The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee DivakaruniMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
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The Palace of Illusions is the retelling of the epic Mahabharat from the perspective of one of the central characters of the tale, Draupadi. The book recollects the memories of her predestined life portraying a very fresh take on Mahabharat.
Crafty Characters, Articulate writing, Organised storyline.
The author Chitra Banerjee does an amazing job in dwelling the epic tale in just 360 pages. The impeccable narration of Panchali guides us through the entire tale and forces us to revisit the land of Hastinapur in an absolutely different way. Draupadi is one of the very badass female characters in the story of Mahabharat, however, after reading this book, the readers get an insight into her other side. Which makes us believe that she is a normal human being who craves love and wants to do something in her life. The characters described in this book are very interesting and subtle. We get to see both the evil and good sides of them including the Pandavas and our protagonist Draupadi, this makes them more of a human and makes us believe they are real! One of the sensible factors of this book is the bond shared between the characters. It is so so much generous, irrespective of who they are. Each and every death mentioned in this book is very hear wrenching and unfortunate, and they have the capacity to shook you off. Nevertheless, there is an alert for the readers. Before starting the book you have to leave all your preoccupied notions and have to start with a neutral&open mind, otherwise, you won't be able to enjoy the intrigue! Few bleaks put the story bit tacky, for example, there was no proper explanation about Kunti's peculiar behavior towards Panchani (and) the reason behind her strong admiration towards Karna.
The POV is the lead cause for giving the patriarchal plot a very fresh touch. The writing is also very beautiful, simple, and descriptive which hooks the readers despise of its slow-paced.
Crafty Characters, Articulate writing, Organised storyline.
The author Chitra Banerjee does an amazing job in dwelling the epic tale in just 360 pages. The impeccable narration of Panchali guides us through the entire tale and forces us to revisit the land of Hastinapur in an absolutely different way. Draupadi is one of the very badass female characters in the story of Mahabharat, however, after reading this book, the readers get an insight into her other side. Which makes us believe that she is a normal human being who craves love and wants to do something in her life. The characters described in this book are very interesting and subtle. We get to see both the evil and good sides of them including the Pandavas and our protagonist Draupadi, this makes them more of a human and makes us believe they are real! One of the sensible factors of this book is the bond shared between the characters. It is so so much generous, irrespective of who they are. Each and every death mentioned in this book is very hear wrenching and unfortunate, and they have the capacity to shook you off. Nevertheless, there is an alert for the readers. Before starting the book you have to leave all your preoccupied notions and have to start with a neutral&open mind, otherwise, you won't be able to enjoy the intrigue! Few bleaks put the story bit tacky, for example, there was no proper explanation about Kunti's peculiar behavior towards Panchani (and) the reason behind her strong admiration towards Karna.
The POV is the lead cause for giving the patriarchal plot a very fresh touch. The writing is also very beautiful, simple, and descriptive which hooks the readers despise of its slow-paced.
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