Skip to main content

The Serpent's Revenge : Unusual Tales from the Mahabharata by Sudha Murty (Book Reviews: 4/5)


Sudha Murty's books have always been a delight to her readers, and The Serpent's Revenge: Unusual Tales from the Mahabharata is no exception. Fascinating, light, and smooth to read, this 200-page short- story collection comprises less-known folk tales from the epic Mahabharata. While some of them are popular in different parts of the country, some of the stories are a pleasant surprise to the readers.

I have been a major fan of the Hindu epic Mahabharata since childhood and love reading every story and folk tale related to it. Dozens of titles have been released revolving around the lives of the main characters of the epic, most popularly of those including Draupadi (Princess of Panchal, wife of the five Pandavas), Karna (best friend of Duryodhana and son of Kunti and Lord Surya), and Arjuna (the mighty archer Pandav and Krishna's beloved.) Most of the stories in the book belong majorly to the above characters and some are quite unheard of.

My personal favourite and a bit-forgotten over the course of time story was of 'The Udupi King.' The story flow is quite smooth and is suitable for all age groups. For an ardent reader, TSP is a three-hour congenial read, entwining and relating different stories with one-another from the same collection.


I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.

Title: The Serpent's Revenge
Author: Sudha Murty
Genre: Mythology, Fiction, Short story collection
No.of pages: 200
Suitable for age group: All age groups, kids preferably
Publishing House: Penguin Random House India

Find the book: Amazon | Flipkart | Goodreads

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Perks of being a Solo Traveler: What my amazing Solo Trips taught me

Today marks the first anniversary of my first ever solo-trip. I had picked Agra, Uttar Pradesh for I was always mesmerized by the breathtakingly beautiful Taj Mahal. After somehow convincing my parents to allow me to travel alone, I landed up in Agra for a three-day trip.              It's fun, it's slightly overwhelming, even weird at times, but the experience of being on your own in a new town taught me a lot. Here are some perks that the adventure of solo travel brings along with it:   1. You make all the rules: Wanna go lakeside at 5 am? Or feeling like taking a nap in the afternoon? You can do whatever you like, whenever you like. Evening walks by the sea shore or enjoying breeze in the balcony, it's totally your call. Taj Mahal, Agra, UttarPradesh 2. Staying at amazing hostels: Backpacker hostels are far safer and cheaper than hotel rooms. Moreover, sharing your dorm room with travelers from different nationalities is an...
5 comments
Read more

A Life of my Own by Rupangi Sharma (Book Reviews: 4/5)

'A Life of my Own' is a story that will take you on an emotional ride; sympathy, joy, anger, and pride, all wrapped up in this 168 page book. Shweta is pregnant for the first time post several years of her marriage, but her husband and in-laws force her to consult a doctor for the baby's gender reveal. Things go downhill after that and Shweta has no other choice but to protect her foetus from her torturing in-laws. Her journey is inspiring and written with honesty. The uniqueness of the plot was the conversation between the baby and God, where the inquisitive former would ask a variety of questions about it's mother and the people around her. Their brief chit-chats are pretty interesting as well. I appreciate the author's way of presenting her characters. As much I enjoyed reading the book, my heart sank down everytime there was a remark on female foeticide in India and the blind bias for a male child. We usually ignore this fact assuming it's a rural thing and ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Till We Meet Again by Shibaji Bose (Book Reviews: 3/5)

Till We Meet Again is the story of Aryan, a zealous young man who is ready to nurture his passion and win the world when a personal tragedy weighs him down with family's responsibilities. The author has blended emotions, family relationships, vengeance, hope and love in a praiseworthy way in this book. The hidden highlight of the book is the way the protagonist learns life lessons; finding his purpose in life from his sister Rhea, passion and desire from landlady Kavya, sacrifice from his mother, and power of family from his brother Rohan. This is the story of a boy's journey of becoming a man while facing unexpected situations and meeting vivid people. The book starts a bit slow, majorly because of the wide range of vocabulary which might reduce the reading speed as well. The book gains pace after a while and the plot begins to take an interesting shape. This is the book if you are looking for one with a deeper human emotion perspective and feel the words describing so mu...
Post a Comment
Read more