The Twelfth Imam, by Joel Rosenberg

I picked up Joel Rosenberg’s The Twelfth Imam expecting a war thriller. Turned out to be more of religious fiction, not exactly my favorite genre.

Don’t get me wrong, the book starts off well, has the crisp pace of a thriller and characters that suit the genre of thriller very well, but somewhere in the last parts of the book, the story gets lost and it just ends, abruptly.

I think what lets down a thriller is when the thrill is overwhelmed by other factors that are better left subdued. Religion in a book is acceptable, but when it comes to an extent that almost feels like a sermon, then the book feels heavy and unreadable. It becomes almost comical given that the premise is a thriller.

Not sure if I would recommend it to anyone. But I guess it’ll be of interest to those who like religious fiction.

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Why should you read it?
Crisp pace of thriller, characters that suit the genre as well.

What you may not like...
Becomes heavy and preachy, almost like hearing a sermon.

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Book Details:
Title: The Twelfth Imam
Series: The Twelfth Imam #1
Author: Joel Rosenberg
Genre: Fiction/Religious Thriller
ISBN/ASIN: 9788184954470
Publisher: Jaico
Price: INR. 350

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Shared with
First Reads Challenge at b00k r3vi3ws

Reviewed by Leo, for Jaico Books.

Siva: The Siva Purana Retold by Ramesh Menon

Image Source: gangabooksemporium.com

SIVA - The Siva Purana Retold: Religious, Non-Fiction

AUTHOR: Ramesh Menon

BEST SELLERS: The Hunt for K and Blue God: A Life of Krishna (1992), Ramesh Menon, born in 1951 at New Delhi, has also rendered modern translations of The Ramayana (2000), The Mahabharata (2004) and The Bhagavata Purana into English prose.

SYNOPSIS (From back cover): 

One day of Bramha has 14 Indras; his life has 54,000 Indras. One day of Vishnu is the lifetime of Bramha. The lifetime of Vishnu is one day of Siva.

There are 18 Mahapuranas, great Puranas, and the Siva Purana is one of them. Siva is a vivid retelling of the Siva Purana for today's reader.The book contains all the major legends of Siva, bringing them alive again for a new generation. The characters and events one encounters here are awesome, many are cosmic. Siva himself is the Auspicious One. He is Mahadeva, the greatest God.

EXCERPT:

SIVA AND SATI

He had sat in tapasya for thousands of interminable, cosmic years; yet his mind grew unsteady with compassion for the world. His eyes fluttered half open and tears fell from them as if at a vow broken. From those precious drops the the rudraksha plants sprouted.

Siva has said to the Goddess, the rudraksha is the holiest bead in this world. Wearing rudraksha, Siva's tears, destroys the most heinous sins.

MSM Speaks: Oh, the humbleness which you feel when you read something like this. I scoff at religious things, wondering at the mere mumjo jumbo of words and thinking, do they even have a meaning? I stand corrected now. Siva was given to me by a friend who knows I was in love with Siva's Nirgun-avatar (Something like a Supreme being with no shape or form). I had never ever thought I'd pick up a religious book to read - a Purana to be precise, and enjoy it. I read it like a lay person, not having true idea of the mythology - and the ideas which I had, I kept them aside. I initially picked it up and left, after reading 12 Chapters. I was kind of losing interest. But few days after, when I was caught up with a lot of other things, I started to read from where I'd left and whoa! It was over before I knew it.

There are many stories - how Bramha, with the help of Kaama Deva (God of love), took vengeance on Siva, by making him fall in love with Sati, how Bramha has only Four heads, when he had five; how daksha got the head of a goat, and other such intriguing narrations and revelations. These stories show, that not even Greatest of Gods, were spared from the wheel of karma. And a lot of things that we believe in these days, you would see, have been given in the Purana. Impressive Stuff. Seriously. After reading the kind of books I've reviewed off late - Ref. to Tea-20 , something like this is a fresh and welcome change. Believe me, you will not regret reading this, considering that this was my first experience of reviewing a religious non-fiction book - the very genre I had thought I will not review.

Mr. Menon adopts literal translation - from Sanskrit to English, and therefore, there are words and references, which were a bit difficult to interpret. He has actually simplified the verses a lot, telling the stories in a beautiful narrative style, which saves this book from getting painfully boring - especially for someone like us, the youth, who, in spite of being readers, do not have much patience with such books, unless we really like the genre. MSM Recommends this.

My Rating: 4.5/5 (I really wanted to give five, but nothing is perfect.)

Siva: The Siva Purana Retold @ Rupa & Co. (2006) Sixth Reprint (2011)
ISBN 978-81-291-1495-2
Pages: 324
flipkart Price: 365/-INR

The Pregnant King by Devdutta Pattanaik

ISBN: 0143063472
First published: 2008
Pages:360
Binding: Paperback
Genre: Fiction/ mythology
Price: INR 299
Author: Devdutt Pattanaik

Other works: 7 secrets of Shiva, 7 secrets of Vishnu, Myth=Mithya, Jaya, Hanuman's Ramayan, The Book of Ram

UCV says: He wept for his father, the pregnant king, for the imperfection of the human condition, and our stubborn refusal to make room for all those in between.


This last line of the book, The Pregnant King by Devdutt Pattanaik, succinctly sums up its message. And what a powerful message! The book is less about the 'aberrations in nature' and more about society disowning them. Whether in Dwapara Yuga or the Kali, human beings have remained the same in their non-acceptance of the non-normal. Through the story of many major and minor (as we call it these days) LGBT mythological characters, Pattanaik reminds us of the humanity we often forget to show to humans who are a little different. In his first work of fiction, he writes with the same signature elegance, that make all his books so readable. His merit is in presenting the universal aspects of ancient stories that make them relevant to the modern reader.

Pattanaik mentions right in the beginning of the book how he has neither adhered to chronology nor to geographical boundaries. He has pulled out many popular characters from across mythology, uniting them in this work of fiction to demonstrate the agony of persons whose minds and bodies are divided on the aspect of sexuality. So apart from the story of Yuvanashva - man and mother, there are stories about Shikhandi - woman and prince of Panchal, Ila - man and wife, Somvat- boy and wife, and even Arjuna - warrior and eunuch among others. Not just human characters, the author tells us stories of gods and demons also plagued by mixed sexualities. There is, for instance, Sthunakarna - a yaksha and yakshini and Ileshwara - god and goddess.When he needed to introduce similar queer characters into the story, who could not in any way be connected to the plot, the author made clever use of bards, who tell stories about them.

Coming back to the prime character of Yuvanashva, Pattanaik etches a well-defined character of the king who became a mother. Unable to bear a child for many years, the king seeks desperate measures. A magical potion churned by two Sidhhas promise him children, but not quite in the way he imagines. Instead of his wives, the king accidentally drinks it and begets a child. Though the truth of the child is kept a secret from the subjects and even the child himself, it manifests itself in the king's maternal feelings. Then comes a moment of truth, which threatens to destroy all order. When the truth is rejected, as it is done to this day, Yuvanashva leaves the world in search of a truth that transcends all human definitions.

The book tackles the questions of gender roles and discrimination very well. It explores the many relationships that define our lives. Parent-child, husband-wife, friendship, veneration and rejection. It draws richly from the many lessons in our ancient scriptures and presents a posy of wisdom. Though the plot was a little slow to start up, once it did there was no going back. Read it because it will impregnate you will some very worthy thoughts.


Rating: 4/5
Published by: Penguin India

Krishna Charitra - Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay

AUTHOR - Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay

BEST-SELLERS - Anandamath (1882), Kapalkundala (1866), Vishabriksha

SYNOPSIS - Krishna Charitra is a famous Bengali classic where Bankim Chandra endeavours to discover Sri Krishna, the real person, behind centuries of myths and legends. Written in 1886, this was the first instance where the character of Krishna is studied from a pragmatic and questioning perspective. Like his novel Ananda Math, Krishna Charitra originates from Bankim Chandra's passionate feeling of patriotism. He wanted to uphold Sri Krishna as not just a mythological figure, but an ideal Indian character, whom other Indians could look up to. Sri Aurobindo says, “Bankim Chandra poured over the Bhagavad Gita and the Vedas striving to catch the deeper and sacred sense of those profound writings. To give that to his countrymen was the strenuous aim of Krishna Charitra.” In this translation of Krishna Charitra, several passages of Bankim's academic discussions have been omitted, so as to make it easier for the common reader. Also deleted are the criticisms on the European people that Bankim Chandra includes in his book from time to time. Otherwise, the text strictly follows the structure and the content of the original dissertation.

PULKIT SPEAKS -

A worthy research and analysis;

On January the 5th this year, I had a car crash. Fortunately neither me, nor my friends sitting in my car got injured much, but if you would see the post accident car image, you won't believe this. I don't know how much is the role of almighty in deciding the luck factor and chances in our life, but there is a person in us, that can never attain peace, unless he has faith. Faith and hope are interlinked, and one medium of reaching it has been recognized as religion, by a large number of people all over the world. I am not religious, but I appreciate the understanding of life, and somehow all confusing quests of reaching your personal conclusions have somewhat or other turn, where you have to journey the path of religion.
A hindu by birth, I am passionate about exploring other religious foundational values, just as much as I am in love of exploring its own. One chracter of Hindu Mythology, that has always managed to catch my fascination has been Lord Krishna.

I had an injured leg those days in mid Jan, and was prescribed to spend most of the time on bed. I found this book near the bedside in my brother's collection at his place in Kannauj, where I had chosen to spend that bed rest period (My elder brother is a sweetheart, he takes great care of me). This book deals with idea of how time creates a pile of myths over facts when same stories are narrated over centuries. It is an extensive research carried out in almost a decade time, and a parallel commentary by the renowned author alongside, as he takes one tale at a time, and then carefully points out the contradictions in it and simultaneously delivers his own conclusion about the same. This was fun, learning experience and understanding of a hero, that holds the key to many religious books of Hindu Dharma. It is a commentary but notes have been written in the form of story telling in whole of the book, and thus the reading experience is high on entertainment value and engagement. A must try for those, who like experimental literature, I am one of those.

RATING - 3.5/5. A different kind of a book. Hard work of the research generates curiosity and expands logic of the central god, whose all dimensions of the chracter have been dealed and thought upon with great insights. I am glad, I read it.

PRICE - 300 something rupees, The hard cover shall serve as a beautiful object in your shelf for sure. It looks amazing and generates initial curiosity for sure.