skip to main |
skip to sidebar
i have always loved reading the mahabharata. it is such an incredible, complex and multi layered tale with innumerable upa-kathas. every time i read it there is a new perspective that is gained - to life, to our desires, to what motivates and shapes our actions.
this book tells the tale from the perspective of draupadi who helped define the events that led to the war of kurukshetra. a child born of fire with only a twin brother as companion in her childhood, draupadi is brought up as a princess without too many of the shackles of being a 'female'.
the deft recital lays emphasis on the fiery nature of draupadi - which is not very strongly tethered to the conventional stereotypes of being a 'woman'. how can it be when she is the only one married to five men simultaneously, the only woman born of a sacrificial fire invoked to wreak vengeance on her father's enemy, the only princess who has maya to build her a palace, a queen who was invited to the palace of the kauravas and humiliated by being disrobed in the mahasabha while her five husbands and all the elders watched mutely, the only queen who gave up being a mother to her five sons so that she could accompany her husbands into exile and fan their hatred of the kauravas for 12 long years, the only woman blessed with divine vision to watch the 18 day kurukshetra war...
the story is one which can fascinate five year old children to wise old individuals. the author's skill is in projecting the events as largely shaped by draupadi. the other novel aspect is the way in which a love interest between draupadi and karna is interwoven into the tapestry - karna, the character who evokes universal sympathy in the mahabharata.
'the palace of illusions' reveals some of the ways in which events and individuals transcend the boundaries that society sets for stereotypes of - gender, good and evil, duty and love. i would recommend this book to anyone who is fascinated by the mahabharata.
The book is a semi-auto-biographical narrative by mario vargas llosa.
what i found charming is the structure of the novel itself. the title to each chapter is the beginning of the sentence in the same chapter. the story moves back and forth between the radio serial stories and the tumultous events in the life of the teenage mario. the first such story about doctor alberto quinteros was really like a teaser- i kept looking through all the chapters for the next events in the life of alberto, red antunez, richard and elianita. i could then locate only a one word reference to richard in 'the bard of lima'towards the end of the novel!!
it was only later that i realised that it was the magic of pedro camacho which had kept me so engrossed and i believe this is what holds the entire novel together. pedro the scriptwriter for the brilliantly successful serials of the radio station panamericana, with his absurd habits, ingenious plot line is the one who comes across as more real than mario and aunt julia.
the gradual way in which mario and julia 'fall in love' is also interesting- both are acutely aware of their age differences, family disapproval, lack of funds for setting up their home, budding dreams of a teenager waiting to be fulfilled...
Despite their reality, they pursue their 'love'and marry each other in the most absurd of circumstances. Their 'love' is not one of turtle-doves and cherubs, but one more rooted in the physical world, and therefore more lustful than what is generally associated with 'love'.
julia comes across as a light hearted woman who has retained a youthful outlook to life which is reflected in her meetings with mario without the knowledge of the other family members, her willingness to elope with mario, happily going through the series of misadventures after she elopes and till they finally find a mayor to conduct their marriage.
the stories are so rich in detail and seem to have lost nothing in translation. i could actually view in my minds-eye, the landscape of the desert where the sales man runs over the girl, the shack in the jungle where where rats ate up the baby, the harbour where the negro hides, the crushed spectators in the football field, the wedding reception that was attended by dr alberto quinteros, the buddng charm of the young teenager born to very old parents, who cried 'rape', the ruthless way in which the rat exterminator was beaten up by his family....
an amusing read and a very good introduction to the works of mario vargas llosa.
