26 June, 2014

#BookReview :: Far Beyond The Dead End by Saikat Baksi


They called it the 'mound of dead'. In other words, Mohenjo-Daro!

But beneath those layers of ruin, once flourished a town pulsating with life. There lived Koli with her enigmatic charm, Sindhu with an eyeful of dreams, Girad with his raging passion, the decrepit priest prophesying the doom and many others. They loved, hated and chased their fixations in manic rage. A series of mysterious deaths ensued from such frenetic hunt for lust, riches and glory. Yet, the inexorable game of destruction did not cease to play, until they ventured Far Beyond the Dead End only to be discovered under a heap of rubble four thousand years later. 




This is the story of Koli, a smart, beautiful, intellectual and skilled girl. Her father wants to marry her off to Sindhu, a charming man. However, Girad, a failed businessman, has his eyes and heart set on Koli. He is calculative and manipulative and would do anything to get things going his way. Sounds like one of those dime a dozen love stories that have been flooding the market. But hold on for a moment. This one is set in the place we now know as Mohenjo-daro when it a fledging society. Yeah, that kind of puts a twist in what could have been a simple love story.

The characters are well drawn out and develops throughout the story – especially the central characters –Koli, Sindhu and Girad. I particularly liked the character of Koli’s father and the shades of Sindhu. The plot itself is a simple and straightforward one and there are very few twists. But what I loved about this book is the author’s narration style. He brings a dead civilization back to life through his words and I have little doubt about if things were really like as he has described. Special kudos to the author for putting in seven long years of research into Mohenjo-daro civilization. It couldn’t have been easy and the author has included a detailed bibliography in the book that I am sure shows only part of all the hard work that has gone into this novel.

I would suggest everyone to read this book, if not for the plot then atleast for the way the author has brought back life into Mohenjo-daro. 






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