ePub ASURA : Tale of the Vanquished by Mr Anand Neelakantan in History

Review

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful. Amazing ReadBy WhoAmI"Asura: Tale of the Vanquished" is probably the best work of fiction by an Indian author that I had the pleasure of reading in a long time. It is very entertaining as well as informative. The narration style is highly imaginative and introspective; consistent with the first-person mode of storytelling. The author does a brilliant job of explaining the wider social/political/economic context of the period in which the story takes place; from the perspective of Ravana and also another character who is a common man living in erstwhile Lanka. I read some comments about the language being too long-winded but honestly; I didn't feel that way. When you write a story in first person; the narration has to be more explicit anyway. In fact; I enjoyed getting into the main characters' minds and the pleasure was enhanced as Mr. Neelakantan has an excellent command of the language and a good sense of humor and irony. One flaw in my opinion is that some of the main characters such as Rama and Meghnada were not fully developed. Another thing is that due to the book being written from the perspective of just two characters; the author could not include a lot of direct dialog/conversations to illustrate situations where other characters are involved but not these two. Such situations are described indirectly from Ravana's or Bhadra's viewpoint only.However; despite these observations; I still enjoyed the book a lot. Guess I am going to read his next book as well!0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Disappointing...its saving grace is; it unfolds a version of the Ramayana where Sita is Ravana's daughter.By We Are 1Neelakantan's Ajaya was a great read; cliff hanging chapter endings; ethical qualms; profound questions of Dharma; addressed again and again...Asura is sooo disappointing...its saving grace is; it unfolds a version of the Ramayana where Sita is Ravana's daughter... The first pages; which define Neelakantan's Ravana are well done as is the last 10% of the book where Neelakantan's long laboured critique of caste; finally comes to fruition.. ...Mataji Vanamali's telling of the legends is so much more worthwhile in; The Complete Life of Rama: Based on Valmiki's Ramayana and the Earliest Oral Traditions and Hanuman: The Devotion and Power of the Monkey God...much more depth; beauty; excitement and profound spiritual insight....0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Strong story; but weak attention to detail.By SunilCompelling story.. You definitely sit up and take notice of the protagonist.. Raavana like never seen before.. But.. The lack of attention to detail.. looks like author lost track of the small details that he sets up even as recent a few scenes ago within the same chapter.Also the typos and grammatical errors make it a sub-par reading experience.