The Great Indian Novel ~ Book Review

The Great Indian Novel is a beautiful novel written by my all-time favorite author, Shashi Tharoor. The Mahabharata serves as the backdrop to the main narrative, which is about the struggle for Indian independence. This might sound strange but trust me, this is a marvelous book that deserves umpteen plaudits. Never have I ever been let down by Shashi Tharoor.

Even though this book is based on the Freedom struggle that most of us are familiar with, Shashi Tharoor’s wry humor and eloquent writing style give the book a sprightful touch that essentially converts it into an ineluctable page-turner thereby making it a must-read. While reading this book, I found it difficult to stop thinking about how well-written this book was. The way Mr. Tharoor amalgamated the freedom struggle into the Mahabharata was just phenomenal. What bedazzled me more, was the way in which Shashi Tharoor named the characters in the book, the prudently named characters added to the intricacy of the book which makes it all the more unique and remarkable. Normally, while reading a fictional/non-fictional book, I usually don’t bother to remember the names of the characters as I find it quite gruesome and banal but this book, like the Mahabharata, has a smorgasbord of interesting names with deep meanings and they are very specific so do pay close attention while reading. I would also suggest reading this wikipedia entry to get a gist of the characters.

And of course, you need to have the slightest idea of the Mahabharata and proportionately, the Indian freedom struggle, to truly appreciate this concoction of a book. Overall this is a rather thick book with an ‘okayish’ cover, albeit that shouldn’t discourage you from reading it. This is one of the best books in Shashi Tharoor’s multitudinous oeuvre and it is imperative that you read it.

thanks for reading

bye 👋

-Rajat

PS - I am really sorry for the long hiatus as I was a bit busy lately. Anyways, stay tuned for my next article! :)