Bustle ‘Bout Books: Review- ‘All Lies, Says Krishna’ By J. Rajasekharan Nair

All Lies, Says Krisna

Title: ‘All Lies, Says Krishna’

Author: J. Rajasekharan Nair

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: Fingerprint! Publishing

My Rating: 5/5 stars

*NOTE: I am extremely grateful to Fingerprint! Publishing for sending me this book. However, this does not at all hinder my honest opinions regarding the book. This is a spoiler-free review. All opinions are solely mine.

‘All Lies, Says Krishna’ is the perfect title for the book. The cover wins my heart every time I look at it!

The book is written in first person, Krishna being the narrator with intervals of third person narratives. 36 years after the end of the war of Mahabharata, Krishna finds himself in Vrindavan where he has come to spend his last days by indulging in a conversation with Radha, his childhood companion. Radha plays the role of a common person who knows Mahabharata as it was told to all. The conversation unfolds to her the myths and misunderstandings that have commonly flown around regarding the war and Krishna’s own life. Radha asks Kanha various questions and Kanha responds to all, unveiling new realms to the epic. He introduces all the main characters and even those that are not much talked about, in detail, providing the reader with unique perspectives into the character’s life.

This book is a work of fiction and what makes me marvel at it is the fact that nothing in the book is narrated as a story that we already know. It holds the power to change the whole fabric of the epic as we know it. I had a great time reading the book owing to the fact that each character is provided with a unique, beautiful, or even hurtful life history that justifies how they have lived till the end of the war and after. The author has gone ahead to dive deep into the psychology of each character, almost providing the reader with a detailed character analysis. Each character’s fatal flaw has been expressed and no character is portrayed as the embodiment of an ideal human being.

‘All Lies, Says Krishna’ is a treasure box for all those who love the epic Mahabharata and a must-read for those who are never tired of knowing the characters better. This book is a retelling recommended to all readers who agree with the fact that Mahabharata is a compilation of complexities enraged by the individual characters and their varied psychological patterns. However, if you are not familiar with much of the original, I would advise you to first have a reading of the epic even if it is in brief and then go ahead to enjoy this masterpiece through a new lens provided by the author of ‘All Lies, Says Krishna’.

Have you read this book? Would you like to? What do you think about my review? Let me know in the comments section below!

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