For the love of reading
I don’t know when was the last time I was this hooked by a book. There have been a variety of emotions with respect to different books that I liked but this is one book which I was constantly in awe, right from the word go. Like I was telling to whichever friends I talked to while reading the book, it’s a book where you read only one chapter per day, read it thoroughly and narrate it as a story to your kid. In a way you remember the book and relish the joy of sharing.
I firmly believe the policy that if I don’t understand something it’s not meant to be understood but with respect to this book, right from page one, if there was even an iota of doubt, I reread to see to that I understood what I missed. Because this book was like education. I don’t know how much what he describes about plants and animals and anything from nature is actually true but he doesn’t let us think whether its true or not. So, with each information it only keeps us more engrossed.
When you read books like ‘Lord of the Rings’ you get wooed into their world but as it’s a purely imaginary world its far easier to construct than the world of Velpari. Through Velpari, Su. Venkatesan makes us believe in the world he has created. That’s his highest virtue. Out of the epic novels, ‘Ponniyin Selvan’ or Kalki’s triology is considered to be the best but ‘Velpari’ easily beats them by leaps and bounds. One main thing which Su. Venkatesan has done better than Kalki is the description of war. Even though, Ponniyin Selvan or any of the three books hypes us that a big war is going to come, much like “winter is coming”, it actually doesn’t describe a war. It tells us in one chapter or may be two about the war being huge and it led to lot of damage but it doesn’t go into the details. In ‘Velpari’, almost the entire second book is full of war. After a point, it gets on you and runs into your mind. Being in a hurry to complete I was trying to read as much as possible and finish the book so it was very disturbing for me.
The best thing about the book would easily be the detailing and Su. Venkatesan’s love for nature. But what I liked different in the book is Pari almost does nothing during the war, its his team which fights. Generally, whenever there is a book about a king, everything would be done by the king and all accolades would go to him. Here too Pari gets importance but that’s mostly through words and wit. The actual war which happens is led by his mates. So, if at all they make it into a movie, the entire pre climax part would be without the hero. Isn’t it a beauty.
Even though people are hell bent to make ‘Ponniyin Selvan’ into a movie. Velpari is far great a material because of its detailing. The work is largely minimized for the writers. All they would have to make is a good scene because even editing is done by Su. Venkatesan. Especially during the war sequences when the description of different events happens, it was brilliant. It actually felt like seeing a movie. Highlight of this is the death of Thisaivezar and Thekkan.
If there is something which I could knit pick it would be the reaction of Myla after Neelan gets caught. It was a great situation. In fact, the entire war happens because of that and Neelan gets caught when the ladies are conducting a ladies only function for Myla. Yes, Myla is a strong woman and I didn’t expect her to breakdown after knowing Neelan is caught but at least she could have been shown as a strong woman in that instant but no reaction from her side was written in the book. It was disappointing.
Second would be Pari’s role in the war. Even though I loved the fact that the whole war process was not just about Pari. It should have been a great moment when Pari enters the field. But I didn’t get the goosebumps which usually happened for a number of other incidents related to or unrelated to Pari.
Thirdly, even though the final assault by Parambu happens because the war rules were broken, I was expecting the war to be led more gracefully by Velpari, showing him as an honest man. Just like how he doesn’t use any tricks to defeat Kalamban during the fight in first book. In fact, for me that’s the Pari moment of the whole book. Climax couldn’t beat it. When the attack starts at night by using a couple of items to attract insects, I was disappointed. I felt like he could have done better.
This is definitely not a book to be reviewed through just a single read but good that I’m writing this at least when I’m still in the hangover so that I could remember better. Like ‘Mahabaratham’ each chapter of the book could be made into an episode for series. That’s how much story it had and that’s how much branches the main story had. Anyone reading Tamil, this book is a reader’s delight, go for it.
constantscribbles 