Agni Paperback – September 29, 2013

This novel is an insightful exposition into the mind-body conundrum that yearns for fixing the undefinable co-ordinates which the thin barrier between sanity and insanity holds. The uncontrollable forces that steer a human's doings -- be it accrued from the spheres of professional or private lives -- leave a stern notch in the character of a person --- the same reflection of nature/nurture proposition.For the world-wide audience, this English translation of the famous Malayali/Indian author, C. Radhakrishnan, is an educative experience, as the socio-political climate of the 1950s of the state of Kerala, India, has been in the backdrop throughout the narration. Moreover, the people and landscape of the then magical Malabar appear vividly as cinematic frames!

Agni is an easy read for everyone. The author keeps our interest through and through until the very last page with his interesting narration of events, characters, and the surroundings. It only took three hours for me to finish reading the novel. The deep love of Amina and Sulaiman and the violent, cruel behavior of her father Moosa are beautifully narrated by the author.A must read for everyone!

It was a great story with lots of turns and twists. The director did an excellent job as did the acters.

Intensely human, emotionally charged page turner with exceptional style and narrative power of the author keeping the reader up close and personal to the story line and characters..! A must read..!

“Poverty is the worst form of violence.” -Mahatma GandhiAuthor C. Radhakrishnan’s novelette ‘Agni’ is a finely crafted introspection into the emotion of love and its myriad forms. The source of many different emotions found in men can often be traced back to this single emotion. And it’s often the tipping point that makes our mind oscillate between the different levels of sanity. The good and the bad that comes out of it have always stupefied humanity and the following story is a fine example of the human mind’s predicament when engulfed in an all consuming fire, the Agni (fire) of love.People born and brought up in the same milieu as the characters in the book will fully appreciate the familiarity and sense of belonging the author’s writing conjures up in one’s mind. And for the rest of the world perhaps unfamiliar with such native scenes this small book will be a series of awakening to an exotic world full of exotic possibilities. And you needn’t understand or have prior knowledge of local customs beforehand to enjoy it, because the scintillating wordplay and vivid imagery will calm your mind and comfort your heart as any soothing lullaby would.While describing the social and cultural mood of the place a bit of satire creeps into the author’s tone but it’s all good and you can chuckle at such irrelevance because most of it stands true to the place and the time it’s set in. But perhaps a discomforting thought for readers would be that in many places the government machinery still moves at that same lethargic pace as it did almost 50 years ago.Violence and cruelty form a part of everyday life for the inhabitants of the small village and the protagonist Moosa is their chief mascot. Although it’s claimed that such violence is not part of their local traditions, the people simply don’t know any better and perhaps it’s merely a reflection of the times they lived in where the need for human survival prioritized over feelings of empathy. And nowhere is it more obvious than on various animals that have to bear the brunt of the human animal’s flippant attitude towards them, alternating between extreme love and hate.Moosa is a terror of a man but there is a lot of good in him and inwardly he tries to be a just man but he often succumbs to the expectation of his own conceptualized image. He’s a person whose world view is limited by his upbringing and experience and also by his strong bond and love towards his only daughter. Amina, Sulaiman, Mulla, the assistant boy, Kumbhan and a few others are a wonderful group of characters soaked in the local milieu that bring to the forefront delectable flavors of rural customs and life in the interiors.