Abin

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Abin is Currently Reading

Abin is currently reading

Lawyers at Play: Literature, Law, and Politics at the Early Modern Inns of Court, 1558-1581

by Jessica Winston

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Aug 03, 2026 08:54PM

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Epitome of Sacrifice - Ponni's Beloved Volume 5: An English Translation of Kalki's Ponniyin Selvan

by Kalki Krishnamurthy

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Reading for the 2nd time

read in January 2025

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Abin said: " My major resolution for the New Year's was to document the books/movies I finish this year, and write something about it at the end. However, I started the series in December last year, and was already at Book 3 by New Year's. So, I thought I would w My major resolution for the New Year's was to document the books/movies I finish this year, and write something about it at the end. However, I started the series in December last year, and was already at Book 3 by New Year's. So, I thought I would write about the entire series at the end, rather than about Book #5. I believe this makes sense as the series was not initially a 5-book series, but rather an episodic narrative that took around 4 years, and was later split into 5. You could even see some story arcs being ignore casually, but that makes sense when the story was built episodically, so the novelist would be able to look at people's reactions and build the narrative accordingly.

Now, coming to the book, I was late to start this masterpiece, as I wanted to find the perfect English version. Ponniyin Selvan has been on my read-list ever since the news of the movies came out, but my procrastination would not reach anywhere, so I bought the English version written by Sumeeta Manikandan. I am not in a place to comment on the quality of translation, since I have not read the original Tamil. However, I can definitely say that this was a satisfying read for me. The language used was simple but also paints a wonderful picture. Some of the conversations seemed a bit artificial, but that was expected when you translate a novel like this from Tamil to English. The references was really helpful, and goes a long way for the reader to understand some of the context.

Coming to the story, what more to say that has not been said? An epic historical fiction that is based on one of the most illustrious Emperors in Indian history. It is amazing how Kalki has built a huge narrative from one single historical incident. However, some instances do feel like blatant Chola propaganda (which is expected I guess on a book about the glories of Chola Kingdom), and I have read how Kalki tried to hide the culpability of Brahmins in the book, but I am in no place to authoritatively comment on that. There were some casual hints on Islamic invasion (that happens centuries later in a different part of the country) dropped in the narrative, and those just felt odd.

That being said, it was a really enjoyable read and the author wonderfully portrays the white, black, and grey shade of the characters. What I really liked about the novel is that even if the author does not say it outright, there are instances where even the title character, heralded as the epitome of goodness prima facie, can be seen as a manipulative power-hungry politician (not sure if these were put in consciously). That style of storytelling has definitely helped the novels in being discussed even after 7 decades, with countless possible interpretations. ...more "

Aug 03, 2026 08:54PM · see review