Sean Bala a publié une critique de Samskara par U.R. Ananthamurthy
Review of 'Samskara' on 'Goodreads'
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"Samskara: A Rite for a Dead Man" by U.R. Ananthamurthy is an masterful Indian novella sitting at the bridge between a realistic work and an allegory. Written originally in Kannada (a South Indian language) and translate by A.K. Ramanujan, the work deals with the relationship between religion and the experience of life as lived. The work can be read by someone with less of a background in Indian religions but a familiarity with Indian society helps. The edition by Oxford India Perennials does include some helpful notes but the translator (A.K. Ramanujan) keeps them to a minimum.
Samskara is a tricky Sanskrit word to translate. As the afterword of this edition notes, it can mean "a rite of passage or life-cycle ceremony," "forming well, making perfect," "the realizing of past perceptions," "preparations, making ready." This multivalent word is appropriate for a deeply complex novella about transformations of many sorts and …
"Samskara: A Rite for a Dead Man" by U.R. Ananthamurthy is an masterful Indian novella sitting at the bridge between a realistic work and an allegory. Written originally in Kannada (a South Indian language) and translate by A.K. Ramanujan, the work deals with the relationship between religion and the experience of life as lived. The work can be read by someone with less of a background in Indian religions but a familiarity with Indian society helps. The edition by Oxford India Perennials does include some helpful notes but the translator (A.K. Ramanujan) keeps them to a minimum.
Samskara is a tricky Sanskrit word to translate. As the afterword of this edition notes, it can mean "a rite of passage or life-cycle ceremony," "forming well, making perfect," "the realizing of past perceptions," "preparations, making ready." This multivalent word is appropriate for a deeply complex novella about transformations of many sorts and the shaking of firm certainties and ideologies. The plot of the novella is deceptively simple. a small, decaying Brahmin village in Southern India runs like clockwork to the rhythms of rituals and rites.The community is overseen by Pranesharcharya, the kindly chief priest and the "Crown Jewel of Vedanta." Also in the village is Naranappa, who is initially portrayed as the exact opposite of Praneshacharya. He drinks, eat meat, lives with a low caste woman, and refuses to follow the rituals and customs of the village. At the start of the novella, Naranappa is found dead and the two simple questions are raised: is he still a Brahmin and if so, who is to burn his body? The quest for an answer will lead Praneshacharya to die to himself and be remade by his wide-eyed experience of the world.
What make the novel strong is the way in which the novel is so sensory. You get a glimpse into the psychologically complex world of Praneshacharya who wrestles with the changes he is undergoing. You smell the rotting body of Naranappa. You feel the hunger (physical and psychological) of villagers waiting for an answer. You feel the lust and desire of multiple characters for the things of the world. The artistry of the author in crafting a novella that shows so much in 117 pages makes this a fantastic work of literature that should be read by people living outside India.