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Ullal | ഉള്ളാൾ
118 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2014
1 person is currently reading
22 people want to read
About the author
P.V. Shajikumar
6 books14 followers1983 മെയ് 21 ന് കാസര്ഗോഡ് ജില്ലയിലെ കാലിച്ചാംപൊതിയില് ജനനം. കാസര്ഗോഡ് എഞ്ചിനിയറിംഗ് കോളേജില് നിന്ന് എം.സി.എ ബിരുദം. ജനം, വെള്ളരിപ്പാടം, കിടപ്പറസമരം എന്നീ കഥാസമാഹാരങ്ങള് . കാലിച്ചാംപൊതിയിലേക്ക് ഒരു ഹാഫ്ടിക്കറ്റ് എന്ന ലേഖനസമാഹാരം.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 30, 2016
Ladies and gentlemen, I am disappointed.
It says on the blurb that the author won the Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award (it is the central government academy for literature - the topmost literary body in India) for the best young writer in Malayalam. Well, all I have to say is, if this is the best that today's youth can deliver we have to be seriously worried for the future of the language.
Shajikumar's themes are interesting, though not that original: he uses a mix of fantasy and reality to tell his tales. Malayalam literature has formed this habit after the heady days of modernism, when we "intellectuals" danced around with stories set in phantasmagorical settings told in nearly undecipherable language - and declared all of them great, even when did not understand what the hell the author was trying to say, so as not to appear stupid. However, Shajikumar writes in the straightforward language of postmodernism, thank goodness. At least one can understand what one is criticising.
As I said, the themes are interesting. Here are some which interested me, for example - a mentally challenged boy from Kerala in love with a girl from Assam who visits him in his dreams: a young man who gets messages from an unknown mobile number to carry out an apparent gangland killing for favours received: a Muslim bookseller whose chance resemblance to a wanted terrorist convinces him (though not anybody else) that he is a hunted man... Also, these stories are extremely short and to the point. The two stars are for that.
However, I have a huge issue with the author's language. He tries to be cute and humorous, using slang and strange sentence constructions. There is nothing wrong in this - there are many authors who are known for their unique style (V.K.N. immediately comes to mind). But to do that, you should have absolute mastery over the medium which Shajikumar lacks in my opinion. He should have been better of writing in straightforward, no-frills language which would have made his themes stand-out: it has happened in a couple of stories.
It says on the blurb that the author won the Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award (it is the central government academy for literature - the topmost literary body in India) for the best young writer in Malayalam. Well, all I have to say is, if this is the best that today's youth can deliver we have to be seriously worried for the future of the language.
Shajikumar's themes are interesting, though not that original: he uses a mix of fantasy and reality to tell his tales. Malayalam literature has formed this habit after the heady days of modernism, when we "intellectuals" danced around with stories set in phantasmagorical settings told in nearly undecipherable language - and declared all of them great, even when did not understand what the hell the author was trying to say, so as not to appear stupid. However, Shajikumar writes in the straightforward language of postmodernism, thank goodness. At least one can understand what one is criticising.
As I said, the themes are interesting. Here are some which interested me, for example - a mentally challenged boy from Kerala in love with a girl from Assam who visits him in his dreams: a young man who gets messages from an unknown mobile number to carry out an apparent gangland killing for favours received: a Muslim bookseller whose chance resemblance to a wanted terrorist convinces him (though not anybody else) that he is a hunted man... Also, these stories are extremely short and to the point. The two stars are for that.
However, I have a huge issue with the author's language. He tries to be cute and humorous, using slang and strange sentence constructions. There is nothing wrong in this - there are many authors who are known for their unique style (V.K.N. immediately comes to mind). But to do that, you should have absolute mastery over the medium which Shajikumar lacks in my opinion. He should have been better of writing in straightforward, no-frills language which would have made his themes stand-out: it has happened in a couple of stories.
August 2, 2019
I had enjoyed the story that “Kanyaka Talkies”, the movie, was based on and that’s one reason I decided to go for PV Shajikumar’s “Ullal” which I came across in some online store. I had always heard great things about the writer and was planning to read him if I could get hold of a collection like this one. I will keep this note short by calling this collection a total disaster - I bailed after the 4th story. His attempts at humor falls flat and the tried tested “Mallu” tricks of story telling - ending the story with a twist or a beautifully crafted sentence - made me go meh. I don’t know when will our writers move on from these cliches.
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December 31, 2020Plz give me the pdf file of ullal on this email id
Sarathraj877@gmail.com
Sarathraj877@gmail.com
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews