BANERJI, Sara - Shining Hero - (Excellent Paperback)

Book still in a great condition.   >>>   In a village outside modern-day Calcutta, a young girl sends a baby floating down a sacred river towards an unknown destiny. The river will ultimately link the fate of young Karna to that of a host of other characters: his teenage mother, Koonty; his half-brother and rival, Arjuna; his destitute foster mother, Dolly; as well as ruthless street thugs, pariahs, and film stars. In this enchanting novel, which dips luxuriously into the richness of Indian myth and Hindu legend, Sara Banerji takes us on an exhilarating ride from the underworld of Calcutta, to Bollywood, up into the Himalayas, culminatingas the brothers fight for fame and fortunein a race to the death that only one can win.   >>>   In this lively and absorbing novel Sara Banerji uses the elements of the epic poem The Mahabharata to create a modern life parable prefacing each chapter with an appropriate excerpt and constantly drawing the reader's attention to the features of the story. Beginning with a baby found floating in a sacred river and a poor but honest woman who adopts him, she re-interprets every precious myth and legend. Her picaresque tale involves crowd scenes of thousands, multitudes of extras, elephants, tinsel, gods and goddesses. She laughs at her characters' misfortunes and with a scarcely disguised irony portrays Indian society with all of its chronic problems. Arjuna, the heroic warrior of the Mahabharata, is taught that he has a duty to fight; Banerji's Arjuna is full of hatred for his half-brother Karna and the story traces the rivalry and bitterness between these siblings from early childhood until they are separated by death. One of them represents an India where luxury is taken for granted, the other has learnt to survive in the dirt and poverty of Calcutta. But the humour is too sly and the protagonists too fallible for this to be a tragedy. Both boys yearn to become film stars dripping with gold and wearing mock armour, one absurd adventure followed quickly by another. Only their aunt, Shivarini, recognizes the falseness of this illusionary, Bollywood happiness and uses her education and wealth to tackle injustice: the plight of India's downtrodden women, the abandoned street children and the exploitation of the poor villagers. The reader is invited to be a wry spectator of this galloping and vivid narrative, only occasionally allowed to pause for breath in order to share the characters' inner thoughts. Banerji trusts us to draw the right conclusions about morality and make our own value judgements. An imaginative tour-de-force. (Kirkus)