Vandiya Thevan and Kundavai Arulmozhivarman and Kundavi
Even thinking about Ponniyin Selvan brings great excitement. There are Tamil speaking people scattered all over the globe who don’t tire of discussing Ponniyin Selvan. The novel similar excitement across generations.
The following two paragraphs are reproduced from Wikipedia.
Ponniyin Selvan (பொன்னியின் செல்வன், English: The Son of Ponni) is a historical novel by Kalki Krishnamurthy, written in Tamil. In five volumes, or about 2210 pages, it tells the story of early days of Arulmozhivarman அருள்மொழிவர்மன்), who later became the great Chola emperor Rajaraja Chola I. The book took more than three years to write;[citation needed] Kalki visited Sri Lanka three times to gather information for it.
It was first published as a series in the Kalki, a
Tamil language magazine, during the 1950s and was later integrated into a
novel. The craze for the series which was published weekly was such that it
elevated the magazine circulation to reach a staggering figure of 71,366 copies
– no mean achievement in a newly independent India.
After almost 7 decades of publication, the novel has
a cult following and fan base among people of all generations. The book
continues to be admired and garner critical acclaim for its tightly woven plot,
vivid narration, the wit of the dialogue, and the way in which the power
struggle and intrigues of the Chola empire were depicted.
Nandini and Periya Pazhuvettarayar
I have a Masters in English Literature. I have read,
analysed, enjoyed and loved the many classics of the lingua franca. Still, to
me personally Ponniyin selvan surpasses every fiction I have laid my hands on. It
is ‘THE ONE’.
Book Nook’s first entry must be Ponniyin Selvan.
This is my tribute to Kalki, the great writer who had the length, breadth and
depth of imagination and beautiful flowing narrative style to have given us
this greatest classic.
Through this post I would implore all youngsters to
enjoy Ponniyin Selvan in its original language Tamil. That experience would
transport you to an entirely different world. If you don’t know the language
you may settle for translations.
But experience Ponniyin Selvan for sure.
Check out the experiences of readers in the book review website goodreads.
Acknowledgement : Wikepedia and Kavitha Muralidharan, writer, Huffpost, India
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