of the great, mythic Indian struggle for freedom from the largest, most powerful empire in the history of mankind using characters from The Mahabharata to represent independence leaders and modern leaders (you can easily pick out Indira Gandhi). I thought the blending of historical and mythical events to be a really original conception for a novel. The characters are fleshed out well, and Tharoor shows his knowledge of Indian politics and the motivations and flaws of the people enmeshed in it. I also appreciated his empathetic characterizations of the poorer and more downtrodden in Indian society.The book was a masterpiece of satire and wit, and I liked Tharoor's prose style, particularly his penchant for alliteration. For a long novel, the story was well-paced and not difficult to read through. In fact, it moved pretty fast for me. I loved the ending (so Indian or Hindu). Perfect.Personal note: I enjoyed the fact that Tharoor made the character who represented Krishna a Malayali, just like Tharoor is and just like I am. Cool.

Giving due consideration to the obvious and undeniable fact that there can never be a completely comprehensive book written about either India or The Mahabharata, Shashi Tharoor's "The Great Indian Novel" packs in an incredible amount of detail in its 420 pages and serves it with sumptuous sarcasm. It is amazing that probably one of the most entertaining books I have read till date is also something that I have been reading ever since I started reading, differing in only the versions and the perceptions of the respective authors. Equally, if not more amazing is the realization that the politics of the pre and post colonial India observed a pattern that has precedents in the greatest epic of all the time, The Mahabharata.Tharoor's version of the Mahabharata intersperses and eulogizes the great epic by comparing it with the Indian Political Scenario by a cantankerous narrator VedaVyasa or VV who assumes himself to be a part of the drama which unfolds as he narrates the tale in a first person narrative to an obliging Ganapathi. While the other versions of the epic focused more on Kauravas and Pandavas, Tharoor channelizes his analyses and research on the previous generation of Dhritarashtra, Pandu and Vidur. The names he used for some of the characters and places in the novel are an absolute delight when we realize the references, which are sometimes obvious and some times not so. My personal favorite was Priya Duryodhani.After reading some mediocre works by Indian Authors these days and genuinely being disappointed at them, the language in this book comes as a great source of pleasure. Tharoor obviously was privy of rich standards of education in the United Kingdom, uses his language to great use with an almost envious and a mellifluous flow of words and the need to consult a dictionary was higher this time around. This book also led me to know some important facts about the pre Independent and post Independent India, the stature and stand of Mowlana Abul Kalam Azad in the Congress, Indian freedom struggle and subsequent partition for instance is a revelation for me at least and Sardarji being compared to Vidur in Mahabharata, I personally felt was a stroke of ingenuity on the part of the author. Tharoor's wit spares neither the British nor the Indian, neither Hindu nor Muslim, neither Gandhi (Gangaji) nor Jinnah (Karna). He was unapologetically sarcastic and acerbically satiric in either condemning or lauding their means or methods.Probably a satire was needed to let people take notice of what has happened to us in the name of religion, in the name of democracy, in the name of politics, in the name of democracy, in the name of eradicating poverty, in the name of suppressing forces which are a threat to constitution, in the name of elections and in the name of our best interests - since I always felt that we Indians revel in our ability at being sarcastic and will always be at our best in sarcasm. So Tharoor got it spot on when he chose the tone in which he should narrate his story or our story. A satire about India would work any day, because of the kind of receptiveness and passion we have for our own satires and if the satire is about Indian democracy, the results would be even more fruitful whatever they mean and whatever they are intended to mean.Or probably he has taken sarcasm a bit too seriously which effects at places in the book, where we actually see Tharoor rather than VedaVyasa. This also can be a case of minor nitpicking on my behalf, but I certainly felt he could have been more objective in nature towards the end of the story. There is one passage in which VV says that one can refer to any anecdote regarding India or Mahabharata, there will be a thousand unexplored unknown alternate versions, which may be true and hence one can never be sure of anything in the country which makes the country and its history more and more fascinating leaving the readers overwhelmed while giving us the option to either agree or disagree with him or with his version.PS: All said, The Great Indian Novel is Indian Writing in English of the highest order and is an important literary contribution as well. I recommend this to anyone who wants to know a bit or any bit about India.

This is one of the most interesting and original pieces of satire I have ever read. The author (playing Maharishi Ved Vyas) scripts his own Mahabharata of modern times, with India of the past century and a half as the backdrop. Mahabharata is more than just the longest epic in the world - it is almost a way of life for most Hindus in India. Its parables and morals are narrated in all corners of the country to illustrate the conundrums of life in this world and the significance of dharma. The vast array of characters in the epic, along with numerous sub-plots embedded into the main plot, make for an absorbing narrative. Shashi Tharoor has brilliantly mapped these mythological characters and events to the freedom fighters, politicians, bureaucrats and the evolution of the modern state of India. The book will be of lot more interest to those who are well versed with the setting of the Mahabharata, however, even as a tale by itself the book makes for good reading. I would definitely recommend this book to everyone...5 stars!

This is a excellent book, with 2 very interesting stories. I'd even go so far as to say that it's a brilliant piece of Indian literature. The two interconnected stories in it require some context for the non-subcontinent reader, but they're interesting nonetheless. Even though I'm not a big fan of the Author's political ideas (at least the few that I know about), this novel was simply terrific. Highly recommend it.

I'm surprised that I'm the only person who actually did not like this book among the dozen or so reviewers here. The characterization was really contrived and the story is just a repetition of Mahabharatha desperately attached to Modern Indian history. Whats new with this book? I must have missed something here.......