Manasarovar Engelska 2010

The early 1960s also known as the golden age of Indian cinema. Satyan Kumar reigning screen god moves from Mumbai to the Madras film industry. There he meets Gopalan a middling studio writer. An inexplicable connection forms between the two men across the chasms of class and language. But just as an enduring bond springs up tragedy intervenes. Gopalans son mysteriously dies and his wifes dementia acquires homicidal overtones. Both men flounder as they try to understand their roles in these seemingly random events that radically transform their lives. In spare unburnished prose Ashokamitran examines the finite human capacity to deal with pain and sorrow and the need for redemption if life is to go on. And in so doing he etches a fascinating portrait of the times with a cast of characters that includes among others Pandit Nehru and Meher Baba the silent mystic. Brilliantly translated from the Tamil original by N. Kalyan Raman Manasarovar establishes Ashokamitran as one of the most outstanding writers of contemporary Tamil literature. About the Author Ashokamitran was born in 1931 in Secunderabad. In a prolific career that began in 1955 he has written over 250 short stories along with two dozen novels and novellas in addition to a steady output of columns essays and book reviews which have earned for him a central place in post-Independence Tamil literature. His work has been translated into many Indian and European languages. Four major novels as well as three collections of short stories from his oeuvre are available in English translation. His years of rich and diverse contribution to Tamil literature have brought him many honours including the Sahitya Akademi award (1996). Ashokamitran lives and works in Chennai.