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The Hangman's Journal
For over thirty years, Janardhanan Pillai was the aratchar, the hangman, on call for the prison authorities in the kingdom of Travancore and, after Independence, the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. After the courts had passed a death sentence, it was left to him to put the condemned man to death, swiftly and clinically. Each time he returned from the gallows, he told himself that it would be the last time. But he went back, a hundred and seventeen times.
Based on Pillai’s life, The Hangman’s Journal takes us into the mind of a man struggling to come to terms with his dharma, his conscience, and his shame. A meditation on life and death and what it means to end a life, this haunting novel is one of the finest works of contemporary Indian fiction.
220 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2000
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March 5, 2023
குறிபேட்டினைத் திறக்குமுன்:-
முன் அட்டை குறித்து :- காதல், சரித்திரம், குற்றங்கள், திகில் என கதைகளுக்கு முன் அட்டை வடிவமைப்பது எளிது. கட்டுரைகளுக்கு, வாழ்க்கை வரலாற்று நூல்களுக்கு அட்டை வடிவமைப்பது அதன் ஆசிரியரின் விருப்பத்தைப் பொறுத்தது.
‘தூக்கிலிடுபவரின் குறிப்புகள்’ இதுபோன்ற சமூகத்தின் பிரச்சனைகளைப் பேசுவதற்குரிய புத்தகத்தின் அட்டைப்படம் அமைக்க மிகமிக நுட்பமான தெளிந்த சிந்தனை வேண்டும்.
நீதிபதிகள் தூக்கு தண்டனை எழுதியதும் திரும்ப இதுபோல் தீர்ப்பை எழுதக்கூடாதென அவர்களின் பேனாமுனையை மேசையின்மீது அழுத்தி உடைத்துவிடுவார்களாம். எத்தனை பேருக்கு நீதி வழங்கிய பேனா ஒரு உயிரை எடுப்பதற்கு காரணமாகிறதென. நீதிப்படி வழங்கிய தீர்ப்பானாலும் தூக்குதண்டனை என்பதனால்.இந்த கருத்தையும் இந்த புத்தகம் எழுதுவதற்கு காரணமானவரின் மன உணர்வுகளையும் பிரதிபலிக்கும் வகையிலுமாக பேனாவின் ‘நிப்’ பகுதியை பிளவாக்கி அதை தூக்குக்கயிராக, சுற்றுப்பகுதியை தூக்குமரமாக, பேனாவின் கீழ் பகுதியை உள்ளே செல்லும் பாதாளமாக அமைத்திருப்பதும் இதையெல்லாம் தாங்கி நிற்பது இந்த புத்தகத்தை எழுதக் காரணமானவரின் சாதாரண குறிப்பேட்டின் கோடுகள் இவ்வளவையும் ஒருங்கிணைக்கும் முன் அட்டை வடிவமைப்பாளர் சந்தோஷ் நாராயணன் திறமையைப் பாராட்டத்தான் வேண்டும்.
https://wp.me/pcbJpq-16j
முன் அட்டை குறித்து :- காதல், சரித்திரம், குற்றங்கள், திகில் என கதைகளுக்கு முன் அட்டை வடிவமைப்பது எளிது. கட்டுரைகளுக்கு, வாழ்க்கை வரலாற்று நூல்களுக்கு அட்டை வடிவமைப்பது அதன் ஆசிரியரின் விருப்பத்தைப் பொறுத்தது.
‘தூக்கிலிடுபவரின் குறிப்புகள்’ இதுபோன்ற சமூகத்தின் பிரச்சனைகளைப் பேசுவதற்குரிய புத்தகத்தின் அட்டைப்படம் அமைக்க மிகமிக நுட்பமான தெளிந்த சிந்தனை வேண்டும்.
நீதிபதிகள் தூக்கு தண்டனை எழுதியதும் திரும்ப இதுபோல் தீர்ப்பை எழுதக்கூடாதென அவர்களின் பேனாமுனையை மேசையின்மீது அழுத்தி உடைத்துவிடுவார்களாம். எத்தனை பேருக்கு நீதி வழங்கிய பேனா ஒரு உயிரை எடுப்பதற்கு காரணமாகிறதென. நீதிப்படி வழங்கிய தீர்ப்பானாலும் தூக்குதண்டனை என்பதனால்.இந்த கருத்தையும் இந்த புத்தகம் எழுதுவதற்கு காரணமானவரின் மன உணர்வுகளையும் பிரதிபலிக்கும் வகையிலுமாக பேனாவின் ‘நிப்’ பகுதியை பிளவாக்கி அதை தூக்குக்கயிராக, சுற்றுப்பகுதியை தூக்குமரமாக, பேனாவின் கீழ் பகுதியை உள்ளே செல்லும் பாதாளமாக அமைத்திருப்பதும் இதையெல்லாம் தாங்கி நிற்பது இந்த புத்தகத்தை எழுதக் காரணமானவரின் சாதாரண குறிப்பேட்டின் கோடுகள் இவ்வளவையும் ஒருங்கிணைக்கும் முன் அட்டை வடிவமைப்பாளர் சந்தோஷ் நாராயணன் திறமையைப் பாராட்டத்தான் வேண்டும்.
https://wp.me/pcbJpq-16j
June 3, 2010
I liked this, but didn't love it--it was a bit choppy in places, sloppy in others, but the heart of the story was really compelling. The idea of a hangman coming to grips with the fact of his position was really enjoyable, and the narrator's voice was familiar. Too much time spent on concepts of writing and creation overall, but I'm glad I read it.
August 19, 2013
Janardhanan Pillai was a hangman in the service of the Maharaja of Travancore in the 1930’s and early 1940’s and later in the service of the Government of Kerala. When a writer approaches him to recount his experiences for a proposed book, Mr Pillai becomes very introspective. The retired hangman looks back and worries whether he was not guilty of killing other human beings (although all of them had committed at least one murder). His former teacher and his priest assure him that he was only doing his duty and there was no need to be regretful. Then he wonders if at least one the executed did not deserve to die. Out of the 117 hangings he can think of only one such instance. He also worries whether anyone suffered unnecessarily because of an imperfect hanging – again he could remember only one such. Although barely literate, Mr Pillai writes his own reminiscences for the writer to edit and translate later. Unfortunately, he dies before the book is published.
Mr Pillai, his wife Chellamma and his teacher Mash are all well characterized. The book sustained my interest throughout, but it is doubtful whether it is everyone's cup of tea.
Mr Pillai, his wife Chellamma and his teacher Mash are all well characterized. The book sustained my interest throughout, but it is doubtful whether it is everyone's cup of tea.
November 7, 2015
Not really sure what to make of this. It took me way too long to read what is basically a novella. I enjoyed it while I was reading it, but the next night, I'd open the kindle, look at this book, and decide to read something else. I eventually finished it.
Slow moving, rather strange, but it didn't stick with me. I finished it yesterday and I'm battling to remember the theme. I swung between 2 and 4 stars, so it gets three.
Slow moving, rather strange, but it didn't stick with me. I finished it yesterday and I'm battling to remember the theme. I swung between 2 and 4 stars, so it gets three.
May 4, 2018
Picked up the book from library and was intrigued about it, too many questions was about it.
How can you be the hangman at all? What about the principals and morality? How can someone take somebody's life? Gosh, how can you follow the judgement and proceed the execution.
well, it was an interesting journey and also, the poor soul was haunted by morality and questions after writing his own life story.
How can you be the hangman at all? What about the principals and morality? How can someone take somebody's life? Gosh, how can you follow the judgement and proceed the execution.
well, it was an interesting journey and also, the poor soul was haunted by morality and questions after writing his own life story.
January 5, 2015
Not being episodic is the good part of the novel. Loved the way the story describes the challenges of a duty bound man , coming in terms with his own self and the society's moral discrimination. Could have been well edited. Jumps at places and moves slowly in others.. overall , a good experience.
January 31, 2018
A random pick from my library and so glad I found this little treasure. An eye opening and heartfelt book that will stay with me for a long time.
Read
February 1, 2021Although it seems strange for any hangman to have kept a journal, this one got written only on the insistence of the author, apparently. It explains a hangman's job in quite some detail and also speaks about what he might possibly go through mentally and emotionally, and even socially. The book, part fact and part fiction, quite interestingly, is narrated by the hangman himself and the author features in his writings. As the story progresses, it also tells you how the book came into existence while mentioning how difficult it was to go through the process of documenting the not-so-pleasant events, yet a much needed job, as a hangman.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 27, 2019
It’s a great story. At certain pages I found it a bit jumpy and disconnected but overall it was a great read. If you belong to the Indian society you would understand the protagonist mind a lot better, with the description of conservative and traditional nuances. This book doesn’t exactly celebrate life but definitely explains life of the hangman just before death. What he thinks, his conscience, his faith and him justifying this act of hanging people as a ‘job’. Actually guys, read it. :)
February 24, 2020
Absolutely Loved It!!!❤️
June 28, 2020
Hangman, what it takes to be one, questions that one encounters when tart trying to recollect the past? Written in a narration that makes the reader to hook to the book.
February 2, 2014
It was in 2001 that I read this book for the first time. I liked it very much at that time. When I read this book again for the second time (Feb 2014), I loved it. There were so many of the nuances, the subtleties and the power of the narrative that I missed the first time.
Shashi Warrier is perhaps better known for his awesome thrillers. Indeed I had become a fan of his writings after reading the Night of the Krait. The Hangman's Journal is extremely different. It deals with a topic that is seldom dealt with and in the most unconventional manner. I am sure that most of us have a curiosity about what it is to be a hangman, with all the attendant questions. This book is a work of fiction broadly based on the life of Janardhanan Pillai who served as the hangman in the princely state of Tranancore and in independent India.
Shashi is a powerful writer who does not really require the play of words to engage you or overwhelm you with words that make you reach for the dictionary ever so often. He writes simply and from his heart. In this story he poses some really difficult questions on the life and times of a hangman. We do not get clear answers, but it defininitely lets us thinking.
An author commissioned by a publisher reaches out to the aging hangman to get his story so that it can reach out to a wider audience. Reluctantly, the retired hangman agrees. Instead of merely answering a bunch of questions, the hangman decides to write the story himself in his limited Tamil. The shadow writer (the actual author) must now provide structure to a chaotic narrative and make that engaging. Shashi has truly excelled in this form of narrative and I could enjoy the book immensely the second time around.
More than merely empathizing with the protagonist, the story forces you to think how we (the individual and the society) generally end up treating people who perform jobs that we normally do not want to perform ourselves. People are generally fearful of the hangman. But I think that the shunning of the individual and the fact that people hold him in contempt is truly hurtful. Invariably, persons who do jobs that the rest of society does not want to do are shunned, held in contempt and often left to lead a life of poverty.
I particularly liked the narrative about the charade that the King, the King's messenger and the jail superintendent would play on the day of the execution. The book is by no means a thriller or a page turner. But it has enough substance for you to enjoy at a leisurely pace.
I have finished the book for the second time. There are still so many unanswered questions in my mind. Clearly Shashi Warrier is a master writer who can captivate readers in multiple genres of writing. I strongly recommend this book to those who have not had a chance to read it. Your view of how to deal with people who do things that are considered "dirty" would change dramatically!
Shashi Warrier is perhaps better known for his awesome thrillers. Indeed I had become a fan of his writings after reading the Night of the Krait. The Hangman's Journal is extremely different. It deals with a topic that is seldom dealt with and in the most unconventional manner. I am sure that most of us have a curiosity about what it is to be a hangman, with all the attendant questions. This book is a work of fiction broadly based on the life of Janardhanan Pillai who served as the hangman in the princely state of Tranancore and in independent India.
Shashi is a powerful writer who does not really require the play of words to engage you or overwhelm you with words that make you reach for the dictionary ever so often. He writes simply and from his heart. In this story he poses some really difficult questions on the life and times of a hangman. We do not get clear answers, but it defininitely lets us thinking.
An author commissioned by a publisher reaches out to the aging hangman to get his story so that it can reach out to a wider audience. Reluctantly, the retired hangman agrees. Instead of merely answering a bunch of questions, the hangman decides to write the story himself in his limited Tamil. The shadow writer (the actual author) must now provide structure to a chaotic narrative and make that engaging. Shashi has truly excelled in this form of narrative and I could enjoy the book immensely the second time around.
More than merely empathizing with the protagonist, the story forces you to think how we (the individual and the society) generally end up treating people who perform jobs that we normally do not want to perform ourselves. People are generally fearful of the hangman. But I think that the shunning of the individual and the fact that people hold him in contempt is truly hurtful. Invariably, persons who do jobs that the rest of society does not want to do are shunned, held in contempt and often left to lead a life of poverty.
I particularly liked the narrative about the charade that the King, the King's messenger and the jail superintendent would play on the day of the execution. The book is by no means a thriller or a page turner. But it has enough substance for you to enjoy at a leisurely pace.
I have finished the book for the second time. There are still so many unanswered questions in my mind. Clearly Shashi Warrier is a master writer who can captivate readers in multiple genres of writing. I strongly recommend this book to those who have not had a chance to read it. Your view of how to deal with people who do things that are considered "dirty" would change dramatically!
March 9, 2014
Novella set in South India
This novella is set in Travancore, which has long been subsumed into the areas of India's hot and dusty, deep south, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. It is a fascinating and at the same time repelling fictionalised account of the last hangman of Travancore - who was active between the 1940s and 1970s - writing his memoirs, encouraged and supported by a writer who wants to record his story.
Janaradhanan, now in his dotage, has a minefield of stored feelings together with repressed thoughts, having never had the opportunity to be cathartic and share some of the abominable experiences only he has had. He has led an extremely dark life, brought to full consciousness in the present, as he now struggles to set down his memories. His memories intensely re-awaken as he trawls through his life, igniting horrific nightmares. What did it really mean to be the person who witnessed the final moments of a dying man's breath? How did his family cope themselves with his job, he hasn't given that much thought until now? What of his wife Chellammal, what of his children?
As Janaradhanan looks back over his life, he recalls some of the minute details of his life as he despatched criminals to their death. From the knot sitting tightly just below the ear, to facilitate a quick death, to details of how the cord used for the noose was made, vignettes of terror, some of the intricate procedures and the final fall are all described as a stream of consciousness by an old man who is trying to make sense of his life.
The family, originally tasked with this bleak job, plundered all the assets at the outset, that went with the job, and then farmed it out to a distant relative, who received little remuneration for his task of hangman. Janaradhanan is that hangman's son. And this is his story.
This novella is set in Travancore, which has long been subsumed into the areas of India's hot and dusty, deep south, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. It is a fascinating and at the same time repelling fictionalised account of the last hangman of Travancore - who was active between the 1940s and 1970s - writing his memoirs, encouraged and supported by a writer who wants to record his story.
Janaradhanan, now in his dotage, has a minefield of stored feelings together with repressed thoughts, having never had the opportunity to be cathartic and share some of the abominable experiences only he has had. He has led an extremely dark life, brought to full consciousness in the present, as he now struggles to set down his memories. His memories intensely re-awaken as he trawls through his life, igniting horrific nightmares. What did it really mean to be the person who witnessed the final moments of a dying man's breath? How did his family cope themselves with his job, he hasn't given that much thought until now? What of his wife Chellammal, what of his children?
As Janaradhanan looks back over his life, he recalls some of the minute details of his life as he despatched criminals to their death. From the knot sitting tightly just below the ear, to facilitate a quick death, to details of how the cord used for the noose was made, vignettes of terror, some of the intricate procedures and the final fall are all described as a stream of consciousness by an old man who is trying to make sense of his life.
The family, originally tasked with this bleak job, plundered all the assets at the outset, that went with the job, and then farmed it out to a distant relative, who received little remuneration for his task of hangman. Janaradhanan is that hangman's son. And this is his story.
June 8, 2022
जल्लाद की डॉयरी : फाँसी लगाने वाले की मनःस्थिति को व्यक्त करता एक अनूठा उपन्यास :
आपने मृत्यु को क्या बिल्कुल नजदीक से देखा है? या कभी ये सोचा है कि जब आप किसी को बिना विद्वेष के मार दें तो उसके बाद आपकी क्या मनःस्थिति होगी। कैसा लगता है जब आम जिंदगी में लोग आपको और आपके पेशे को एक तरह के खौफ़ से देखते हैं। एक आम जन के लिए ये सवाल बेतुके और बेमानी से लगेंगे। पर जब बात एक पेशेवर जल्लाद की हो तो ये प्रश्न बेहद प्रासंगिक हो उठते हैं।
इन्ही प्रश्नों को लेकर केरल के एंग्लोइंडियन उपन्यासकार शशि वारियर पहुँच जाते हैं जनार्दन पिल्लै के पास, जिन्होंने त्रावणकोर के राजा के शासन काल और उसके उपरांत में तीन दशकों में ११७ फाँसियाँ दीं थीं। लेखक ने इस उपन्यास में उन सारी बातों को बिना लाग लपेट पाठकों तक पहुँचाने की कोशिश की है जिसे जनार्दन ने अपनी सोच और समझ के हिसाब से लेखक द्वारा दी गई कापियों में लिखा और अपने मरने के पहले लेखक को सौगात के रूप में छोड़ गया।
For more detailed review of the book please visit
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आपने मृत्यु को क्या बिल्कुल नजदीक से देखा है? या कभी ये सोचा है कि जब आप किसी को बिना विद्वेष के मार दें तो उसके बाद आपकी क्या मनःस्थिति होगी। कैसा लगता है जब आम जिंदगी में लोग आपको और आपके पेशे को एक तरह के खौफ़ से देखते हैं। एक आम जन के लिए ये सवाल बेतुके और बेमानी से लगेंगे। पर जब बात एक पेशेवर जल्लाद की हो तो ये प्रश्न बेहद प्रासंगिक हो उठते हैं।
इन्ही प्रश्नों को लेकर केरल के एंग्लोइंडियन उपन्यासकार शशि वारियर पहुँच जाते हैं जनार्दन पिल्लै के पास, जिन्होंने त्रावणकोर के राजा के शासन काल और उसके उपरांत में तीन दशकों में ११७ फाँसियाँ दीं थीं। लेखक ने इस उपन्यास में उन सारी बातों को बिना लाग लपेट पाठकों तक पहुँचाने की कोशिश की है जिसे जनार्दन ने अपनी सोच और समझ के हिसाब से लेखक द्वारा दी गई कापियों में लिखा और अपने मरने के पहले लेखक को सौगात के रूप में छोड़ गया।
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April 20, 2014
A magnificent book, not nearly as harrowing as some of the cover endorsements would suggest. This is a story of India more than anything else, of poverty, of caste and of a lonely old man coming to terms with his past.
December 13, 2017
A highly unusual story about a highly unusual character. Shashi Warrier has shown tremendous sensitivity and has shown us many insights from common place events in ordinary people's lives. This book ranks with the best.
March 24, 2019
I enjoyed this a lot! I personally felt it slowed down part way through it felt like it was dragging on and on but it finally picked up again And the story resolved really quickly.
A book that has certainly left its mark on me. It gave me lots to consider and think about.
Highly recommended.
A book that has certainly left its mark on me. It gave me lots to consider and think about.
Highly recommended.
January 12, 2008
nice book
March 16, 2013
Not a hard job. But jobs which has souls...
June 26, 2014
This came as a bit of a damp read after K.R. Meera's Aaaraachar
September 22, 2015
must read book...
it is about hangman experience...
it is about hangman experience...
June 24, 2022
how to read this book??
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews