The Sound of the Kiss, or The Story That Must Never Be Told

by Piṅgaḷi Sūrana

Composed in the mid-sixteenth century, The Sound of the Kiss , or The Story That Must Never Be Told , could be considered the first novel written in South Asia. Telugu, the language spoken in today's Andhra Pradesh region of southern India, has a classical literary tradition extending over a thousand years. Suranna's masterpiece comes from a period of intense creativity in Telugu, when great poets produced strikingly modern innovations. The novel explodes preconceived ideas about early South Indian for example, that the characters lack interiority, that the language is formulaic, and that Telugu texts are mere translations of earlier Sanskrit works. Employing the poetic style known as campu , which mixes verse and prose, Pingali Suranna's work transcends our notions of traditional narrative. "I wanted to have the structure of a complex narrative no one had ever known," he said of his great novel, "with rich evocations of erotic love, and also descriptions of gods and temples that would be a joy to listen to."

The Sound of the Kiss is both a gripping love story and a profound meditation on mind and language. Shulman and Rao include a thorough introduction that provides a broader understanding of, and appreciation for, the complexities and subtleties of this text.

Genres: India, Fiction, Poetry, 16th Century, Classics

220 pages, Paperback

First published November 15, 2002

Reviews

[Muskan · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you choose to read only one Indian novel for the rest of your life, let it be the one.

The novel starts with a poem praising Krishna and the city closest to his heart, Dvarka. He uses different ways of narration to explain a certain point. His write-ups are not always serious, in fact, playful in most cases. Adding beauty and excitement, even to the pompous act of praising:

"Students joke about their teachers, who don’t practise
what they preach. For example, they tell you never to make love
at sunset. But every day at this hour, when the sun burns
on the waves, you can see the goddess of the city
reflected in the water, her arms wound tight
around the god who lies upon the ocean
and who won’t let her go."

Next, starts the teasing, the outright mentioning of the story that must never be told,

"Whoever tells those stories or hears them will have to have
children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren and live with vast
wealth and happiness on earth for a very long time."

But who wants to live as a human on earth when he/she can live as a God in heavens.

There are quite a few characters in the book and their names not very memorable. Most among these characters are the previous births of the present-day characters who had either been blessed or cursed to live in prosperity in next life or suffer/die. The stories have been written so clearly and with such ripe meaning that even after the constant shift of the timelines and places, nothing seemed lost, everything was right in its true place.

"The novel inhabits the space between the authorial intention—of God the Creator, who tells the story in outline—and the actual psychic and experienced world of each of the characters separately and of their combined interactions. In this sense, the novel is a field within which these issues of multiple realities can be worked out, played with, liberated into form."
– Invitation to Second Reading

The literary capacity of the writer is such that, he wrote a poem in Telugu to answer the King’s question and when the same poem was read reversely in Sanskrit, it had the best advice someone could give to a king. Just by reversely reading a poem in another language, the meaning of the poem was improved numerous times. When translated in English, the length of the reversed poem was increased to three times the Telugu version. That’s the pleasant surprise I wish for everyone and also the one from which the author lifts the veil at the end. One wouldn’t be able to suppress ones smile with the beautiful revelation of the last line.

The story advances very precisely, like mathematics in its best form, without anything that might be called extra. Even with such precision, poetry flowed like water in the novel. Both the prose and verse were adequately poetic in their appearance. The mixture of varied topics such as erotic love, travelling, temples, God, yoga, myths, the science of politics and science of military strategy was blended so smoothly among one another, nothing came as surprise. Everything felt like the part of the plan, everything came and went smoothly yet the suspense was contained and even the excitement of finally having known.

Because of the very extraordinary translators of the book, the novel still felt close to the heart despite being in a foreign language. I am sure we missed quite a few things in the course of the translation, which we know only through the translator’s Introduction and Invitation to Second Reading at the beginning and at the end respectively. But the knowledge itself made the book more beautiful. If even after translation, it was such heavenly, I can’t even begin to contemplate its original charm.

Ratings-

Concept- 5/5
Plot- 5/5
Characterisation- 4.5/5
Flow- 5/5
Feels- 4.8/5
Writing Style- 5/5

Inclusive Ratings- 5/5

[♛ ѶaɱՏ¡ TM · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is English translation of Telugu novel 'Kala Purnodayam'. It was written by Pingali Surana in 15th century and this is the first Telugu novel ever written. No am not joking, this is the first Telugu novel.

Super creative, romantic and comedy thriller. Wondered and Enjoyed reading it.

[Karandeep · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a mad book.


I loved every twist in this book. A multi layered prose which requires you to pay a little attention as all the characters that are ever mentioned are recalled upon in later chapters and their storyline explained and then given a closure. This closure too comes after several chapters. So you have to pay attention as the character arcs go back and forth.



It's a wonderful book to be read in leisure and each and every character is pretty interesting and the author's style of writing I hope was not lost on translation.

[Dany · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Writing poetry is like milking a cow.
You have to pause at the right moment.
You have to feel your way, gently, with a good heart, without breaking the rules.
You need a certain soft way of speaking.
You can’t use harsh words or cause a disturbance. Your feet should be firm, your rhythm precise.
It requires a clear focus.
If it all works right, a poet becomes popular,
and a cowherd gets his milk.
If not, they get kicked.” (3)

“It’s a beginning. In fact, it’s as good as certain.” (18)

“The sky was still tinged with red, and the first stars became visible like cotton ripening in the field when farmers offer blood sacrifice to the crop. People looked up at the stars in amazement and thought to them- selves, “The world above is all light, you can see for yourself, since the ancient ceiling of the sky is clearly riddled with holes. They just look to us like stars.”

Imagine a weaver setting up his loom inside his house, weaving brilliant white threads of silk, and from outside you can only see the window, dense with light: night came on, the moon rose, casting its silky rays. Like a white sari spread wide, like a stream of milk or a dusting of white flour, moonlight flooded the world.” (149)

“There’s a world called Vaikuntha,
beyond the river of death,
where suffering stops.
In that world, there are no logicians,
no ritualists, no grammarians,
no arguments about what things mean.

All that is there is God,
Goddess, and their love.
On earth, people still suffer.
Even the goddess wonders why.

Is it because there are still gaps?
He’s always overflowing.
He’s always free.

There are places on earth
where God lives: Srirangam,
Tirupati, Ahobalam, Purushottama.
If you go there, you’ll find him.” (164)

[Kandachamy Vijayakumaran · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have a mixed feeling about the book. The whole narration is mixture of events of mythological characters preoccupied with love and sex in real geography of the country creating a sheer confusion about the timeline. Frankly I am not concerned about the special position of the original work in Telugu (first novel!). I do not know who the readers of this genre of writing are. To enjoy this work, they need a special mindset. Since I lack that, I have a feeling, I wasted my time.

[Raghuram · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fictional story blended with mythology. An excellent read.

[Michael Nixon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Outrageous and wonderful!