Sons of the Sun

by Sa. Kandasamy

Chelliah is a proud young lad who overcomes a troubled childhood amidst rural deprivation through self belief. Bullied at school and at home, surviving his mother’s anxiety and lack of confidence in him, he finds a role model in auto mechanic Ramu. His work takes him to the big city, where he finds friendship and betrayal, love and loss, challenges and triumph. Sa Kandasami’s tender story climaxes in Chelliah’s election as an office bearer in a workers’ union.

256 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2007

About the author

Sa. Kandasamy (23 July 1940 – 31 July 2020) was a novelist and documentary film-maker from Mayiladuthurai in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. He won the Sahitya Akademi Award in Tamil for his novel, Vicharanai Commission in 1998.

Kandasamy's first novel was Saayavanam Puthinam, published in 1968. It was well-received and was later included by the National Book Trust as one of Indian literature's modern masterpieces. Saayavanam is one of the earliest examples of literature focusing on ecological concerns in India, and focuses on forest clearances and industrial development in Tamil Nadu. Kandasamy based on the novel on his own experiences in rural Tamil Nadu, and named the novel after a village that he had lived in with his family, as a child.

His novel, Vicharanai Commission, which dealt with custodial violence and the police, won the Sahitya Akademi Award for Tamil in 1998.

He has published seven novels and several collection of short stories, in Tamil. One of Kandasamy's novels, Tholaindhu ponavargal was adapted for television.

In addition to fiction, Kandasamy wrote several pieces of criticism, focusing on visual arts and writing in Tamil Nadu, as well as introducing a series of Tamil biographies published by the Sahitya Akademi.

Kandasamy's documentary film, Kaval Deivangal, documented history and techniques relating to traditional terracotta art in South India. It won the first prize at the Angino Film Festival, in Cyprus, in 1989. In addition, Kandasamy also directed several other documentaries, primarily on popular Tamil writers and artists, including the sculptor S. Dhanapal, and writers Jayakanthan and Ashokamitran.

Novels:
Saayavanam Puthinam
Suriya Vamsam
Visaranai Commission
Avan Aanathu
Tholaindhu Ponavargal (Those Who Are Lost)
Perum Mazhai Natkal
Neelavan

Awards and honors
(1998) Sahitya Akademi Award - for his novel, Vicharanai Commission
(1995) Lalit Kala Akademi Fellowship - for contributions to literature

Reviews

[Nanditha · Rating 3 out of 5]

A simple, grounded, and sweet tale of a boy going through a lot of hardships (which felt a bit too simplistic at times, but largely worked for me regardless). Simpler books in simpler times by a simple author perhaps.

[Mario · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am surprised and disappointed. A book by a renown author, writing in a language of so long literary tradition turned out to be very simple story, far too simple in plot and even more in the style. I am not surprised by communist ideas here (many of those, who haven't got the slightest idea of what is life in communism like, propagate this nonsense, and I can tell you this is nonsense, as I have lived many years in a communist country), I am disgruntled because there is almost no psychological explanations of the heros' thoughts, feelings and deeds. They just do something, you don't know why and what for, and that's it. In the end the protagonist joins a political movement - why? What made him do it? He could just as well become muslim or join he army or marry a princess - why not? Same probability.
The author writes in a very simple way, not at all sophisticated prose. I don't like it but, well, nowadays some writers in Europe follow this style, using only short and simple sentences, nothing complex. Well, sometimes this is just, sometimes this is just author's lack of talent.
HERE WORST OF ALL IS THE TRANSLATION! This is not a translation, this is a bad joke!. Mister translator can maybe translate documents in some small district office but certainly not NOVELS which are part od FINE ARTS and require FINE AND BEAUTIFUL LANGUAGE. In this book we have language that my 14 years old daughter would never use in a school essays, indeed.
From Page 14:
"He stopped.. He could... He looked... He shifted... " etc. What is it, a list of something or Literature???
Page 27: "At the back of the house was a mango tree. Behind the tree was a bamboo grove. A kingfisher lived in the bamboo grove. Beyond the grove was a pond. During the rains, the pond overflowed. When the pond was full, the kingfisher hunted for fish in it."
First, this is a style of a fairy-tale for 5 yrs old children, not of a novel for grown-up readers of fiction. Second, in English it should be: "There was a mango tree at the back of the house. Etc.".
I don't know, if for this primitive language only the translator should be blamed, maybe this is the author's typical style? Unfortunately, I could not find this book in Tamil (my Tamil is good enough to read slowly with a dictionary so it is good enough to decide if the book is a piece of art or not). If anyone has the book and is ready to sell it, I will be happy to buy it (paper or ebook).
I have read some translated novel of Indian writers (Perumal Murugan, Vivek Shanbhag, K. R. Meera) and I can't find any faults with the translations, only in case of this book the translation is a catastrophe.