{"title":"Ur Ananthamurthy","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"samskara-book-ur-ananthamurthy-9781590179123","title":"Samskara","description":"\u003ci\u003eSamskara\u003c\/i\u003e is one of the acknowledged masterpieces of modern world literature, a book to set beside Chinua Achebe's \u003ci\u003eThings Fall Apart\u003c\/i\u003e and Tayeb Salih's \u003ci\u003eSeason of Migration to\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003ethe North\u003c\/i\u003e. Taking its name from a Sanskrit word that means \"rite of passage\" but also \"moment of recognition,\" it begins when Naranappa, an inhabitant of a small south Indian town and a renegade Brahmin who has scandalously flouted the rules of caste and purity for years, eating meat, drinking alcohol, marrying beneath him, mocking God, unexpectedly falls ill and dies. The question of whether he should be buried as a Brahmin divides the other Brahmins in the village. For an answer they turn to Praneshacharyah, the most devout and respected member of their community, an ascetic who also tends religiously to his invalid wife.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Praneshacharyah finds himself unable to provide the answer, though an answer is urgently needed since as he wonders and the villagers wait and the body festers, more and more people are falling sick and dying. But when Praneshacharyah goes to the temple to seek a sign from God, he discovers something else entirely--unless that something else is also God.\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eSamskara\u003c\/i\u003e is a tale of existential suspense, a life-and-death encounter between the sacred and the profane, the pure and the impure, the ascetic and the erotic.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49763444588817,"sku":"CIN1590179129G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51864901681425,"sku":"GOR009964011","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52726831284497,"sku":"NIN9781590179123","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53197871874321,"sku":"GOR014802967","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53507238461713,"sku":"CIN1590179129VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1590179129.jpg?v=1750719534"},{"product_id":"samskara-book-ur-ananthamurthy-9780198077145","title":"Samskara","description":"Examining the caste system, culture, religious rules, and traditions, as well as the ambivalent relationship between handed-down cultural values and the new values of a changing world, Samskara looks at deeper moral and philosophical issues like how to lead a righteous life, the validity of customs, and the concept of brahminism in a contemporary world. A classic of modern Indian literature, it is both a religious novel and a contemporary reworking of ancient Hindu themes and myths. Probing multiple meanings of the word 'Samskara', which means rite of passage, ritual, preparation, transformation, as well as death rites, this novel is an engrossing tale of the personal transformation of a man living in a community that refuses to change with the times. This Oxford India Perennials edition includes detailed notes that explain Hindu myths, customs, Indian names, flora, and other terms, an afterword that explores the various dimensions of the novel's substance and meaning, and an essay by Susheela Punitha based on an interview with the author.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50470190252305,"sku":"GOR007190932","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52082050171153,"sku":"GOR011797153","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53349599576337,"sku":"CIN0198077149VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0198077149.jpg?v=1751355854"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-ur-ananthamurthy.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}