The Thirteenth Day

Details of the Book

ISBN13           : 9788129134752

Language        : English

No. of Pages   : 260 Pages

From the book blurb

It is the tenth night of the Great War between the Pandavas and Kauravas. Bhishma, the venerable patriarch of the families, lies fatally wounded on the plains of Kurukshetra. On his deathbed he offers Radheya, his nemesis, a chance to rule the Kuru kingdom by capturing Yudhishthira.

In the Pandava camp, Yudhishthira, a reluctant warrior, tries desperately to hold his allies together and escape capture without appearing to be a coward. Meanwhile, his young and impulsive nephew, Abhimanyu, a warrior prince, dreams of glory and yearns for a chance to save the Pandava cause. The lives of these three warriors, Yudhisthira, Radheya and Abhimanyu, collide brutally on the thirteenth day. A story of how stories are created, how fact becomes fiction, how history becomes mythology and how men become legends, The Thirteenth Day re-imagines India's greatest epic like never before.

Author

Aditya Iyengar graduated from St. Xaviers’ College with a BMM degree. Later, he perused masters in English Literature. Currently, he is a Marketing Executive in a TV Channel and lives in Mumbai. Prior to that worked with an advertising company as a writer and won a number of awards for creativity.

  

What I think

The Thirteenth Day is the tale of the Great War between the cousins – Pandavas and Kauravas. The title announces what can be expected out of the book. The blurb is crisp and describes the story, arousing the reader’s interest. The cover page gives a sneak peek into the battle field and how it would have been.

Mahabharatha is one of the longest and greatest epics. It illustrates what is good and what is bad. It emphasizes that only satya and dharma would win. Generally, Indians grow up listening to these stories. Lord Krishna’s naughtiness as well as shrewdness and Abhimanyu’s courage are always awe-inspiring. Where Suyodhana also referred as Dhuryodhana follows the wrong path along with his uncle Shakuni and a hundred brothers, his cousin Yudhishtir with his 4 brothers follow the path of righteousness.

I am sure that we all know Mahabharatha in bits and pieces. Further, in recent times, it has been retold several times, from different viewpoints. This book retells only the war days, after the fall of Grandsire Bhishma.

The narrative is lucid and simple words and used to tell the story. The dilemma of the Pandavas, the helplessness of Radheya (Karna) and the never ending greed of Suyodhana is well-captured.

However, in a time when market is flooded with books based on/inspired from Mahabharatha or retelling the same from the perspectives of different characters is a trend, this book seems like just-another in the long list of similar book. Having said that, taking the plot as the last three days of war is different, though it offers nothing new.

I appreciate the author for considering the great epic as history rather than a mythology.

In short, this book will surely give a fair idea of how the last three days of war were… It will surely add more perspectives and would let you empathize with each character - they are presented as normal human beings with emotions and not as Demi-God who are capable of everything!

So, go for it….

Dive into the known to know the unknown J

Rating

3/5

PS: This Review was originally published in Tales Pensive