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River of Ink
From his humble village beginnings, Asanka has risen to the prestigious position of court poet in the great island kingdom of Lanka, delighting in a life of ease. But when the ruthless Kalinga Magha violently usurps the throne, Asanka's world is changed beyond imagination. To his horror, the king tasks him with the translation of an epic poem designed to civilise his subjects and snuff out the fires of rebellion…
Asanka has always believed that poetry makes nothing happen, but as lines on the page become cries in the street he learns that true power lies not at the point of a sword, but in the tip of a pen.
Asanka has always believed that poetry makes nothing happen, but as lines on the page become cries in the street he learns that true power lies not at the point of a sword, but in the tip of a pen.
337 pages, Paperback
First published January 26, 2016
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About the author
Paul M.M. Cooper
3 books312 followersPaul Cooper was born in South London and grew up in Cardiff, Wales. He was educated at the University of Warwick and the UEA, and after graduating he left for Sri Lanka to work as an English teacher.
Paul has worked as an archivist, editor and journalist, and has a PhD in the cultural and literary significance of ruins. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, The BBC, The Atlantic, National Geographic, New Scientist and Discover Magazine.
His first novel, River of Ink, was published in January 2016, and his second novel, All Our Broken Idols was released in May 2020. His upcoming work of nonfiction, Fall of Civilizations: Stories of Greatness and Decline will be released in April 2024.
He writes, produces and hosts the Fall of Civilizations podcast, which has charted in the top ten British podcasts, and gained upwards of 100 million listens since it launched in 2019.
He is on Twitter as @PaulMMCooper
Paul has worked as an archivist, editor and journalist, and has a PhD in the cultural and literary significance of ruins. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, The BBC, The Atlantic, National Geographic, New Scientist and Discover Magazine.
His first novel, River of Ink, was published in January 2016, and his second novel, All Our Broken Idols was released in May 2020. His upcoming work of nonfiction, Fall of Civilizations: Stories of Greatness and Decline will be released in April 2024.
He writes, produces and hosts the Fall of Civilizations podcast, which has charted in the top ten British podcasts, and gained upwards of 100 million listens since it launched in 2019.
He is on Twitter as @PaulMMCooper
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 132 reviews
December 1, 2015
River of Ink is a breathtakingly dazzling novel by Paul M M Cooper. Located in Sri Lanka in the 13th century, Cooper injects the country, people, climate, culture, flora and fauna with vibrantly alive lyrical prose and poetry, exquisite imagery and sumptuous allegories. The poet, Asanka, is a guilt-ridden timid personality, who is instructed by the cruel and despotic new ruler, Magha, to translate the ancient sanskrit epic, the Shushupala Vadua. Magha believes it will civilise his new subjects and legitimise his rule. It is his love for Sarasi, a court servant girl, which inspires the subversive and reimagined translation which eventually move the people to overthrow the tyrant.
The story is split into three parts - smoke, ink and rain. Smoke depicts a nation torn asunder by the chaos and horror of the invasion. Magha has the king executed and wants the Queen as his wife, but her attempt to kill him means that she is publicly executed. A drought descends on the country and there are countless distressing events visited on the people, including children, by Magha and his invading army.These appalling incidents continue in part two. In the second section, Ink, the river of blood which is created by the invasion begins to be countered by the birth of the river of ink with the poem. Or to be more precise, Asanka’s translation, is copied in instalments and spread throughout the nation. Magha misses entirely the references and description of himself as the evil Sushupal. The third section, Rain, depicts the end of the drought, the reading of the final part of the translation in public where Magha grasps the truth of his part in Asanka’s translation. The cracks in his rule appear and a revolution is well and truly under way.
I love the way that writing is revered, with detailed descriptions of the process of making paper and the multitude of ways in which ink is prepared. Those who participate in the process are true professionals who can source the origins of pieces of work from the paper and the ink. Homage is paid to the saying that the pen is mightier than the sword. Asanka never really understands the role he plays in driving a revolution. Indeed, he rails at his inaction when he asks what is it that a poet can do? The strength of books and writings are encapsulated by the enormous pyres of burning books and libraries that take place in Magha’s attempt to obliterate all indigenous power, knowledge and culture.
There is poignant irony where Magha recounts his father’s advice that an enemy can never defeat you unless you give him the means to do so. Magha is unaware that he has placed the means in Asanka’s hands in asking for the translation. Asanka and Sarasi’s lives mirror Krishna and Rukmini, the characters in his translated poem. Where Krishna kills Sushipal, Asanka uses the pen to annihilate Magha. Magha wants Sarasi as his queen and it is at this point that Asanka found the physical courage to oppose him.
The River of Ink is the history of Asanka and his lover,Sarasi. The ink is rendered in Asanka’s neverending search for Sarasi at the end whilst never losing hope that he will be with her, the light, the love and the meaning of his life. And, of course, in overthrowing an unjust ruler. This book was a delight to read and savour. I would like to thank Bloomsbury for giving me a copy via the goodreads giveaways. It was well and truly appreciated. I would like to end by telling others to read it, they will not regret it.
The story is split into three parts - smoke, ink and rain. Smoke depicts a nation torn asunder by the chaos and horror of the invasion. Magha has the king executed and wants the Queen as his wife, but her attempt to kill him means that she is publicly executed. A drought descends on the country and there are countless distressing events visited on the people, including children, by Magha and his invading army.These appalling incidents continue in part two. In the second section, Ink, the river of blood which is created by the invasion begins to be countered by the birth of the river of ink with the poem. Or to be more precise, Asanka’s translation, is copied in instalments and spread throughout the nation. Magha misses entirely the references and description of himself as the evil Sushupal. The third section, Rain, depicts the end of the drought, the reading of the final part of the translation in public where Magha grasps the truth of his part in Asanka’s translation. The cracks in his rule appear and a revolution is well and truly under way.
I love the way that writing is revered, with detailed descriptions of the process of making paper and the multitude of ways in which ink is prepared. Those who participate in the process are true professionals who can source the origins of pieces of work from the paper and the ink. Homage is paid to the saying that the pen is mightier than the sword. Asanka never really understands the role he plays in driving a revolution. Indeed, he rails at his inaction when he asks what is it that a poet can do? The strength of books and writings are encapsulated by the enormous pyres of burning books and libraries that take place in Magha’s attempt to obliterate all indigenous power, knowledge and culture.
There is poignant irony where Magha recounts his father’s advice that an enemy can never defeat you unless you give him the means to do so. Magha is unaware that he has placed the means in Asanka’s hands in asking for the translation. Asanka and Sarasi’s lives mirror Krishna and Rukmini, the characters in his translated poem. Where Krishna kills Sushipal, Asanka uses the pen to annihilate Magha. Magha wants Sarasi as his queen and it is at this point that Asanka found the physical courage to oppose him.
The River of Ink is the history of Asanka and his lover,Sarasi. The ink is rendered in Asanka’s neverending search for Sarasi at the end whilst never losing hope that he will be with her, the light, the love and the meaning of his life. And, of course, in overthrowing an unjust ruler. This book was a delight to read and savour. I would like to thank Bloomsbury for giving me a copy via the goodreads giveaways. It was well and truly appreciated. I would like to end by telling others to read it, they will not regret it.
January 11, 2016
January is too early to start proclaiming anything the 'best book of the year,' right?
Well, obviously I can't say for sure, but this very well might be.
'River of Ink' is historical fiction with the feel of epic fantasy. It's an ABSOLUTE MUST for any fan of Guy Gavriel Kay. (It's a shame that this isn't going to show up on fantasy lists just because it doesn't feature the alternate-names overlay that Kay uses in his fiction.) But it's the exact same mix of history with a dash of the fantastic, and features very similar themes: homeland, loyalty, love...
In 13th-century Sri Lanka, an invader (later to be known as Magha the Tyrant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalinga...) has seized power. Under the new regime, executions and bloody slaughter are daily events, and no one, from the lowliest farmer to the highest court official, is safe. The court poet, Asanka, lives in terror, but is spared - for now - because Magha has a use for him: he is ordered to make a translation of a famed epic poem, The Shishupala Vadha (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shishup...), from Sanskrit into Tamil. Magha believes that this project will endear him to the populace - but almost by accident, the act of translation might become an act of sedition.
Meanwhile, Asanka attempts to use his precarious protected status to procure safety for his beloved mistress, Sarasai. But will his favor only endanger her further?
As befits a story deeply involved with a poet and poetry, the language is lyrical and evocative. For that alone, it is a pleasure to read. But beyond that, the background is painstakingly researched and the setting brought vividly and believably to life. And then - above the setting, the true strength of the story is the character study of Asanka, his cowardice, his passions, his complex emotions, and beautifully realized contradictions - and the growth that he is led to.
It's almost hard to believe that this is both a debut novel and that the author is so young - the mastery of the writing craft feels strong and effortless, and the portrayal of a character who is no longer young is wholly convincing. Impressive.
Many thanks to Bloomsbury and NetGalley for the opportunity to read. As always, my opinions are solely my own.
Well, obviously I can't say for sure, but this very well might be.
'River of Ink' is historical fiction with the feel of epic fantasy. It's an ABSOLUTE MUST for any fan of Guy Gavriel Kay. (It's a shame that this isn't going to show up on fantasy lists just because it doesn't feature the alternate-names overlay that Kay uses in his fiction.) But it's the exact same mix of history with a dash of the fantastic, and features very similar themes: homeland, loyalty, love...
In 13th-century Sri Lanka, an invader (later to be known as Magha the Tyrant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalinga...) has seized power. Under the new regime, executions and bloody slaughter are daily events, and no one, from the lowliest farmer to the highest court official, is safe. The court poet, Asanka, lives in terror, but is spared - for now - because Magha has a use for him: he is ordered to make a translation of a famed epic poem, The Shishupala Vadha (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shishup...), from Sanskrit into Tamil. Magha believes that this project will endear him to the populace - but almost by accident, the act of translation might become an act of sedition.
Meanwhile, Asanka attempts to use his precarious protected status to procure safety for his beloved mistress, Sarasai. But will his favor only endanger her further?
As befits a story deeply involved with a poet and poetry, the language is lyrical and evocative. For that alone, it is a pleasure to read. But beyond that, the background is painstakingly researched and the setting brought vividly and believably to life. And then - above the setting, the true strength of the story is the character study of Asanka, his cowardice, his passions, his complex emotions, and beautifully realized contradictions - and the growth that he is led to.
It's almost hard to believe that this is both a debut novel and that the author is so young - the mastery of the writing craft feels strong and effortless, and the portrayal of a character who is no longer young is wholly convincing. Impressive.
Many thanks to Bloomsbury and NetGalley for the opportunity to read. As always, my opinions are solely my own.
October 30, 2020
This was such a disappointment.
I thought the writing was very beautiful. It did a very good job of setting up the Sri Lankan setting and immersing me in the country that it is set. I also think it did a good job of showing the brutality of war and what it sometimes takes to survive under a tyrant.
But it simply failed to engage me as a reader. I found the main character to be extremely unlikeable – even though I don’t think he was meant to be so. I couldn’t connect with him. Everyone thought he was so brave, but to me it seemed like he was doing what he did for selfish reasons more than anything else. And he treated some people (his wife) so horribly.
I liked that it showed a different side of rebellion than what I usually read about. A quieter one, where words have a lot of power.
The romance angered me so much. I do not think love should be as ‘dependent’ as it is portrayed in this book. His partner only wanted him if he did this and this and this, in the way she expected it. He had to make himself into someone he was not to be with her. I don’t think that’s healthy, and it is lowkey manipulative.
There was a mystery element to this book… and I felt no curiosity or interest in it at all.
The confrontations with the tyrant became so repetitive that they never frightened me. He would be scared, go to the king, something would happen that was not as bad as he expected – rinse, repeat. In fact, I even started to predict what the meetings with the tyrant would be about. That’s how repetitive it became.
As beautiful as the writing was, the main problem with this book was that I was bored from beginning to end.
Content Warnings: war, body gore, violence, execution (beheading), cheating, ableism, fatphobia, rape, whipping, cremation, murder, drought, animal abuse, imprisonment
I thought the writing was very beautiful. It did a very good job of setting up the Sri Lankan setting and immersing me in the country that it is set. I also think it did a good job of showing the brutality of war and what it sometimes takes to survive under a tyrant.
But it simply failed to engage me as a reader. I found the main character to be extremely unlikeable – even though I don’t think he was meant to be so. I couldn’t connect with him. Everyone thought he was so brave, but to me it seemed like he was doing what he did for selfish reasons more than anything else. And he treated some people (his wife) so horribly.
I liked that it showed a different side of rebellion than what I usually read about. A quieter one, where words have a lot of power.
The romance angered me so much. I do not think love should be as ‘dependent’ as it is portrayed in this book. His partner only wanted him if he did this and this and this, in the way she expected it. He had to make himself into someone he was not to be with her. I don’t think that’s healthy, and it is lowkey manipulative.
There was a mystery element to this book… and I felt no curiosity or interest in it at all.
The confrontations with the tyrant became so repetitive that they never frightened me. He would be scared, go to the king, something would happen that was not as bad as he expected – rinse, repeat. In fact, I even started to predict what the meetings with the tyrant would be about. That’s how repetitive it became.
As beautiful as the writing was, the main problem with this book was that I was bored from beginning to end.
Content Warnings: war, body gore, violence, execution (beheading), cheating, ableism, fatphobia, rape, whipping, cremation, murder, drought, animal abuse, imprisonment
May 23, 2017
The central metaphor of the title could just as well be in the plural, for flowing images appear throughout – of rivers, rivulets, of water, blood and sweat, as well as the ink with which the stories are written and which itself becomes part of the tale.
The central strand of the narrative has all the elements one expects of an epic tale – an evil king from afar (Kerala), brutally invades a calm unprepared kingdom (in Sri Lanka), where his cruel actions make him widely hated. A poet, apparently powerless, a self-described coward, is forced by King Magha, the conqueror, to translate into Tamil a Sanskrit epic, the Shishupala Vadha.part of the Mahabarata. This, Magha thinks, will bring glory to himself and demonstrate the superiority of his gods and culture over the Sinhalese.
As he struggles to translate the epic, Asanka finds himself giving the epic’s demon king the features of King Magha, first the heavy eyebrows, then more and more detail until the poet loses all restraint and sets the king and his gods up for ridicule. The background is full of fear, as the King continues his brutal campaigns to wipe out resistance of any sort, but the resistance grows, fed in part by the translated epic, copied and distributed throughout the kingdom by royal agents, and having exactly the opposite effect to what the king wished for.
Raw material for Asanka’s disrespectful rewriting of the Vadha appears mysteriously in his room as he is about to begin each section. Written in a style very different from his own courtly poetic style, these papers are written in a very special ink – one Asanka cannot identify until near the end of the book.
The main narrative around the translation is interleaved with Asanka’s own story, his love for beautiful palace servant Saraswati, and the sections that appear in Asanka’s room, telling irreverent versions of stories of the gods and heroes from the epic.
Gradually it becomes clear that poetry has power. Though Asanka believes at first that poetry makes nothing happen, his writing becomes more purposeful as he transgresses further from convention and he begins to see the power of writing – the river of ink
Cooper’s writing is superb. He manages his complex structure with skill, and the image with which I am left is of a river delta of tales, some branches sluggish, some swift but all flowing smoothly to the same end.
He lived for some time in Sri Lanka, where he taught English, and clearly enjoyed absorbing Sri Lankan history and culture.
The Financial Times: ‘A powerful and timely fable about freedom, resistance and the secret might of the weak’.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-ent...
The central strand of the narrative has all the elements one expects of an epic tale – an evil king from afar (Kerala), brutally invades a calm unprepared kingdom (in Sri Lanka), where his cruel actions make him widely hated. A poet, apparently powerless, a self-described coward, is forced by King Magha, the conqueror, to translate into Tamil a Sanskrit epic, the Shishupala Vadha.part of the Mahabarata. This, Magha thinks, will bring glory to himself and demonstrate the superiority of his gods and culture over the Sinhalese.
As he struggles to translate the epic, Asanka finds himself giving the epic’s demon king the features of King Magha, first the heavy eyebrows, then more and more detail until the poet loses all restraint and sets the king and his gods up for ridicule. The background is full of fear, as the King continues his brutal campaigns to wipe out resistance of any sort, but the resistance grows, fed in part by the translated epic, copied and distributed throughout the kingdom by royal agents, and having exactly the opposite effect to what the king wished for.
Raw material for Asanka’s disrespectful rewriting of the Vadha appears mysteriously in his room as he is about to begin each section. Written in a style very different from his own courtly poetic style, these papers are written in a very special ink – one Asanka cannot identify until near the end of the book.
The main narrative around the translation is interleaved with Asanka’s own story, his love for beautiful palace servant Saraswati, and the sections that appear in Asanka’s room, telling irreverent versions of stories of the gods and heroes from the epic.
Gradually it becomes clear that poetry has power. Though Asanka believes at first that poetry makes nothing happen, his writing becomes more purposeful as he transgresses further from convention and he begins to see the power of writing – the river of ink
Cooper’s writing is superb. He manages his complex structure with skill, and the image with which I am left is of a river delta of tales, some branches sluggish, some swift but all flowing smoothly to the same end.
He lived for some time in Sri Lanka, where he taught English, and clearly enjoyed absorbing Sri Lankan history and culture.
The Financial Times: ‘A powerful and timely fable about freedom, resistance and the secret might of the weak’.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-ent...
June 18, 2017
In the blackness I was struggling through the briars of Lanka's dark forests. I swam in the depths of the lotus pool, and then it was a pool of ink, then a river, drenching my robes, filling my lungs, my eyes, with its haunting smell.
If the life you knew - the life that you enjoyed and were comfortable in - was stolen from you, what would you do? Would you be one of the nameless who died? Would you fight? Would you be afraid? So afraid that you would do whatever it took to stay alive, even if it were abhorrent to you? If it is the latter, what is it that would kindle a flame inside you to fight even though you are afraid and alone and death is almost a certainty?
One of the books I loved most from 2015 was the Booker long-listed The Chimes. This book has echoes of that book for me. Not at all in story, character, or themes (though there is a synchronicity of fighting against injustice), but in the feel of the book. Both authors (and both debut authors!) have a lyricism, a poetry, about their prose. This book isn't long, but I took quite a few days to read it because I didn't want it to end. I know that is trite and cliche, but it is also true.
One of the things that masterful authors of historical fiction do, is to transport a reader to their world through their words, rather than through creating context through imparting large pieces of information. As in all ways in this book, this author's wordsmithery seamlessly transported me to a time and place I know little of. Whilst creating this fantastical world, the author imparted profundity regarding our own world.
I've tried, but I just can't capture words that help me describe how simple but deeply affecting this book is. It is haunting; it is devastating; it is magic. It is, without a doubt, one of the most lovely books I have read. Ever.
...For we know this much-praised life of ours is a raft borne down the waters of some mountain stream that over boulders, roaring, seeks the plain. Though storms flash from darkened skies, descend, for the raft goes on as fates decide.
A post-script. How gorgeous, how bloody gorgeous is the cover art for this book???! It was the cover that sold this book to me. Perfect cover for a perfect book.
Hot tip: Google images of Polonnaruwa. You won't be disappointed.
Disclaimer: I bought this book from the kindle store with my own hard earned money, and it was worth every cent.
If the life you knew - the life that you enjoyed and were comfortable in - was stolen from you, what would you do? Would you be one of the nameless who died? Would you fight? Would you be afraid? So afraid that you would do whatever it took to stay alive, even if it were abhorrent to you? If it is the latter, what is it that would kindle a flame inside you to fight even though you are afraid and alone and death is almost a certainty?
One of the books I loved most from 2015 was the Booker long-listed The Chimes. This book has echoes of that book for me. Not at all in story, character, or themes (though there is a synchronicity of fighting against injustice), but in the feel of the book. Both authors (and both debut authors!) have a lyricism, a poetry, about their prose. This book isn't long, but I took quite a few days to read it because I didn't want it to end. I know that is trite and cliche, but it is also true.
One of the things that masterful authors of historical fiction do, is to transport a reader to their world through their words, rather than through creating context through imparting large pieces of information. As in all ways in this book, this author's wordsmithery seamlessly transported me to a time and place I know little of. Whilst creating this fantastical world, the author imparted profundity regarding our own world.
I've tried, but I just can't capture words that help me describe how simple but deeply affecting this book is. It is haunting; it is devastating; it is magic. It is, without a doubt, one of the most lovely books I have read. Ever.
...For we know this much-praised life of ours is a raft borne down the waters of some mountain stream that over boulders, roaring, seeks the plain. Though storms flash from darkened skies, descend, for the raft goes on as fates decide.
A post-script. How gorgeous, how bloody gorgeous is the cover art for this book???! It was the cover that sold this book to me. Perfect cover for a perfect book.
Hot tip: Google images of Polonnaruwa. You won't be disappointed.
Disclaimer: I bought this book from the kindle store with my own hard earned money, and it was worth every cent.
March 8, 2017
3.5
I would have probably enjoyed this more if I'd had the time and the will to read it...uni lessons and other stuff (aka the AnY fandom going crazy over important stuff *-*) kind of swallowed me. I haven't really wanted to read after ACoL...this book was simply a case of "it's not you, it's me".
I would have probably enjoyed this more if I'd had the time and the will to read it...uni lessons and other stuff (aka the AnY fandom going crazy over important stuff *-*) kind of swallowed me. I haven't really wanted to read after ACoL...this book was simply a case of "it's not you, it's me".
July 22, 2017
‘River of Ink’ is without a doubt one of the cleverest books I have ever read. Not in a showy or flashy way, but through its simplicity which speaks volumes.
I was drawn into Asanka’s story straight away. Although not a period of time, or a location that I am overly familiar with, Paul M. M. Cooper did a fantastic job at setting out the scene without info-dumping, and I felt very much at home there, feeling the heat on my skin, and the fear in the air. It was though our introduction to Asanka, the court Poet, that made me aware of just how special this book was going to be. Asanka is in no way a hero, which sets him apart from other leading characters in literature. He is a normal man, fearful, in love, riddled with issues and above all else, at times cowardly, something to which he readily admits. Already I felt a connection to him as the protagonist for our story. He was real.
‘River of Ink’ is written almost in the form of a love letter from Asanka to his lover, a serving girl Sarasai, a love for which he bases most of his decisions and choices throughout the novel. This is another reason that the novel felt so clever to me. It foreshadowed so much of the later story in such a simplistic way that it kept me on tenterhooks throughout! Asanka’s lengths to protect Sarasai from the new King, and his desperation to prove his worthiness to her by meddling with the translations of the King’s stories, is what leads us to seeing his amazing development, whilst still remaining the same old Asanka at heart.
This is a beautifully written debut from Paul M. M. Cooper, and is worth every one of the five stars I rate it as. It is a story of love, freedom and strength, that is set in a historical time that was well-researched and brilliantly portrayed.
5 Stars!
*Review copy was kindly provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest Waterstones Bookseller Review*
I was drawn into Asanka’s story straight away. Although not a period of time, or a location that I am overly familiar with, Paul M. M. Cooper did a fantastic job at setting out the scene without info-dumping, and I felt very much at home there, feeling the heat on my skin, and the fear in the air. It was though our introduction to Asanka, the court Poet, that made me aware of just how special this book was going to be. Asanka is in no way a hero, which sets him apart from other leading characters in literature. He is a normal man, fearful, in love, riddled with issues and above all else, at times cowardly, something to which he readily admits. Already I felt a connection to him as the protagonist for our story. He was real.
‘River of Ink’ is written almost in the form of a love letter from Asanka to his lover, a serving girl Sarasai, a love for which he bases most of his decisions and choices throughout the novel. This is another reason that the novel felt so clever to me. It foreshadowed so much of the later story in such a simplistic way that it kept me on tenterhooks throughout! Asanka’s lengths to protect Sarasai from the new King, and his desperation to prove his worthiness to her by meddling with the translations of the King’s stories, is what leads us to seeing his amazing development, whilst still remaining the same old Asanka at heart.
This is a beautifully written debut from Paul M. M. Cooper, and is worth every one of the five stars I rate it as. It is a story of love, freedom and strength, that is set in a historical time that was well-researched and brilliantly portrayed.
5 Stars!
*Review copy was kindly provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest Waterstones Bookseller Review*
July 14, 2016
We first reviewed this book on our blog, where we also talk to the author about Sri Lanka, writing and research: http://www.tripfiction.com/novel-set-...
A lovely physical book is just such a great opener to a good story! Paul’s book has a striking cover, an era-appropriate stylus (which he carefully researched for the period, see below), flowing ink, turning turquoise. The complementary colour to turquoise is the colour of blood and were they to be placed adjacent to each other, they would harmoniously balance. That is why we chose to set the book cover against a blood red (palm fringed) background, which really throws the book into sharp relief.
Blood. Already a veiled hint of what is to come in the book…..
Sri Lanka of the 13th Century. Kalingha Magha, the ruthless despot, arrives on Lanka’s shores and deposes the presiding ruler, changing the lives of all who live there, including Asanka, the court poet. The book brims with mysticism and symbolism, and opens with the twittering mynah birds in the city of Polonnaruwa – these are birds are deemed to be ‘brimming with happiness‘ but as the story unfolds, life is anything but happy.
Asanka is instructed by Magha to translate the ancient Sanskrit Shishupala Vadha, with the intention that it will be circulated amongst the populace and have a civilising effect, whilst aiding their subjugation. But Asanka’s love for Sarasi motivates him to insert subversive texts, skilfully done. Craftily Magha is depicted as the evil character. The pen of course is mightier than the sword – “if you can write, you can do anything”.
The exotic location magically comes to life in the hands of this talented author, the heat and dust, the smells of old palm leaves on the roofs, and the visual descriptions leave the reader reeling with colour, smell and feel of a city, whose place in Sri Lankan history dwindled from 1255. The author has clearly carried out extensive research into the period and into the life of a scribe – he details the kinds of oils used – dummala and kakuna oils – to mix the inks for writing; and that dried fruits skins were lit to keep evening insects away….
The quality of writing is elegant, lyrical and well crafted, full of mystical history, lore and legend…
A lovely physical book is just such a great opener to a good story! Paul’s book has a striking cover, an era-appropriate stylus (which he carefully researched for the period, see below), flowing ink, turning turquoise. The complementary colour to turquoise is the colour of blood and were they to be placed adjacent to each other, they would harmoniously balance. That is why we chose to set the book cover against a blood red (palm fringed) background, which really throws the book into sharp relief.
Blood. Already a veiled hint of what is to come in the book…..
Sri Lanka of the 13th Century. Kalingha Magha, the ruthless despot, arrives on Lanka’s shores and deposes the presiding ruler, changing the lives of all who live there, including Asanka, the court poet. The book brims with mysticism and symbolism, and opens with the twittering mynah birds in the city of Polonnaruwa – these are birds are deemed to be ‘brimming with happiness‘ but as the story unfolds, life is anything but happy.
Asanka is instructed by Magha to translate the ancient Sanskrit Shishupala Vadha, with the intention that it will be circulated amongst the populace and have a civilising effect, whilst aiding their subjugation. But Asanka’s love for Sarasi motivates him to insert subversive texts, skilfully done. Craftily Magha is depicted as the evil character. The pen of course is mightier than the sword – “if you can write, you can do anything”.
The exotic location magically comes to life in the hands of this talented author, the heat and dust, the smells of old palm leaves on the roofs, and the visual descriptions leave the reader reeling with colour, smell and feel of a city, whose place in Sri Lankan history dwindled from 1255. The author has clearly carried out extensive research into the period and into the life of a scribe – he details the kinds of oils used – dummala and kakuna oils – to mix the inks for writing; and that dried fruits skins were lit to keep evening insects away….
The quality of writing is elegant, lyrical and well crafted, full of mystical history, lore and legend…
October 21, 2015
Actually 3.5 stars.
Usually, Sri Lanka is not one of the countries I often visit in books. That is why this one is certainly among the most special books I read this year.
What I found especially exciting was to learn a little about Sri Lanka’s history and medieval customs - which I had known next to nothing about - and about the „Shishupala Vadha" (the piece of literature Asanka has to translate). It is quite astonishing that Sanskrit allows to write whole lines, which are palindromes, and other linguistical virtuosities. The poems included in the book, Asanka’s talk of poetry and the mysterious tales he receives make up the part I admired the most. I do not want to reveal much since everyone has to discover such a great work by themselves but the author clearly succeeded in showing how literature can reflect reality and influence it at the same time.
Still, I have to admit I did not like Asanka very much. His way of thinking and (weak) behaving sometimes did not appeal to me at all though he had his moments of strength. In contrast to this, Sarasi was one of my favorite characters, especially since certain additional information was revealed at the end of the story. I would have preferred if the conqueror’s character would have been presented from much more different points of view. I cannot be sure how accurate his description is compared to the ones in historical documents so this is why I had hoped for an afterword. Maybe it is to come since I just read an advance copy of the book which is still to be corrected. In any case, from my point of view an afterword rounds up a piece of historical fiction and you can access the extent of the author’s work. Did Asanka or someone similar to him exist? Did Kalinga Magha order a translation of the „Shishupala Vadha"? Had the king his first wife executed? There is a great deal of questions which remain questions after you are done reading.
I also felt there is certain lack of action but there can be other readers who favor this kind of stories. Though, when something IS going on, the author creates a fitting atmosphere making this scenes enjoyable to read.
To sum up, I would recommend „River of Ink“ although I did not like it as much as I had hoped. Nevertheless, it was a journey I will not forget.
Usually, Sri Lanka is not one of the countries I often visit in books. That is why this one is certainly among the most special books I read this year.
What I found especially exciting was to learn a little about Sri Lanka’s history and medieval customs - which I had known next to nothing about - and about the „Shishupala Vadha" (the piece of literature Asanka has to translate). It is quite astonishing that Sanskrit allows to write whole lines, which are palindromes, and other linguistical virtuosities. The poems included in the book, Asanka’s talk of poetry and the mysterious tales he receives make up the part I admired the most. I do not want to reveal much since everyone has to discover such a great work by themselves but the author clearly succeeded in showing how literature can reflect reality and influence it at the same time.
Still, I have to admit I did not like Asanka very much. His way of thinking and (weak) behaving sometimes did not appeal to me at all though he had his moments of strength. In contrast to this, Sarasi was one of my favorite characters, especially since certain additional information was revealed at the end of the story. I would have preferred if the conqueror’s character would have been presented from much more different points of view. I cannot be sure how accurate his description is compared to the ones in historical documents so this is why I had hoped for an afterword. Maybe it is to come since I just read an advance copy of the book which is still to be corrected. In any case, from my point of view an afterword rounds up a piece of historical fiction and you can access the extent of the author’s work. Did Asanka or someone similar to him exist? Did Kalinga Magha order a translation of the „Shishupala Vadha"? Had the king his first wife executed? There is a great deal of questions which remain questions after you are done reading.
I also felt there is certain lack of action but there can be other readers who favor this kind of stories. Though, when something IS going on, the author creates a fitting atmosphere making this scenes enjoyable to read.
To sum up, I would recommend „River of Ink“ although I did not like it as much as I had hoped. Nevertheless, it was a journey I will not forget.
March 24, 2016
Mynah birds are known for a lot of things, one of which is probably success: they’re an incredibly widespread group, turning up in Africa, the Americas, the Pacific, and obviously all across Southeast Asia. Another is sound. Specifically, the common hill mynah – Gracula religiosa, which is apparently the bird most often referred to by the term mynah, and of which the Sri Lankan hill mynah (fairly probably the mynah that appears in the first sentence of Paul Cooper’s debut novel River of Ink) is now broadly understood to be a separate (rather than sub) species – is widely known both for its own piercing, insistent whistles, trilling out in throngs from the treetops in the evenings, in the mornings, and for its ability to imitate other bird calls. It actually doesn’t do this in the wild, apparently; in captivity, though, they can capture almost anything. Cellphones. Drills. Melodies. Naturally, human voices. They’re so dead-on perfect that it’s hard to escape the feeling that there’s some kind of joke, and the mynah is in on it, and you are not. Leave them alone and they sound like themselves. Put them in a cage, they throw your own voice back in your face.
River of Ink tells the story of Asanka, a court poet in Sri Lanka conscripted by an invading monarch to translate a Sanskrit epic, the Shishupala Vadha, into Tamil. Despite the scale of the events, however, the focus of the book is close, tight. That first sentence sets the tone: “Do you remember the mynah birds that used to live in the courtyard outside your room?” Actually, not even the whole sentence; the first three words. Do you remember. Characters chase memory through the novel, trying to wrap their hands round one solid version of their history, their past: story of a love affair, story of a conqueror, a people, a country. It doesn’t work. Memory plays tricks; that may, in fact, be all memory does. Fifteen years pass and you find a hole in a wall and everything you are, everything that led up to that point, shifts in colour and outline.
Even more central than memory, though, is intimacy. The whole novel exists within the frame of a direct address, but it’s quiet, close, almost whispered, and again and again the story hinges on exactly these moments – intimacy rejected, desired, broken, made impossible, not understood. Everyone in the novel craves some kind of contact: Asanka’s two main drives (apart from his (for the most part) impressive instinct for self-preservation) are his love for poetry and his love for Sarasi, a servant girl in the palace he teaches to read. For Sarasi, poetry is resistance, but it’s also connection; with history, with Asanka, and in a very physical way, with her lost family. Even Magha, the conqueror; he says of Dayani, the queen he widows and subsequently forces to marry him, “I’d prefer her to love me.”
Threaded throughout the book is another direct address, in the form of letters to Asanka written in the voices of characters from the Shishupala Vadha, speaking from after death: I am Shishupal; I am Rukmi; I am Ilvala; I am Rukmini; I am Krishna. Asanka is scandalised, even repelled by the blasphemy of writing as a figure from the epic, but at the same time he can’t resist the letters; in a real way, they come to save his life, providing him with the means to more authentically translate the poem by entering the minds of its characters. Intimacy again, but this is different; this address doesn’t begin with a you, but with an I. Asanka returns again and again to Auden’s quote, reiterated here as a Lankan proverb, but can’t seem to make it to the second half; he’s stuck at “poetry makes nothing happen.” He is also very good at talking; listening, less so, but what these letters – the mad poet’s ravings, as he’d have it – at least try to teach him is the fundamental importance of, after you, hearing the I spoken back. Magha can’t do this, not really, which makes for one of the most affecting portraits in the book: the utter loneliness inherent in power through control, in denying one’s vulnerability. He’s a man bereft of any closeness, and that very lack prevents him from understanding it, from understanding any human relationship on any basis but control.
Another intimacy – outside and between the characters, embedded in the text – on which the novel thrives is its evocation of setting: both place and time. From the mynahs onwards, every page teems with detail; Asanka burning a fruit leaf to repel insects, men “throwing charmed white sand on the delicate [rice] shoots to keep the worms and flies away,” Magha speaking in a voice “smooth as coconut water.” It’s not just namechecking: the wealth of concrete artefacts, both in imagery and in observation, are indispensable to the novel. They move Polonnaruwa from being a backdrop into a character invested in the action, one which suffers and heals, resists, survives, speaks. It is alive, then, but it is also text: poems are written on palm-leaf paper or carved into walls, thrown into trees, hidden under ferns or statues of the Buddha that seem less carved than grown out of the earth. Even the ink: coconut husks, shellac, bone. Poetry can’t be separated from the land, because the land is literally in every word.
The details Asanka picks out are all alive, right up to the end, with an image of the kurinji flower in bloom, which, we learn at the close of the previous section, happens only once every twelve years. (The word for this, apparently, is plietesial – they bloom once, they seed, they die.) So the novel opens with birds and closes with flowers; or, it opens with flight – his reminisces of his escape into poetry with Sarasi, their dream of a life together, the window when they could have run: “That was the moment to escape” – and closes with roots. Twelve years is a long time, although time is fluid here; as Asanka says early on, “two weeks can pass like two years in Polonnaruwa,” so the wait for the bloom could be a lifetime, or seconds. Poetry has its own timeline, anyway; like a temple, or a sea, and also kind of like memory, it’s chained onto the past and yet every encounter creates a new now. This, the book suggests, may be what makes it invincible – it is at once intangible and unbreakable as mountains, and it always has room for a joke you don’t get. Interestingly, mynah birds aren’t a strict natural grouping. The name refers to any bird in the starling family in the Indian subcontinent, partly due to the fact that said family (Sturnidae) came to that area on two separate occasions during their evolution. Birds, rather like language, or plietesial flowers, don’t make much happen, but they do have a strong tendency to survive.
River of Ink tells the story of Asanka, a court poet in Sri Lanka conscripted by an invading monarch to translate a Sanskrit epic, the Shishupala Vadha, into Tamil. Despite the scale of the events, however, the focus of the book is close, tight. That first sentence sets the tone: “Do you remember the mynah birds that used to live in the courtyard outside your room?” Actually, not even the whole sentence; the first three words. Do you remember. Characters chase memory through the novel, trying to wrap their hands round one solid version of their history, their past: story of a love affair, story of a conqueror, a people, a country. It doesn’t work. Memory plays tricks; that may, in fact, be all memory does. Fifteen years pass and you find a hole in a wall and everything you are, everything that led up to that point, shifts in colour and outline.
Even more central than memory, though, is intimacy. The whole novel exists within the frame of a direct address, but it’s quiet, close, almost whispered, and again and again the story hinges on exactly these moments – intimacy rejected, desired, broken, made impossible, not understood. Everyone in the novel craves some kind of contact: Asanka’s two main drives (apart from his (for the most part) impressive instinct for self-preservation) are his love for poetry and his love for Sarasi, a servant girl in the palace he teaches to read. For Sarasi, poetry is resistance, but it’s also connection; with history, with Asanka, and in a very physical way, with her lost family. Even Magha, the conqueror; he says of Dayani, the queen he widows and subsequently forces to marry him, “I’d prefer her to love me.”
Threaded throughout the book is another direct address, in the form of letters to Asanka written in the voices of characters from the Shishupala Vadha, speaking from after death: I am Shishupal; I am Rukmi; I am Ilvala; I am Rukmini; I am Krishna. Asanka is scandalised, even repelled by the blasphemy of writing as a figure from the epic, but at the same time he can’t resist the letters; in a real way, they come to save his life, providing him with the means to more authentically translate the poem by entering the minds of its characters. Intimacy again, but this is different; this address doesn’t begin with a you, but with an I. Asanka returns again and again to Auden’s quote, reiterated here as a Lankan proverb, but can’t seem to make it to the second half; he’s stuck at “poetry makes nothing happen.” He is also very good at talking; listening, less so, but what these letters – the mad poet’s ravings, as he’d have it – at least try to teach him is the fundamental importance of, after you, hearing the I spoken back. Magha can’t do this, not really, which makes for one of the most affecting portraits in the book: the utter loneliness inherent in power through control, in denying one’s vulnerability. He’s a man bereft of any closeness, and that very lack prevents him from understanding it, from understanding any human relationship on any basis but control.
Another intimacy – outside and between the characters, embedded in the text – on which the novel thrives is its evocation of setting: both place and time. From the mynahs onwards, every page teems with detail; Asanka burning a fruit leaf to repel insects, men “throwing charmed white sand on the delicate [rice] shoots to keep the worms and flies away,” Magha speaking in a voice “smooth as coconut water.” It’s not just namechecking: the wealth of concrete artefacts, both in imagery and in observation, are indispensable to the novel. They move Polonnaruwa from being a backdrop into a character invested in the action, one which suffers and heals, resists, survives, speaks. It is alive, then, but it is also text: poems are written on palm-leaf paper or carved into walls, thrown into trees, hidden under ferns or statues of the Buddha that seem less carved than grown out of the earth. Even the ink: coconut husks, shellac, bone. Poetry can’t be separated from the land, because the land is literally in every word.
The details Asanka picks out are all alive, right up to the end, with an image of the kurinji flower in bloom, which, we learn at the close of the previous section, happens only once every twelve years. (The word for this, apparently, is plietesial – they bloom once, they seed, they die.) So the novel opens with birds and closes with flowers; or, it opens with flight – his reminisces of his escape into poetry with Sarasi, their dream of a life together, the window when they could have run: “That was the moment to escape” – and closes with roots. Twelve years is a long time, although time is fluid here; as Asanka says early on, “two weeks can pass like two years in Polonnaruwa,” so the wait for the bloom could be a lifetime, or seconds. Poetry has its own timeline, anyway; like a temple, or a sea, and also kind of like memory, it’s chained onto the past and yet every encounter creates a new now. This, the book suggests, may be what makes it invincible – it is at once intangible and unbreakable as mountains, and it always has room for a joke you don’t get. Interestingly, mynah birds aren’t a strict natural grouping. The name refers to any bird in the starling family in the Indian subcontinent, partly due to the fact that said family (Sturnidae) came to that area on two separate occasions during their evolution. Birds, rather like language, or plietesial flowers, don’t make much happen, but they do have a strong tendency to survive.
March 27, 2017
Writers and artists employ powerful tools that can shape how a society views itself, its past, and how it envisions its future. They are often the front line of resistance.
River of Ink by Paul M. M. Cooper came to my attention when the author followed me on Twitter. I downloaded a sample of his book and enjoyed his writing and bought a copy of River of Ink. (Yes, I bought a book, this was not a free review galley!)
The novel is fiction but the downfall of Sri Lanka under a destructive military takeover is history. It was fascinating to read about a time and place so foreign and unfamiliar.
"Do you remember the mynah birds that used to live in the courtyard outside your room? On the day the city fell, they were all twittering louder than I'd ever heard them, and flying from tree to tree in a flock. The noise was tremendous...You must remember this. You were sitting right there beside me, your back straight and your forehead furrowed, murmuring the letters to yourself as you cut them." from River Of Ink chapter one
Asanka is the court poet in the diverse, international Sri Lanka of the 13th c. He enjoys a pampered and luxurious life. He writes love poems for men wishing to please the women they love. His own love life is murky; his wife disdains him for he has a mistress, a palace servant, Sarasi. He is teaching her how to write.
The ink is mixed of charcoal and oil. A metal stylus cuts the palm leaf paper into sinuous shapes.
Life in Polonnaruwa changes in an instant when Kalinga Magha comes from the mainland with his army and elephants, intent on destroying the Sri Lankan civilization, looting and murdering his way to the capital. He murders Asanka's king, forces the queen into marriage, and demands that Asanka translate his favorite Hindu sacred text into Tamil, the language of the working class. Magha intends to enlighten the Buddhists with a story of dharma, the battle between lord Krishna and Shishepal over the girl they both love. Magha demands the burning of books as part of his cultural takeover. And finally, Magha decides to take Asanka's love for his own queen.
The downfall of a society, a city, a culture is a horrible thing to read about, and I was very aware that it has happened over and over again throughout the ages. Powerful men believe they bring a better religion or government to justify their motives. And the ordinary people are trampled and murdered, and yes, resistance groups rise up. In the story of the particular lies the story of human history.
In his acknowledgments, Cooper finishes by saying "Finally this book goes out to all the translators, artists and writers around the world who continue to create beauty and freedom from beneath the heel of oppression. Today you are more necessary and powerful than you could possibly imagine."
River of Ink is an impressive book that both entertains, enlightens, and inspires.
River of Ink
Paul M. M. Cooper
Bloomsbury
River of Ink by Paul M. M. Cooper came to my attention when the author followed me on Twitter. I downloaded a sample of his book and enjoyed his writing and bought a copy of River of Ink. (Yes, I bought a book, this was not a free review galley!)
The novel is fiction but the downfall of Sri Lanka under a destructive military takeover is history. It was fascinating to read about a time and place so foreign and unfamiliar.
"Do you remember the mynah birds that used to live in the courtyard outside your room? On the day the city fell, they were all twittering louder than I'd ever heard them, and flying from tree to tree in a flock. The noise was tremendous...You must remember this. You were sitting right there beside me, your back straight and your forehead furrowed, murmuring the letters to yourself as you cut them." from River Of Ink chapter one
Asanka is the court poet in the diverse, international Sri Lanka of the 13th c. He enjoys a pampered and luxurious life. He writes love poems for men wishing to please the women they love. His own love life is murky; his wife disdains him for he has a mistress, a palace servant, Sarasi. He is teaching her how to write.
The ink is mixed of charcoal and oil. A metal stylus cuts the palm leaf paper into sinuous shapes.
Life in Polonnaruwa changes in an instant when Kalinga Magha comes from the mainland with his army and elephants, intent on destroying the Sri Lankan civilization, looting and murdering his way to the capital. He murders Asanka's king, forces the queen into marriage, and demands that Asanka translate his favorite Hindu sacred text into Tamil, the language of the working class. Magha intends to enlighten the Buddhists with a story of dharma, the battle between lord Krishna and Shishepal over the girl they both love. Magha demands the burning of books as part of his cultural takeover. And finally, Magha decides to take Asanka's love for his own queen.
The downfall of a society, a city, a culture is a horrible thing to read about, and I was very aware that it has happened over and over again throughout the ages. Powerful men believe they bring a better religion or government to justify their motives. And the ordinary people are trampled and murdered, and yes, resistance groups rise up. In the story of the particular lies the story of human history.
In his acknowledgments, Cooper finishes by saying "Finally this book goes out to all the translators, artists and writers around the world who continue to create beauty and freedom from beneath the heel of oppression. Today you are more necessary and powerful than you could possibly imagine."
River of Ink is an impressive book that both entertains, enlightens, and inspires.
River of Ink
Paul M. M. Cooper
Bloomsbury
April 17, 2016
I don't know if a quick review will serve to give justice to such a deep and meaningful story. From the first few words of the first chapter, I was immediately transported to a time and place that was unknown to me. And so I found myself fully immersed in this book, captivated by the softness of the narrator’s voice, the vivid telling of life in a Sri Langkan village, the recollection of the violent kingdoms that existed before us. This lovely book interspersed lyrical poetry with historical fact (and maybe fiction) so beautifully, that it read like a song in my head.
The River of Ink is a story about love but also about courage and survival. As an ordinary poet with digressions of his own, Asanka strives to do the right thing and often fails. In his stern focus to protect Sarisi at all costs, he must contend between his conscience and his courage. He flails about his convictions, tries to please the evil king while tending to his selfish desires. But in the end, he has only himself to live with.
This has to be one of the best books I have read this year. Well done, Paul M.M. Cooper.
The River of Ink is a story about love but also about courage and survival. As an ordinary poet with digressions of his own, Asanka strives to do the right thing and often fails. In his stern focus to protect Sarisi at all costs, he must contend between his conscience and his courage. He flails about his convictions, tries to please the evil king while tending to his selfish desires. But in the end, he has only himself to live with.
This has to be one of the best books I have read this year. Well done, Paul M.M. Cooper.
October 25, 2017
River of Ink offers a riveting tale of historical fiction based in medieval Sri Lanka. It tells the story of an old court poet who finds himself swept up in the events of an invasion by the Kalinga chief Magha, who forcibly takes over control of the island in a particularly violent way. The author Paul M.M. Cooper has done his homework and interweaves historical facts into his fictional narrative. As a specialist in Sri Lankan history and literature from this period, I can vouch for the fact that he gets most things right. More importantly, his narrative grasps one's interest and attention, and he manages to make us care about the characters and see them as complex, multidimensional persons that seem very real.
November 18, 2015
A beautifully written story of a poet in 13th. century Celyon, now Sri Lanka, who has been tasked with translating a poem from Sanskrit to Sinhala and Tamil by the ruler who has conquered their land.
The ensuing consequnce of this act leads to murder, revolution and finally salvation.
Paul M M Cooper has written a wonderful account of this termoil with great insight and I hope to read more from him in the future.
I was given a digital copy of this novel by the publisher via Netgalley in return for an honest unbiased review.
The ensuing consequnce of this act leads to murder, revolution and finally salvation.
Paul M M Cooper has written a wonderful account of this termoil with great insight and I hope to read more from him in the future.
I was given a digital copy of this novel by the publisher via Netgalley in return for an honest unbiased review.
February 12, 2016
Gorgeous debut!!! I was instantly intrigued when I heard about this book especially when it was likened to Guy Gavriel Kay, one of my favourite authors. I knew I had to read it immediately and I was not disappointed. Simple and elegant , poetic prose, beautiful scenery , and a rich story. Paul MM Cooper definitely maintains his own style as well and he has written just the type of book I am always seeking to fall in love with. Will be looking out for what he may come up with next.
February 22, 2016
Oh my God you guys this book! I was completely enchanted by the book, the history, the stories/legends, the customs it was all so rich and fascinating being an area of history and the world that I'm not very knowledgable in! I was transported to the time period, and I was so eager to learn as much as I could from the book. It was a historical novel, but it had a touch of fantasy to it, but then that might have been me!
I also completely loved the way the book was written!
The book is written from Asanka to Sarasi, and I was a bit iffy about how it was going to go with the entire book but it reached a point when I stopped noticing which tense it was written in, and I can't imagine the book or the story being told in any other way! It was an unusual narrative, but it still managed to create a rich atmosphere, and paint a vivid picture. Every time Asanka was summoned by the King, I was on edge. I could feel the tension. Fear is a feeling that you can practically taste throughout the book as the King does more and more awful things during his rule. There was so much foreshadowing as well and it kept you reading because you wanted to know what happened. Considering this isn't as action packed as the books I usually read, that kept me enthralled more than anything!
I had a love/hate relationship with Asanka, because on the one hand I thought he was a bit weak, but then he started to meddle with the translations for the King, and brought about the consequences of that and I admired him for having the courage to do it. Perhaps the weakness he could sometimes display actually made him a more realistic character in the end. Ultimately I was astounded that he kept up defying the King in his own way. Sarasi was definitely my favourite character, I admired her so much. The King was a truly awful character, his treatment of the Queen and the Sarasi and at points towards the end I actually began to think he was crazy. This is only one perception of the King though, you don't really see any other view point on him, considering he's a historical person I was a bit iffy about that. But at the same time, he makes a comment about his life, and his family, and then I kind of understood him. I got him and why he was doing what he was doing. I feel like an authors note or a historical note would have been good at the end of the book, to give you a bit more information about the King and the events described in the book. I'm kind of not sure if Asanka was an actual, real person you see! I have some other questions as well about other characters and events in the story and there's no note with some answers! So you're left with a fair few questions.
The book was so well written, it was compelling and evocative and just completely enthralling. I enjoyed the stories within the story, if that's what I can call them! In the book Asanka is sent mysterious texts by an unknown person (that reveal was mind blowing!), and so every few chapters you get a mini story, that is one of these texts and it was a nice way to break up the narrative as well as adding another layer/dimension to the poem that Asanka is translating, which was also intriguing to read about! I liked how each of these texts was short, but still created such a feeling with you, and fascinated you. I wanted to read more! I was also fascinated by the poem that Asanka was translating, and I'm still wondering if Asanka or someone like Asanka was given that job.
Like I've said, the book is brilliant, and I'm not ridiculously intrigued to know more about the time period in Sri Lanka, to learn as much as I can about the history and the legends/myths, because this was just a taste and I'm so enthralled by it all!
I also completely loved the way the book was written!
The book is written from Asanka to Sarasi, and I was a bit iffy about how it was going to go with the entire book but it reached a point when I stopped noticing which tense it was written in, and I can't imagine the book or the story being told in any other way! It was an unusual narrative, but it still managed to create a rich atmosphere, and paint a vivid picture. Every time Asanka was summoned by the King, I was on edge. I could feel the tension. Fear is a feeling that you can practically taste throughout the book as the King does more and more awful things during his rule. There was so much foreshadowing as well and it kept you reading because you wanted to know what happened. Considering this isn't as action packed as the books I usually read, that kept me enthralled more than anything!
I had a love/hate relationship with Asanka, because on the one hand I thought he was a bit weak, but then he started to meddle with the translations for the King, and brought about the consequences of that and I admired him for having the courage to do it. Perhaps the weakness he could sometimes display actually made him a more realistic character in the end. Ultimately I was astounded that he kept up defying the King in his own way. Sarasi was definitely my favourite character, I admired her so much. The King was a truly awful character, his treatment of the Queen and the Sarasi and at points towards the end I actually began to think he was crazy. This is only one perception of the King though, you don't really see any other view point on him, considering he's a historical person I was a bit iffy about that. But at the same time, he makes a comment about his life, and his family, and then I kind of understood him. I got him and why he was doing what he was doing. I feel like an authors note or a historical note would have been good at the end of the book, to give you a bit more information about the King and the events described in the book. I'm kind of not sure if Asanka was an actual, real person you see! I have some other questions as well about other characters and events in the story and there's no note with some answers! So you're left with a fair few questions.
The book was so well written, it was compelling and evocative and just completely enthralling. I enjoyed the stories within the story, if that's what I can call them! In the book Asanka is sent mysterious texts by an unknown person (that reveal was mind blowing!), and so every few chapters you get a mini story, that is one of these texts and it was a nice way to break up the narrative as well as adding another layer/dimension to the poem that Asanka is translating, which was also intriguing to read about! I liked how each of these texts was short, but still created such a feeling with you, and fascinated you. I wanted to read more! I was also fascinated by the poem that Asanka was translating, and I'm still wondering if Asanka or someone like Asanka was given that job.
Like I've said, the book is brilliant, and I'm not ridiculously intrigued to know more about the time period in Sri Lanka, to learn as much as I can about the history and the legends/myths, because this was just a taste and I'm so enthralled by it all!
July 6, 2016
I’m sitting here now after reading the final pages of this book and honestly I’m not sure exactly what to say about this well-crafted novel other than it was a complete pleasu
re to be given the opportunity to read an ARC. It’s one of the most well-thought out novels that I’ve read in a while and it managed to be a historical fiction, while still possessing one of the most beautiful proses I’ve ever read.
In my life I’ve encountered a lot of Historical Fiction novels and many are written as diaries or recounts of the event but this one manages to be different because it’s a completely different form. River of Ink isn’t a diary but a long love letter, written by a court poet to the Sarasi, his mistress and servant. It covers what happened to them both during the invasion of a new king, Magha the Tyrant. I’ve never had the opportunity to read a novel based in Sri Lanka and it was so interesting to not only read one, but also to read one based in Sri Lanka’s past. It was an incredibly interesting read and has compelled me to learn more about Sri Lanka’s culture because it was such a touching read. I was left wanting to know which parts are real and which are not and whether people such as Magha and Asanka and Sarasi really existed. Did the events actually take place?
One of the most interesting parts for myself was the poetry. Personally I am not a huge fan of poetry but this novel really gave me a second look at the prose that I have until now debunked. Some of the structures within this novel are breath-taking, including but not limited to the mysterious texts that are secretly given to Asanka. They provide such a startling contrast to the well-written main text that I think it makes them even more impressive. If you ever read this novel, you’ll understand just how different they are and how that works to magnify the effect of those short poems. And I can’t forget Asanka’s rewrite of the Shishupala Vadha. It was amusing to read his work and see the reflections between those inscribed words and the adventures of their everyday lives.
But the thing that impressed me the most were the characters. All of them were real. They flaws and hopes, they were cowards and they were heroes and they were all trying their hardest to make the best out of a terrible situation. There were times when I hated Asanka for his cowardice, for the way he bent at the slightest bit of pressure. However at the same time I couldn’t help but love him, because of his undeniable love for Sarasi and how he did everything that he could to protect her. Magha was something else entirely. While managing to be an incredibly smart character at times, there was other moments when I was dumbfounded by his gullible nature. He was a great villain though, with motive and power and emotions. It was easy to see why he was doing what he did and with each twist of his story, his intentions were obvious.
Altogether I was amazed by this book. It was a delight to read and I would not hesitate to recommend it to all lovers of historical fiction. For a debut novel, it was wonderful.
I’d like to thank Bloomsbury and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this book to review. This has not affected my review in any way.
re to be given the opportunity to read an ARC. It’s one of the most well-thought out novels that I’ve read in a while and it managed to be a historical fiction, while still possessing one of the most beautiful proses I’ve ever read.
In my life I’ve encountered a lot of Historical Fiction novels and many are written as diaries or recounts of the event but this one manages to be different because it’s a completely different form. River of Ink isn’t a diary but a long love letter, written by a court poet to the Sarasi, his mistress and servant. It covers what happened to them both during the invasion of a new king, Magha the Tyrant. I’ve never had the opportunity to read a novel based in Sri Lanka and it was so interesting to not only read one, but also to read one based in Sri Lanka’s past. It was an incredibly interesting read and has compelled me to learn more about Sri Lanka’s culture because it was such a touching read. I was left wanting to know which parts are real and which are not and whether people such as Magha and Asanka and Sarasi really existed. Did the events actually take place?
One of the most interesting parts for myself was the poetry. Personally I am not a huge fan of poetry but this novel really gave me a second look at the prose that I have until now debunked. Some of the structures within this novel are breath-taking, including but not limited to the mysterious texts that are secretly given to Asanka. They provide such a startling contrast to the well-written main text that I think it makes them even more impressive. If you ever read this novel, you’ll understand just how different they are and how that works to magnify the effect of those short poems. And I can’t forget Asanka’s rewrite of the Shishupala Vadha. It was amusing to read his work and see the reflections between those inscribed words and the adventures of their everyday lives.
But the thing that impressed me the most were the characters. All of them were real. They flaws and hopes, they were cowards and they were heroes and they were all trying their hardest to make the best out of a terrible situation. There were times when I hated Asanka for his cowardice, for the way he bent at the slightest bit of pressure. However at the same time I couldn’t help but love him, because of his undeniable love for Sarasi and how he did everything that he could to protect her. Magha was something else entirely. While managing to be an incredibly smart character at times, there was other moments when I was dumbfounded by his gullible nature. He was a great villain though, with motive and power and emotions. It was easy to see why he was doing what he did and with each twist of his story, his intentions were obvious.
Altogether I was amazed by this book. It was a delight to read and I would not hesitate to recommend it to all lovers of historical fiction. For a debut novel, it was wonderful.
I’d like to thank Bloomsbury and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this book to review. This has not affected my review in any way.
April 1, 2018
Poetry's beautiful. It whiles away the hours. It tricks people, thrills them. It makes us forget our lives for a few minutes - but that's all.
And thus starts the story of a poet, forced to pledge allegiance to a tyrant usurper, having to translate a work from a foreign land, using that to defy the king in his own way. And it ends with his words rallying up the bent and broken common folk, getting them behind a rebel army, eventually driving the king away.
That Kalinga Magha defeated Parakrama Pandya and usurped Polonnaruwa is known, that Vijaya III won back the lands that he had won is also known. That Magha escaped and his fate was never known is also known. This is historical fiction set in that time.
The beauty lies in the easy flow of words, and the narrative, using poetry from the Kuruntokai, and some parts of the Shishupala Vadha. I wish the author was more conversant with Tamil and had left the actual Tamil text of the Kuruntokai. But having said that, it has piqued my interest in both the Kuruntokai and the Shishupala Vadha.
I love the Tamil Kuruntokai because it's poetry about waiting and longing in shaded gardens, poetry for people who don't have the wise Krishna to advise them before their battles, who don't have a monkey god ally to help them build a bridge across their seas, who have no chakra to hurl at their Shishupals.
And the Shishupala Vadha, one of the most complex works in Sanskrit. With palindromic verses, with verses made of just one character. Where an author just had fun with his vast knowledge and creativity!
सकारनानारकास
कायासाददसायका
रहसवावाहसार
नादवाददवादाना
For instance, when Sri Magha describes the heat and fury of the battle in the nineteenth parva, you can hear the breathlessness of war hiss from every line: 'rasahava', the sound of exhalations from beneath the helmet, breath wetting bronze. The songs of blades and the hooves of the horses, the elephant footfalls and conches all clamour from the tumultuous 'sakarana narakasa kayasada dasayaka', but these lines are part of a verse that can be read as a palindrome in all directions - not just left and right, but up and down as well - the most intricate poetic device ever created.
sakāranā nārakāsa
kāyasāda dasāyakā
rasāhavā vāhasāra
nādavāda davādanā
It translates into Tamil as: 'Loving battles, the army was formed of allies who struck down their various enemies, the cries of the best horses contesting with the music of instruments.
At the very end, it is a tale of the underdog located in the 13th Century Sri Lanka, playing one classic of the classes, against another, of the masses. Two beautiful works, that show you what power the pen wields.
November 27, 2015
What a gorgeous book! Elegant prose, fascinating setting/culture, well-rounded characters. I love that the tale is written by Asanka to his mistress Sarasi, that he has the courage to tell her all his experiences during the rule of Magha, including the more personal, sometimes cowardly, thoughts and fears he once hid from her. I'm fairly open to any P-O-V that I come across while reading, though this (writing to a lover) is not usually one of my favorites. But Cooper maintains this perspective so well throughout the entire book, and with such vivid descriptions and a true depth of feeling in Asanka's character, I was hooked right away.
Other reviewers have already given great descriptions of this book and what makes it so fantastic, but I will comment on just a couple things which particularly piqued my interest. First, the mysterious texts sprinkled throughout the book were so enjoyable to read. They were short but sweet, and each one packs a heavy punch. By themselves, they are haunting tales with implications that linger in the air for the reader to collect and muse over. Together, they add an enchanting depth to the story told in the Shishupala Vadha, the poem Asanka translates. The fact that Asanka dislikes the stories makes them even more intriguing.
Second, I loved Magha's character (though I highly doubt I could say that had I known the real man). He is a villain with motives, with a history that makes sense, a man who just can't seem to get what he wants. But he is also Magha the Tyrant, a brutal invading prince with a hot temper and a good bit of delusions about many things. And thus, I looked forward to every tense interaction between Asanka and Magha, and thoroughly enjoyed watching the progression of his character through the story.
Wonderful debut! I would definitely read this author again.
I received an ARC of this book through the Goodreads Giveaway.
Other reviewers have already given great descriptions of this book and what makes it so fantastic, but I will comment on just a couple things which particularly piqued my interest. First, the mysterious texts sprinkled throughout the book were so enjoyable to read. They were short but sweet, and each one packs a heavy punch. By themselves, they are haunting tales with implications that linger in the air for the reader to collect and muse over. Together, they add an enchanting depth to the story told in the Shishupala Vadha, the poem Asanka translates. The fact that Asanka dislikes the stories makes them even more intriguing.
Second, I loved Magha's character (though I highly doubt I could say that had I known the real man). He is a villain with motives, with a history that makes sense, a man who just can't seem to get what he wants. But he is also Magha the Tyrant, a brutal invading prince with a hot temper and a good bit of delusions about many things. And thus, I looked forward to every tense interaction between Asanka and Magha, and thoroughly enjoyed watching the progression of his character through the story.
Wonderful debut! I would definitely read this author again.
I received an ARC of this book through the Goodreads Giveaway.
March 8, 2016
River of Ink is one of those books who caught me head and heart with the title and spectacular cover design. So much that I specifically requested for this copy for review - picked it - found it probably wasn't anywhere near to what I thought it was - yet got addicted to uncover the story within the pages once I was immersed in it.
Reading this book was my personal challenge and I was thoroughly motivated to complete it, to unfold the beautiful play of words and only to find truly what the synopsis meant by "He learns, true power lies not at the point of a sword, but in the tip of a pen".
The story is lead with 'Shishupal's Vadh' & it all glided through the story spectacularly.
It took me a week to finish this book - I just had to let everything settle in. A slow read for me personally- yet I loved every bit of it.
Reading this book was my personal challenge and I was thoroughly motivated to complete it, to unfold the beautiful play of words and only to find truly what the synopsis meant by "He learns, true power lies not at the point of a sword, but in the tip of a pen".
The story is lead with 'Shishupal's Vadh' & it all glided through the story spectacularly.
It took me a week to finish this book - I just had to let everything settle in. A slow read for me personally- yet I loved every bit of it.
January 5, 2016
River of Ink by Paul M. M. Cooper is is a story about two heroes - one unwitting, unplanned, but very public; the other quiet, deliberate and behind the scenes. It is a story of a civil war, of the pen being mightier than the sword, and of mythology. This book brings to life not only war but also a culture rich in the arts. That richness is the lasting impression of this book.
Read my complete review at: http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2016...
Reviewed based on a publisher’s galley received through NetGalley
Read my complete review at: http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2016...
Reviewed based on a publisher’s galley received through NetGalley
February 15, 2016
I received this book from the Goodreads First Reads program.
Home. Loyalty. Love. A historical masterpiece with epic fantasy leanings. It took me a little while to get into this one, but not for lack of story. I was distracted by the holiday which made reading a little difficult as there was so much information to retain in this one. The writing was masterful, and the story far reaching. Very good.
Home. Loyalty. Love. A historical masterpiece with epic fantasy leanings. It took me a little while to get into this one, but not for lack of story. I was distracted by the holiday which made reading a little difficult as there was so much information to retain in this one. The writing was masterful, and the story far reaching. Very good.
July 24, 2016
I received this book from a goodreads giveaway.
This was a very good book. Good character and plot development. It was interesting reading about a culture very different from mine in a location that I am likely to not experience. The human struggles remain the same and I enjoyed learning a bit of history and culture. I also loved the way the power of the written word came through in this book and how people can rally against a cruel leader.
This was a very good book. Good character and plot development. It was interesting reading about a culture very different from mine in a location that I am likely to not experience. The human struggles remain the same and I enjoyed learning a bit of history and culture. I also loved the way the power of the written word came through in this book and how people can rally against a cruel leader.
July 20, 2016
Beautiful, engaging and not at all what I expected. A lovely surprise.
May 27, 2024
Bingo de Fantasia Especulativa:
2.2: Bardos; Poetas; Contadores de Histórias
Participar do bingo se tornou um ritual anual para mim, pois me permite ler autores que eu jamais tocaria em outras situações. Um desafio autoimposto de leitura me obriga a cavucar atrás de livros que se encaixem nas categorias tão específicas. As vezes eu acho em threads escondidas do reddit, as vezes algum amigo me recomenda algo. E é uma experiência boa, me tira da zona de conforto, me permite arriscar ainda mais, mergulhar em livros sem saber nada, e a surpresa é prazerosa. River of Ink é recomendação de um amigo, que acompanhava o podcast do autor, e conta a história de Asanka; poeta real que, quando o reino é tomado, é mantido nas garras do novo tirano, Magha, para traduzir um poema épico que possa ajustar moralmente o povo de Sri Lanka e, através desse poema, começa a realizar propagando por debaixo do nariz de seu ditador, incitando revoltas e insubordinação através da arte, corrompendo o símbolo do opressor como ferramenta de resistência.
Ótimo conceito, ótima fidelidade histórica (Paul Cooper viveu e estudou em Sri Lanka), um livro que tinha tudo para entregar excelência. Uma pena que não acontece literalmente nada.
Asanka é meio patético, e isso é minha parte preferida da obra. Ele não realmente tem agência, nunca sabe o que está fazendo ou porquê, vive levado por um relacionamento adúltero meio sem sal, é medroso, covarde, toda sua insurreição poética é acidental e, eventualmente, proposital mas com o único intuito de pegar mulher. Ele chega a entreter de tão coitado, homem carente burro sem espinha ele é, e eu gosto de um personagem que é moralmente questionável, meio asqueroso, meio egoísta; faz bem sair dos bastiões da moralidade. Infelizmente, a história acontece ao redor dele. Asanka sai andando tropeçando no plot, mas nunca algo que ele decide fazer é relevante ou interessante. Alguns dos mistérios que o envolvem não levam para conclusão nenhuma, seu romance não realmente funciona, e conclui sem algum fechamento catártico.
Acho que a falta de catarse é o grande problema dessa obra. Não me importo com algo lento, que constrói sua narrativa, mas o final precisa entregar algum momento que justifique aquela demora, seja uma passagem magnífica de prosa, seja algum evento que conecte tudo, e em Rivers of Ink nada acontece. O protagonista não se vê envolvido na trama, Magha é removido convenientemente, e no final tudo que resta é um questionamento de onde a obra queria chegar. Não se constrói tensão no decorrer de River of Ink, e mesmo a prosa sendo aceitavelmente agradável, ela não carrega o livro.
A ideia da tradução de um épico e na transfiguração do seu sentido ao se converter para uma nova língua é genuinamente interessante, e carrega grande parte do livro, curto o bastante para não cansar. Mas não basta. Falta uma narrativa mais forte aqui, falta um protagonista que eventualmente se deixe envolver em algo, pois a história nunca realmente estoura, nunca satisfaz, nunca se justifica. É uma leitura interessante, culturalmente imersiva, e que apresenta momentos interessantes e um protagonismo poético curioso, mas deixa muito a desejar.
2.2: Bardos; Poetas; Contadores de Histórias
Participar do bingo se tornou um ritual anual para mim, pois me permite ler autores que eu jamais tocaria em outras situações. Um desafio autoimposto de leitura me obriga a cavucar atrás de livros que se encaixem nas categorias tão específicas. As vezes eu acho em threads escondidas do reddit, as vezes algum amigo me recomenda algo. E é uma experiência boa, me tira da zona de conforto, me permite arriscar ainda mais, mergulhar em livros sem saber nada, e a surpresa é prazerosa. River of Ink é recomendação de um amigo, que acompanhava o podcast do autor, e conta a história de Asanka; poeta real que, quando o reino é tomado, é mantido nas garras do novo tirano, Magha, para traduzir um poema épico que possa ajustar moralmente o povo de Sri Lanka e, através desse poema, começa a realizar propagando por debaixo do nariz de seu ditador, incitando revoltas e insubordinação através da arte, corrompendo o símbolo do opressor como ferramenta de resistência.
Ótimo conceito, ótima fidelidade histórica (Paul Cooper viveu e estudou em Sri Lanka), um livro que tinha tudo para entregar excelência. Uma pena que não acontece literalmente nada.
Asanka é meio patético, e isso é minha parte preferida da obra. Ele não realmente tem agência, nunca sabe o que está fazendo ou porquê, vive levado por um relacionamento adúltero meio sem sal, é medroso, covarde, toda sua insurreição poética é acidental e, eventualmente, proposital mas com o único intuito de pegar mulher. Ele chega a entreter de tão coitado, homem carente burro sem espinha ele é, e eu gosto de um personagem que é moralmente questionável, meio asqueroso, meio egoísta; faz bem sair dos bastiões da moralidade. Infelizmente, a história acontece ao redor dele. Asanka sai andando tropeçando no plot, mas nunca algo que ele decide fazer é relevante ou interessante. Alguns dos mistérios que o envolvem não levam para conclusão nenhuma, seu romance não realmente funciona, e conclui sem algum fechamento catártico.
Acho que a falta de catarse é o grande problema dessa obra. Não me importo com algo lento, que constrói sua narrativa, mas o final precisa entregar algum momento que justifique aquela demora, seja uma passagem magnífica de prosa, seja algum evento que conecte tudo, e em Rivers of Ink nada acontece. O protagonista não se vê envolvido na trama, Magha é removido convenientemente, e no final tudo que resta é um questionamento de onde a obra queria chegar. Não se constrói tensão no decorrer de River of Ink, e mesmo a prosa sendo aceitavelmente agradável, ela não carrega o livro.
A ideia da tradução de um épico e na transfiguração do seu sentido ao se converter para uma nova língua é genuinamente interessante, e carrega grande parte do livro, curto o bastante para não cansar. Mas não basta. Falta uma narrativa mais forte aqui, falta um protagonista que eventualmente se deixe envolver em algo, pois a história nunca realmente estoura, nunca satisfaz, nunca se justifica. É uma leitura interessante, culturalmente imersiva, e que apresenta momentos interessantes e um protagonismo poético curioso, mas deixa muito a desejar.
July 11, 2019
This novel made me feel as though I’d been transported right back in time to 13th-century Sri Lanka - not a place or era I know much about, to be honest, but the descriptions of the settlements, landscapes, religions, people, food and even the weather brought it all to life in wonderfully lyrical prose.
The story unspools gradually, but with a sense of constant urgency and dread, as the narrator and protagonist, Asanka the court poet, puts his memories of the worst time of his life down in writing. This is the story of conquest, revolution, and the power of the written word - specifically poetry, so it comes as no surprise that snippets of authentic Sanskrit and Tamil poetry from that era are occasionally woven into the narrative (having been translated into English).
Translation is another cornerstone of the novel - the plot hinges on Asanka being tasked with the translation of a Sanskrit epic into the Tamil language by the Kalinga Magha, the conqueror who has just upended Asanka’s life and home. Asanka’s cowardice wars with his fury over what Magha has done to the land he loves, and begins deviating from the original text by weaving subtle mockeries of Magha into his translation - changes which are picked up on by the growing pockets of rebel forces, and become the battle cry of an uprising against a tyrant. As someone with a background in translation myself, I always love seeing it worked into fiction, and the tale of the uprising that is gradually stirred up by Asanka’s words is a powerful fable.
I did think that the novel suffered from a classic case of one-dimensional female characters - we know that Asanka loves a servant girl called Sarasi (to whom the entire book is addressed, in an admittedly lovely and unusual variant on first-person narration), and that she’s the main source of his courage, but I never felt like I truly got a sense of her character; Asanka’s wife Madhusha fares even worse, and is made into a caricature of a nagging wife who is barely even mentioned by name. On the other hand, most of the main characters felt like something out of an ancient legend (aside from Asanka, whose idiosyncrasies were rendered with marvellous detail and seemed to truly leap off the page), creating a certain resonance between the characters in the main story and those in the tale-within-the-tale that Asanka spends his time translating, so I’m feeling more forgiving of that than I usually would be.
In any case, I’m really glad I read this - stories about the power of stories rarely fail to tug on my heartstrings, and this one was no exception.
The story unspools gradually, but with a sense of constant urgency and dread, as the narrator and protagonist, Asanka the court poet, puts his memories of the worst time of his life down in writing. This is the story of conquest, revolution, and the power of the written word - specifically poetry, so it comes as no surprise that snippets of authentic Sanskrit and Tamil poetry from that era are occasionally woven into the narrative (having been translated into English).
Translation is another cornerstone of the novel - the plot hinges on Asanka being tasked with the translation of a Sanskrit epic into the Tamil language by the Kalinga Magha, the conqueror who has just upended Asanka’s life and home. Asanka’s cowardice wars with his fury over what Magha has done to the land he loves, and begins deviating from the original text by weaving subtle mockeries of Magha into his translation - changes which are picked up on by the growing pockets of rebel forces, and become the battle cry of an uprising against a tyrant. As someone with a background in translation myself, I always love seeing it worked into fiction, and the tale of the uprising that is gradually stirred up by Asanka’s words is a powerful fable.
I did think that the novel suffered from a classic case of one-dimensional female characters - we know that Asanka loves a servant girl called Sarasi (to whom the entire book is addressed, in an admittedly lovely and unusual variant on first-person narration), and that she’s the main source of his courage, but I never felt like I truly got a sense of her character; Asanka’s wife Madhusha fares even worse, and is made into a caricature of a nagging wife who is barely even mentioned by name. On the other hand, most of the main characters felt like something out of an ancient legend (aside from Asanka, whose idiosyncrasies were rendered with marvellous detail and seemed to truly leap off the page), creating a certain resonance between the characters in the main story and those in the tale-within-the-tale that Asanka spends his time translating, so I’m feeling more forgiving of that than I usually would be.
In any case, I’m really glad I read this - stories about the power of stories rarely fail to tug on my heartstrings, and this one was no exception.
October 24, 2018
"‘Why,’ he asked, ‘would a man follow a god who won’t even fight on his behalf? Who won’t even make him brave?’
‘Because some want a god who doesn’t carry a sword,’ I said, without thinking."
[Cooper, Paul M.M.. River of Ink (Kindle Locations 3821-3823). Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.]
Upon completing of reading, River of Ink, I had to read through the relevant pages of Amaradasa Liyanagamage's මධ්යකාලීන ලංකා ඉතිහාසය (pages 183-205), which is a Sinhala re-write by the author himself of his doctoral thesis, "The Decline of Polonnaruwa and the Rise of Dambadeniya, circa 1180-1270", which was later printed as a book. One allegation which was made against Magha, which was never made against the numerous other invaders, was that he tried to instill "False Views" among the masses ("මිච්ඡාදිට්ඨිං ස භූපාලො ගණ්හාපෙත්වා මහාජනං" - The Culavamsa) What is this wrong view ? The Culavamsa doesn't elaborate and Liyanagamage concedes that no source elaborates on what this "False View" is, although he uses many other sources other than the Culavamsa ( It is safe to assume that Cooper has used the Culavamsa largely, if not solely for his historical referencing. ) It is this vagueness, this non-mentioning of the alternate view, alternate faith that Cooper has masterfully used to base his plot, his story and narration. And it works - largely. While one could claim ( with the risk of being alleged of nitpicking), some of the historical "stretches' that the author made - for example availability of Kottu and Mangosteens during Polonnaruwa era (some might feel these glaring mistakes - no matter ) are obvious wrong footings, the author excels largely on creating the historical atmosphere as the reader journey's through Asanka's narration. Referring to Liyanagamage's work was to glean a clue if the Shishupala vadha was even mentioned in passing. It is not. However that doesn't discount the fact that Magha wanted the work translated to Tamil ( which was quite probably the Regional, if not International language of the time), and have the State "push" public readings of the work, to rid the "ignorance of the general public", who were but a bunch of idiots worshiping a decaying tooth, as per Magha. Cooper has clearly considered that Tamil was extensively used as a language of Academia especially in the South Indian mainland and the surrounds, for there couldn't be so much of Tamil Literature in Polonnaruwa, and in the temples otherwise. It is at worst a moot point, and possibly an acceptable point,
when considered the South Indian influences even in Polonnaruwa era sculpture/architecure ( as I've read from the experts).
"You will translate the Shishupala Vadha into Tamil in my name, so that I can give it to the people of this land, this bud I’m here to bloom. Thus we may achieve the King’s pleasure and the greater good of the masses in a single move.’"
[ Cooper, Paul M.M.. River of Ink (Kindle Locations 671-673). Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition. ]
The mismatch that I couldn't let pass here was whether the majority of the General public knew enough Tamil to understand the translation. The author himself has conceded that to a level, by inferring it in some of the dialogues.
‘They cannot speak Tamil,’ the headman said, his voice shaking. ‘This dancing troupe offered to read it for us – you know what the dancing folk are like, I’m sure.
[ Cooper, Paul M.M.. River of Ink (Kindle Locations 2877-2879). Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition. ]
‘The King must have a bitter gourd for a brain,’ you said as we lay there, ‘to order the poem in Tamil. Why not Sinhala? Why not Pali?’
[ Cooper, Paul M.M.. River of Ink (Kindle Locations 2358-2359). Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.]
The only way the use of the language was justifiable, is when it is considered with the overall strategy of Magha - that of harming the Bhikkus and the temples and his attempt to instill a new belief system among the general public. The new faith system, possibly one that was strong and currant in Tamil Nadu at the time, and would've stood a better chance of spreading among the population in a language more suitable for the ideology.
It is stated that Asanka's own Tamil was a halting one, given that it was not his "mother tongue".
‘You sound so funny when you speak Tamil,’ you said then. Our talk always seemed to go this way: I insulted you by accident, and you stung me back in revenge. You did an impression of my speech, puffing out your cheeks and putting on my accent. ‘It makes me laugh.’ ‘I’m still learning,’ I said. ‘You speak the way a dog walks when it has a front leg missing.’ ‘Ha! Your language is difficult, all lips and roof of the mouth. Pa-ha, la-ha, ba-ha – all breath.’
[ Cooper, Paul M.M.. River of Ink (Kindle Locations 526-531). Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition. ]
Asanka later boasts that his written Tamil has become masterly with its continued use to write the Vadha.
As per Liyanagamage, the end of Magha doesn't happen till the time of Parakramabahu III, as he holds on to the North, with certain Tamil population joining him as his followers. This may possibly be the beginning of the mistrust between the two races that has lasted over 800 years. This is contrary to the work of fiction of Cooper, where he meets his end during the period of Vijayabahu III.
While so far I've attempted to decipher the way that Cooper thought when writing his work, let me conclude by summarizing the work as a whole.
Albeit, being far from a "page-turner", the reader feels that his time wasn't wasted by book end. As previously noted, Cooper has managed to paint a fabric which captures the mood and the atmosphere of the then Polonnaruwa succesfully, and that's possibly winning more than 50% of the readers' nod for the book. Overall, a successful literary work - and it is easy to appreciate the tremendous amount of work that Cooper has put in, to make the novel work, convincing and plausible. At its roots its a love story too, that of a tragic ending, making it all the more believable given the circumstances. Although I had my moments of doubts at certain points while reading, upon completion I feel that Cooper has created a convincing historical work of fiction, inserting his plots as subtly as appropriately as possible.
April 12, 2018
Cooper's depiction of life in Lanka is soothing and immersive, but the story is too tense to let you relax in it. On the one hand, such detail leads one to think "I am reading historical fiction" but on the other, why else would I ever learn about this stuff? Like, people are revolting against their weirdo usurping kings all the time. Le yawn. But did you know some people wrote by scratching into the surface of the paper with a stylus and then daubing the ink over the inscribed lines which would absorb it? DID YOU?
I didn't. But I do now! Hooray!
Anyway. There are some wild stories in here. The one about the goat should not be read by those of squeamish disposition.
I won't tell you how it ends because part of the pleasure of this book is trying to figure out how this scrawny softman was going to avoid having all his most beloved body parts lopped off at the king's earliest convenience. But, after thinking about it for a week, I'm satisfied.
In other news, Paul Cooper's Twitter feed is a delight. His tweets about ruins in art and life were how I was introduced to him and I usually use him as an example of how sometimes Twitter is good.
I didn't. But I do now! Hooray!
Anyway. There are some wild stories in here. The one about the goat should not be read by those of squeamish disposition.
I won't tell you how it ends because part of the pleasure of this book is trying to figure out how this scrawny softman was going to avoid having all his most beloved body parts lopped off at the king's earliest convenience. But, after thinking about it for a week, I'm satisfied.
In other news, Paul Cooper's Twitter feed is a delight. His tweets about ruins in art and life were how I was introduced to him and I usually use him as an example of how sometimes Twitter is good.
May 2, 2024
This is what I read books for - to be transported to a different time and place! River of Ink made me want to travel to Polonnaruwa again, to trace where the various events happened, the routes the characters took, the paths they ran through. And as soon as I finished the last page of the book, I wanted to deep-dive into the ancient literary texts the novel features.
This novel is part love-story, part political rebellion, and both from the perspective of a self-proclaimed ‘coward’. But it’s really so much more - it’s a love letter to literature, poetry, the written word, and the beauty of language. The hero, at the end of the day, is the written word. And through the characters, and the poetry, it lays bare the narrativity of history, which we so often take to be ‘fact’.
River of Ink is a compelling read, with a plot that grabbed me from the first page. And it has some of the most lyrical passages I’ve ever read! I read an ebook version, but this is defintely a book I want on my shelves for another read - or two!!
And now, straight on to this writer’s next book :)
This novel is part love-story, part political rebellion, and both from the perspective of a self-proclaimed ‘coward’. But it’s really so much more - it’s a love letter to literature, poetry, the written word, and the beauty of language. The hero, at the end of the day, is the written word. And through the characters, and the poetry, it lays bare the narrativity of history, which we so often take to be ‘fact’.
River of Ink is a compelling read, with a plot that grabbed me from the first page. And it has some of the most lyrical passages I’ve ever read! I read an ebook version, but this is defintely a book I want on my shelves for another read - or two!!
And now, straight on to this writer’s next book :)
February 12, 2018
Set in 13thC Sri Lanka, Court Poet Ashanka is set to work by Mugha, an usurping Tyrannical king, translating the The Shishupala Vadha, or the Killing of Shishupala ( one episode of the Mahabharata,) .As the resistance to the tyrant grows, the poem and its creation become more than expected.
I'm admittedly not one for first person narratives, and it was a bit of a slow burner at first. The novel flits from the main story to fleshing out the characters and actions in the Vadha , both crescendoing to a dramatic conclusion, gripping me more as both stories unfold.
As such, it is cleverly written, the Vadha elements complimenting and expanding the story well . thoroughly enjoyed it.
I'm admittedly not one for first person narratives, and it was a bit of a slow burner at first. The novel flits from the main story to fleshing out the characters and actions in the Vadha , both crescendoing to a dramatic conclusion, gripping me more as both stories unfold.
As such, it is cleverly written, the Vadha elements complimenting and expanding the story well . thoroughly enjoyed it.
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