Name: Premalekhanam (16th edition)
ISBN: 9788171300242

Vaikom Muhammed Basheer

Premalekhanam (16th edition)

Hellboy TCR

ഇത്രയും സന്തോഷം പകരുന്ന ഒരു കൃതി മലയാളത്തിലില്ലെന്നാണ് എനിയ്ക്കു തോന്നുന്നത്. അവിശ്വസനീയമാം വിധം ചിരിയുണർത്തുന്ന ഒന്ന്. എത്ര തവണ വായിച്ചിട്ടുണ്ടെന്നു തന്നെ ഓർക്കാനാകുന്നില്ല.

Shreerag Plakazhi

Granted both Malayalam books I've read (listened to thanks to Storytel) have both been by Basheer, I think the acclaim that he enjoys in my small state is enough to say that he might be one of my favourites already. In a crude analogy that is not befitting of him, his books are short like a dagger instead of sword, but the cut they leave is deep. He uses humour better than most English authors I've read, using classic strategies like repetition and wordplay to deliver jokes that hit every time. He uses the humour to tell a story that is longer than the 50 pages afforded to the book. The world he creates is made larger by the knowledge one has of Kerala and its unique brand of communal politics. A Hindu falling in love with a Christian is no new story but he manages to flavour it with class politics, gender politics, the nature of work of that day, unconventional families, and a host of other topics. In the end you are left with a feeling that you just received an education from a master in a quick one hour audiobook, which is a remarkable achievement by its own. Did I mention it was funny?

Premalekhanam (16th edition)

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