What is the need for a new novel on Mahabharatha ? Well the epic contains a store house of ideas to be re-invented whenever the authors saw it in a disparate perspective. Aditya Iyengar’s debut novel “The Thirteenth Day” is that kind of a novel which provides a panoply of the events that takes place from the Tenth day to the thirteenth day.
As the readers of the epic knew the firsts dozen of the days in the war is not that much to exaggerate but the days from the tenth day to the thirteenth day has been told in a awe by the author. He makes a difference in the re-telling by taking a very diverse route.
The author narrates the story by using three main characters that are often not chosen – Yudhishthira, Radheya (Karna) and Abhimanyu. What bemuses me is the handling of the narration by the author by not providing any importance to a particular narration and balances it between them making the story more important rather than the characters. Although the characters are very powerful in their own, Aditya Iyengar brings in on the human aspects of the characters and avoids the usual asuras and the other things focusing the readers on the particular days. He also takes great pain in avoiding the romances and the other stuffs to focus more on the battle.
The character of Yudhistra particularly attracted as he was often misunderstood the most. Aditya shows his other perspective and his thoughts on how he is the sole authority vested to make the decisions while the others defy him of his troubles and the war is fought to claim him the throne.
The book on the whole was an interesting read and it wasn’t the usual blah blah of the famous Jaya story. Those who like the epics which are told in an different perspective will sure like the book, but for the other readers this will sure be a lagging one. But on the whole, the author needs to be lauded for a disparate attempt.
About the Book :
Title : The Thirteenth Day
Author : Aditya Iyengar
Publisher : Rupa Publications India
Genre : Mythology
Copy : Flipkart Review Programme
ISBN : 9788129134752
Rating : 
Links :
Flipkart : The Thirteenth Day : A Story of the Kurukshetra War
Amazon : The Thirteenth Day : A Story of the Kurukshetra Wara
Kindle Edition : The Thirteenth Day [Kindle Edition]
Happy reading,
Zudin 