26 May, 2020

The Sword - Ponni's Beloved Volume 3: An English Translation by Sumeetha Manikandan - [Book Review]

“Some links may be affiliate links. We may get paid if you buy something or take action after clicking one of these”

Read Book Reviews of Part 1 and Part 2

Book Details :


Title: The Sword - Ponni's Beloved Volume 3

An English Translation of Kalki Krishnamurthy's Ponniyin Selvan

Author of Original Novel in Tamil: Kaliki Krishnamurthy
English Translation: Sumeetha Manikandan
Genre: Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction
Print Length: 387 pages
Source : A Kindle copy




Blurb:


Kalki Krishnamurthy’s Ponniyin Selvan is a masterpiece that has enthralled generations of Tamil readers. 

Many authors have written phenomenal books in Tamil literature after Kalki Krishnamurthy, but Ponniyin Selvan remains the most popular, widely-read novel. It has just the right mixture of all things that makes an epic – political intrigue, conspiracy, betrayal, huge dollops of romance, infidelity, seduction, passion, alluring women, unrequited love, sacrifice, and pure love.


Purchase Link:





All Volumes : Amazon


My Review :


Volume 3 has less story covered when compared to 1 and 2. The story threw more light on some characters like The Prime minister, Prince Madhuranthakan, and Samudra Kumari (it's so tough to write the name of her character :p).

The respect towards the Prime minister character grew a lot after understanding the tactics people have to use in high positions in a kingdom. Even though Vandiya Devan has good intentions,  he always gets caught in some or the other trouble and gets rescued by Vaishnavan. So, I was doubting his capabilities while reading.

It's good to read about Kundavai pouring her feelings out to Vandiya Devan before sending him to Kanchi. This part also delved deep into Vanathi's character. The transformation from a faint-hearted girl to a brave lady is amazing.

The flashback of Madhuranthakan's mother, the plan revealed by Nandini to Ravidas, and, the meeting of Kundavai and Ponniyan Selvan are the highlights of this part.

The pace of the story is fine but thought this part has less story and more conversations. The English translation as usual maintained the nativity of the story. There are a few minor grammar mistakes and typos though which might have been avoided.


My Rating: 4.5/ 5


About the Author:


Sumeetha Manikandan is a freelance writer and an author who loves to write and base her plots on the tambrahm community of Mylapore, Chennai. She is the author of ‘The Perfect Groom’ that has been a bestselling ebook on the top 50 charts of Amazon India ever since publication.


An avid reader, she loves to read across different genres – romance, historical fiction, non-fiction, mystery, fantasy, etc. A history buff to the core,
she is currently translating Ponniyin Selvan – the evergreen Tamil classic epic history by Kalki Krishnamurthy into English.

Married to filmmaker K.S. Manikandan, Sumeetha lives in Chennai, along with her six-year-old daughter.

Until next time,


1 comment:

  1. Anonymous12:16 AM

    Thanks Mahathi for this lovely review.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for dropping by! please share your opinion :)

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...