In this award-winning, internationally acclaimed novel, Tharoor has masterfully recast the 2,000 year-old epic, The Mahabharata, with fictional but...
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May 05, 2010
Shalini
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For my generation, fed on Batman's savior tactics and deprived of Yudhistra's innate righteousness, texts such as these bring back the revered concept of Dharma. The last chapter, where Tharoor philosophizes on righteousness with an image of heaven and hell gleaming in the background, truly captures the essence of The Mahabharta or The Great Indian Novel. If you want to know about Gandhiji's ascetic lifestyle or about Nehru's failure translating Fabian principles into action, turn to this book.
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Jan 04, 2011
Aldrin
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The book maps the story and characters of the Mahabharat to those of the Indian freedom struggle and a few decades after it (up until the Emergency). So, Gandhi is Bheeshm, Nehru is Dhritrashtr, Patel is Vidur and so on. It's a nice concept, but the execution stutters and strays after a while. All in all, its a good book to carry along in a journey, its easy to read and full of some interesting observations from the former MoS in MEA. Here are two from the page I have open in front of me. :)
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Apr 22, 2011
Pranav
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After reading 'The Great Indian Novel', my respect for Shashi Tharoor has definitely gone up two notches. TGIN is a superbly researched piece of literature which makes you sit up and take notice. The analogies and parallels are crafty and imaginative, to say the least. Tharoor uses two very difficult and sensitive themes (20th century Indian politics and the Mahabharata)and yet does brilliantly to make sure that the energy levels and satire don't vacillate. The characters are funny and yet have
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Oct 11, 2010
Ilaria
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Funny novel that tells the history of India since before the Independence. It’s told using alter egos of the historical characters, perfectly recognizable, and the narrator is Ved Vyas, a sort of mythological figure: now an old man, he tells all the secrets of the politicians he worked with to Ganapathi, the god Ganesh. The book starts with V.V.’s birth and goes on talking especially about Gandhi. Although it sounds like a fairy tale, it’s interesting and pleasant.
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Jul 19, 2011
Anbu
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The book portrays the Mahabharata in the context of Indian independence struggle and few decades after the independence. All the important characters of Mahabharata represent prominent real life personalities in this book. It was fun to find out which personality each character represents.
This was a nicely written novel where comparison of each Mahabharata incident with that of real life incident is not that much easy. Also we need to accept the difficulty in getting all the important figu More...
This was a nicely written novel where comparison of each Mahabharata incident with that of real life incident is not that much easy. Also we need to accept the difficulty in getting all the important figu More...
Dec 26, 2011
Gaijinmama
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I'd actually give in 4.5 stars of 9 out of 10. I only give 5's to books I'm certain I will want to read again.
Anyway, it sat on my TBR shelf for nearly 20 years and I am so glad I held on to it!
This story is based on the Mahabaratha, a classic epic of Indian mythology , and is quite a journey: Intense, heartbreaking, beautiful, hilarious. Just like India herself. It encompasses the entire history of modern India, since the struggle for independence. In the midst of all the tra More...
Anyway, it sat on my TBR shelf for nearly 20 years and I am so glad I held on to it!
This story is based on the Mahabaratha, a classic epic of Indian mythology , and is quite a journey: Intense, heartbreaking, beautiful, hilarious. Just like India herself. It encompasses the entire history of modern India, since the struggle for independence. In the midst of all the tra More...
Dec 10, 2009
Lilyrose
rated it: 
One of the first pages of the book has a note from the author which goes:
'A hasty note of disclaimer is due to those readers who may feel, justifiably, that the work that follows is neither great, nor authentically Indian, nor even much of a novel. The Great Indian Novel takes its title not from the author's estimate of its contents but in deference to its primary source of inspiration, the ancient epic the Mahabharata'
This modesty-affected disclaimer isn't quite necessary sinc More...
'A hasty note of disclaimer is due to those readers who may feel, justifiably, that the work that follows is neither great, nor authentically Indian, nor even much of a novel. The Great Indian Novel takes its title not from the author's estimate of its contents but in deference to its primary source of inspiration, the ancient epic the Mahabharata'
This modesty-affected disclaimer isn't quite necessary sinc More...
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Jul 11, 2008
Savanna
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A great sweeping novel that weaves the mythic characters and events of the Mahabharata into the 20th century Indian political scene. It is frequently more of a political commentary than a novel. Tharoor says at the very beginning, as a sort of disclaimer, that the book is called The Great Indian Novel because it is based on the Mahabharata, which literally translated means "great India." He does not wish to imply that it is a "great" work, and the reader might find it is not
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Jul 27, 2008
Kavitha
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This is a wonderful book that draws parallels between the great Indian epic Mahabharata and the great Indian war for independance. Tharoor's style of writing is witty and absorbing yet simple and glib. The only reason I am giving 3 instead or 4 or 5-stars is due to the fact that it is very difficult to validate some of the comparisons he has made between the characters in Mahabharata and the characters from the Indian independance era. Of more scepticism are some chapters quoted from the epic. T
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Jul 29, 2011
But, the French translation. Which is making for some very good humor! I think once I'm done. I'll get the English too.
Other books I've had a time finding on here:
Oprhee press:
La Centurie de renoncement -- Bhartihari
Le Jardin pres de la mer -- H. D.
Cobra Poesie, anthologie -- Jean-Clarence Lambert
L'etoile la plus triste -- Lucian Blaga
La Chambre blanche -- Henry Bataille
AND Paris...Bombay...Delhi -- Centre Pompidou. A fantastic introdu
Other books I've had a time finding on here:
Oprhee press:
La Centurie de renoncement -- Bhartihari
Le Jardin pres de la mer -- H. D.
Cobra Poesie, anthologie -- Jean-Clarence Lambert
L'etoile la plus triste -- Lucian Blaga
La Chambre blanche -- Henry Bataille
AND Paris...Bombay...Delhi -- Centre Pompidou. A fantastic introdu
Mar 01, 2011
Bobby
rated it:
The author takes two things that loom large in India's psyche--its struggle for independence and The Mahabharata--and combines them. Specifically, he juxtaposes 2000 year-old, give or take, characters (and story lines) from The Mahabharata with some major figures of modern India, such as Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru, Indra Gandhi etc., and their actions. While this is a clever premise and at times executed very well, in a book this size, it started to feel forced, repetitive, and not very authentic. Ho
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Feb 21, 2012
Anukriti
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He's got Mahabarata intervowen with The indian struggle for independance. All characters and plots Moulded into one! it is a feat indeed. Sometimes there is even references to characters from "passage to India". This theoretically sounds imbalanced and overly aesthetic but believe you me from page one and from paragraph one, this book will not leave your side untill you have vanquished and devoured it!
Jul 26, 2011
Kingfan30
rated it:
I did not enjoy this book as much as I thought I would, it was very confusing at times, and some of the names quite similar so that did not help! I did enjoy reading about their beliefs and what is and is not acceptable, it really is a different country'. It was nice to see the Taj Mahal mentioned (as I visited there earlier this year and it is amazing) although I did have to wait till the end of the book.
Jun 03, 2007
Kate
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Although I'm not religious, I love books that draw on religious symbolism and allusion. (For example, Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials is rooted in Paradise Lost... love it to death).
So, I really enjoyed the fact that The Great Indian Novel is based on the Mahabharata. Since I know hardly anything ABOUT the Mahabharata, I'm sure a lot of the allegory was lost on me. But it was still a really interesting mish mash of religious stories and 20th century history. Funny, too.
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So, I really enjoyed the fact that The Great Indian Novel is based on the Mahabharata. Since I know hardly anything ABOUT the Mahabharata, I'm sure a lot of the allegory was lost on me. But it was still a really interesting mish mash of religious stories and 20th century history. Funny, too.
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Jan 14, 2012
Nidhi
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Complete review - http://turningpagesbook.blogspot.com/201...
A quirky, controversial and satire filled book, pretty much the same adjectives one whould use for the author - Shashi Tharoor...
It is neither completely fiction nor is it completely non-fiction. Its a mashup of the mythological and famous Mahabharata story and the Indian Independence freedom movement and the events post the independence.
A quirky, controversial and satire filled book, pretty much the same adjectives one whould use for the author - Shashi Tharoor...
It is neither completely fiction nor is it completely non-fiction. Its a mashup of the mythological and famous Mahabharata story and the Indian Independence freedom movement and the events post the independence.
Feb 15, 2008
Sriram
rated it:
"India is not a developing country, but a highly developed country in an advanced state of decay"
This book captures Tharoor at his very best. Extremely witty and shifting effortlessly between mythical and historical characters, prose and poetry: he captures the indian freedom struggle and you realize how startling the resemblance is with the Mahabharata
It straddles both the indian freedom struggle and one of the most ancient poems in the world- the Mahabharata. More...
This book captures Tharoor at his very best. Extremely witty and shifting effortlessly between mythical and historical characters, prose and poetry: he captures the indian freedom struggle and you realize how startling the resemblance is with the Mahabharata
It straddles both the indian freedom struggle and one of the most ancient poems in the world- the Mahabharata. More...
Aug 17, 2010
GeekChick
rated it:
Tharoor tells the story of Indian Independence by fictionalizing the characters and analogizing to the Mahabharata, a great Indian epic (Bhagavad Gita comes from it).
Tharoor's writing is easy, intelligent, and fun. This is an EXCELLENT book! I am enjoying it thoroughly!
I am SO glad I read Mahabharata first. Though it's possible to read this without it, it really adds a whole new dimension to the book if you are able to understand the underlying imagery and analogies. More...
Tharoor's writing is easy, intelligent, and fun. This is an EXCELLENT book! I am enjoying it thoroughly!
I am SO glad I read Mahabharata first. Though it's possible to read this without it, it really adds a whole new dimension to the book if you are able to understand the underlying imagery and analogies. More...
Feb 21, 2012
Vignesh
rated it:
Its really a fantastic read.
let each man live by his own code of conduct ,so long as he has one.Derive ur standards from the world around you and not from a heritage whose relevance must be constantly tested.reject equally the sterility of ideologies and the passionate prescriptions of those who dinks themselves infallible.Admit dat there is der is more than one truth,more than one right,more than one dharma...
let each man live by his own code of conduct ,so long as he has one.Derive ur standards from the world around you and not from a heritage whose relevance must be constantly tested.reject equally the sterility of ideologies and the passionate prescriptions of those who dinks themselves infallible.Admit dat there is der is more than one truth,more than one right,more than one dharma...
Nov 05, 2011
Shovelmonkey1
rated it:
Received today as part of a bookring on bookcrossing.com
This is a great book and written to cover a fairly epic time period. I suspect the word "ambitious" was probably applied to it by literary reviewers when it was first published. The story outlines major events and characters within Indian Politics in the last century - test your knowledge of Indian Politics and try to work out the events and people - but is set against the backdrop of the Mahabharata, a Sanskrit epic of Anci More...
This is a great book and written to cover a fairly epic time period. I suspect the word "ambitious" was probably applied to it by literary reviewers when it was first published. The story outlines major events and characters within Indian Politics in the last century - test your knowledge of Indian Politics and try to work out the events and people - but is set against the backdrop of the Mahabharata, a Sanskrit epic of Anci More...
Dec 15, 2011
Alex
rated it:
There are two Indian stories that gets more fresh and more lively each time you hear it. The Tale of Indian Independence and the Mahabharata - the greatest stories India has ever produced. Shashi Tharoor has brought those two together and mixed them in style which resulted in this magical tale.
Sep 30, 2007
Shree
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Shashi Tharoor is at his best in this book. I follow his weekly column in the newspaper but he's never done better than that book.
The imagination of blending characters from the Mahabharata and Colonial India creates the kind of humor that makes you want to roll on the floor laughing. It's kinda harsh on some of the historical leaders but nothing Inwedians do not know about.
This book actually made me get up and read RKN's Mahabharata for the first time. I did not know many o More...
The imagination of blending characters from the Mahabharata and Colonial India creates the kind of humor that makes you want to roll on the floor laughing. It's kinda harsh on some of the historical leaders but nothing Inwedians do not know about.
This book actually made me get up and read RKN's Mahabharata for the first time. I did not know many o More...
Jun 09, 2011
Mercury
rated it:
A 1970's India rendition of The Mahabharata, it is beautifully written and funny. If you know the Mahabharata and the Indian personalities of the 1950's to 1970's this book then becomes extremely funny!
One of a kind!!
One of a kind!!
Dec 07, 2010
Anurag
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Well, the book reportrays the Mahabharta character into Freedom fighters and in doing so it doesn't care about the timeline, the choice which makes the book intresting and curiousity generator. Great read.
Nov 05, 2009
Prashant
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Very interesting read. Analogy between Mahabharat and Indian political figures of Independence era is very innovative. The way the story is told is also very interesting.
Apr 23, 2008
Claire
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This book combined Indian myth linked to ancient sanskrit texts with modern Indian history of the pre and post independance era. It was quite unique in that it was written through a character narrator who often interrupted himself to tell a joke or explain a detail. I very much enjoyed it, but I was unable to understand some of the illusions it made to Hindu religion and texts as I have little knowledge of both. It would be a great book for someone with a little more background in Indian hist
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Aug 31, 2011
Rahul
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heard very good review from my friends...but highly disappointed .....reading the book... effective presentation ....and story telling tactics are missing.
Jan 19, 2012
Ajay
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Mahabharatha in a 20th century avatar. If you are Indian you would enjoy it even more. It is devious, subversive and thoroughly entertaining.
Mar 15, 2009
Mohit
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Lovely Novel equates Indian political scenario with the characters of mahabharata. A must read for everyone.
Jun 27, 2011
Biogeek
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Surely a book with a title like this could not be ...well ...that great. I have to admit I found it very enjoyable. Tharoor does a great job of weaving together fiction, non-fiction, mythology, pop culture and throws in just the right amount of Bollywood.
