The Palace of Illusions

Locations
Call Number: Fiction / Divakaruni, Chitra, Adult Book / Fiction / Historical / Divakaruni, Chitra Banerjee
On Shelf At: Downtown Library

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Fiction / Divakaruni, Chitra	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Traverwood Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / Historical / Divakaruni, Chitra Banerjee	4-week checkout	Due 05-08-2024
Westgate Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / Historical / Divakaruni, Chitra Banerjee	4-week checkout	Due 05-10-2024

"A reimagining of the world-famous Indian epic, The Mahābhārata"--Jkt. flap.

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Heavy-handed, but perceptive submitted by larkspur on March 2, 2009, 1:26pm <i>The Palace of Illusions</i> bears structural resemblances to Anita Diamant's <a href="http://www.aadl.org/cat/seek/search/tred+tent/tred+tent/1%2C1%2C3%2CB/frameset&FF=tred+tent&1%2C%2C3">The Red Tent</a>, or to Marion Zimmer Bradley's <a href="http://www.aadl.org/cat/seek/search/tmists+of+avalon/tmists+of+avalon/1%2C2%2C4%2CB/frameset&FF=tmists+of+avalon&1%2C%2C3">The Mists of Avalon</a>. Formally, Divakaruni's novel is a retelling of the great Indian epic, the <i>Mahabharata</i>, told by the central female character of the epic.

Retellings and adaptations of the <i>Mahabharata</i>abound--and no wonder, considering what the <a href="http://www.aadl.org/cat/seek/search/tmahabharata?m=&topformsub=1/tmahabharata/1%2C1%2C1%2CB/frameset&FF=tmahabharata+v++++1+book+of+the+beginning&1%2C1%2C">first of 18 volumes</a> of the full translation looks like! It is a story--a whole landscape of stories--that includes everything in the world (by repute). Divakaruni is (sensibly) nowhere near so ambitious, although her heroine, Panchaali (also known as Draupadi) certainly is! Her novel is one woman's story, only hinting at the layers and layers of the original, but this is very suitable for a modern novel. Those who appreciate the <i>Mahabharata</i> already may well appreciate this new perspective--for there is always more to be gotten out of the epic. Those who are new to Indian myth may also be interested by this strange and often inscrutable world, somewhere between life and myth.

Divakaruni's emotional foreshadowing is often unnecessarily heavy: Panchaali is forever lamenting that she did not know at the time how much such-and-such would cost her and her loved ones. I suppose this is the author's way of presenting the feeling of a story one already knows, as indeed her Indian readers will. It's not my favorite style, but the character is engaging, and the story rip-roaring as the <i>Mahabharata</i> always is.

Lovely retelling of the Mahabarat submitted by jaromatorio on August 2, 2019, 6:25pm This book was artfully written and did a beautiful job retelling the classic Hindu text while adding enough new details to make it its own!