Perumal Murugan

From the author of One Part Woman and The Story of a Goat, both longlisted for the National Book Award for Translation, comes a poignant and startling novel about love, caste, and intoleranceProfiled in both the New Yorker and the New York Times, Perumal Murugan is one of India's highest selling and most respected literary writers, and Pyre is perhaps his most beloved work. Saroja and Kumaresan are young and in love. After meeting in a small southern Indian town where Kumaresan works at a soda bottling shop, they quickly marry before returning to Kumaresan's family village, where they hope to build a happy life together. But they are harboring a terrible secret: Saroja is from a different caste than Kumaresan, and if the villagers find out, they will both be in grave danger. Faced with venom from her mother-in-law and questions from her new neighbors, Saroja tries to adjust to a new lonely and uncomfortable life, while Kumaresan struggles to scrape together enough money for them to start over somewhere new. Will their love keep them safe in a world filled with thorns? In evocative prose, Perumal Murugan masterfully conjures a moving tale of innocent young love pitted against chilling violence.

LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR TRANSLATED LITERATUREAs he did in the award-winning One Part Woman, in his newest novel, The Story of a Goat, Perumal Murugan explores a side of India that is rarely considered in the West: the rural lives of the country's farming community. He paints a bucolic yet sometimes menacing portrait, showing movingly how danger and deception can threaten the lives of the weakest through the story of a helpless young animal lost in a world it naively misunderstands.As the novel opens, a farmer in Tamil Nadu is watching the sunset over his village one quiet evening when a mysterious stranger, a giant man who seems more than human, appears on the horizon. He offers the farmer a black goat kid who is the runt of the litter, surely too frail to survive. The farmer and his wife take care of the young she-goat, whom they name Poonachi, and soon the little goat is bounding with joy and growing at a rate they think miraculous for such a small animal. Intoxicating passages from the goat's perspective offer a bawdy and earthy view of what it means to be an animal and a refreshing portrayal of the natural world. But Poonachi's life is not destined to be a rural idyll--dangers can lurk around every corner, and may sometimes come from surprising places, including a government that is supposed to protect the weak and needy. Is this little goat too humble a creature to survive such a hostile world?With allegorical resonance for contemporary society and examining hierarchies of caste and color, The Story of the Goat is a provocative but heartwarming fable from a world-class storyteller who is finally achieving recognition outside his home country.

ONE AMAZING STORY. TWO DIFFERENT ENDINGS. At the end of Perumal Murugan's trailblazing novel One Part Woman, readers are left on a cliffhanger as Kali and Ponna's intense love for each other is torn to shreds. What is going to happen next to this beloved couple? In Trial by Silence-one of two inventive sequels that picks up the story right where One Part Woman ends-Kali is determined to punish Ponna for what he believes is an absolute betrayal. But Ponna is equally upset at being forced to atone for something that was not her fault. In the wake of the temple festival, both must now confront harsh new uncertainties in their once idyllic life together. In Murugan's magical hands, this story reaches a surprising and dramatic conclusion.

Selling over 100,000 copies in India, where it was published first in the original Tamil and then in a celebrated translation by Penguin India, Perumal Murugan's One Part Woman has become a cult phenomenon in the subcontinent, captivating Indian readers and jump-starting conversations about caste and female empowerment. Set in South India during the British colonial period but with powerful resonance to the present day, One Part Woman tells the story of a couple, Kali and Ponna, who are unable to conceive, much to the concern of their families--and the crowing amusement of Kali's male friends. Kali and Ponna try anything to have a child, including making offerings at different temples, atoning for past misdeeds of dead family members, and even circumambulating a mountain supposed to cure barren women, but all to no avail. A more radical plan is required, and the annual chariot festival, a celebration of the god Maadhorubaagan, who is one part woman, one part man, may provide the answer. On the eighteenth night of the festival, the festivities culminate in a carnival, and on that night the rules of marriage are suspended, and consensual sex between any man and woman is permitted. The festival may be the solution to Kali and Ponna's problem, but it soon threatens to drive the couple apart as much as to bring them together. Wryly amusing, fable-like, and deeply poignant, One Part Woman is a powerful exploration of a loving marriage strained by the expectations of others, and an attack on the rigid rules of caste and tradition that continue to constrict opportunity and happiness today.

A collection of poems by Perumal Murugan, which includes poems from all his poetry collections except the recent one. Its the record of a poet's journey through two decades. There are interesting differences between earlier poems and recent ones. As the early poems are registering everyday experience in a poetic language, the later ones attempt to generalize them. In this generalization the poetry expands its charm and voice. Poet Isai says he is charmed by the later poems more. A reader is taken through this journey, witnessing the poets experience and ends up feeling them as their own.

"ONE AMAZING STORY. TWO DIFFERENT ENDINGS. AT THE END OF PERUMAL MURUGAN'S TRAILBLAZING NOVEL ONE PART WOMAN, READERS ARE LEFT ON A CLIFFHANGER AS KALI AND PONNA'S INTENSE LOVE FOR EACH OTHER IS TORN TO SHREDS. WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT TO THIS BELOVED COUPLE? IN TRIAL BY SILENCE-ONE OF TWO INVENTIVE SEQUELS THAT PICKS UP THE STORY RIGHT WHERE ONE PART WOMAN ENDS-KALI IS DETERMINED TO PUNISH PONNA FOR WHAT HE BELIEVES IS AN ABSOLUTE BETRAYAL. BUT PONNA IS EQUALLY UPSET AT BEING FORCED TO ATONE FOR SOMETHING THAT WAS NOT HER FAULT. IN THE WAKE OF THE TEMPLE FESTIVAL, BOTH MUST NOW CONFRONT HARSH NEW UNCERTAINTIES IN THEIR ONCE IDYLLIC LIFE TOGETHER. IN MURUGAN'S MAGICAL HANDS, THIS STORY REACHES A SURPRISING AND DRAMATIC CONCLUSION."

En liten pojke springer ivrigt genom mörkret, upplyst endast av det ljusa, ljusa månskenet. Han är på väg till hirsfälten med sin mamma och sin babybror. Medan mamman arbetar försöker han njuta av den månbelysta natten tillsammans med sin nyfunna vän – en herrelös hund – medan hans bror sover...

Women that do not get married at the 'appropriate' age, owing to dowry difficulties, have been collectively referred to as 'Spinster'. Today, the number of unmarried men has increased. Do we now refer to them as 'Male Spinster'? 'Kanganam' speaks about the problems faced by one such 'Male Spinster''. Released in 2008 and garnered significant attention, this novel is still relevant today. Many people have identified themselves with the protagonist - Marimuthu. The passage of time has multiplied this lone Marimuthu into many.

This Book deals with the stuggle of an agriculture family which separates itself from the joint family system.

Koolamathari narrates the life of the 'untouchable' Arundhathiyar children who rear goats. Translated into English on 'Seasons of the Palm'. It was shortlisted for Kiriyama award.

'A powerful novel . . . [Murugan] recounts the everyday brutality of caste society in relentless detail'-The Hindu Shorty, a young untouchable farmhand, is in bondage to a paternal yet powerful landlord. He spends his days herding sheep and tilling the fields, caught between the rigours of an unforgiving life and the solace he finds in nature and the company of his friends. He struggles to keep a fragile happiness, but endless work and a stubborn hunger gnaw away at his spirited innocence. And before long, Shorty must confront the unyielding reality of his situation. Poignant and powerful, Seasons of the Palm is merciless in its portrayal of the daily humiliations of untouchablility, but is also lyrical in its evocation of the grace with which the oppressed come to terms with their dark fate. '[Murugan's] characters, dialogues and locales are unerringly drawn and intensely evocative . . . A superb writer'-Indian Express 'The most accomplished of his generation of Tamil writers'-Caravan

Perumal Murugan has created the novels 'Arthanari' and 'Alavayan' from two different angles following 'Mathorubagan'. These are not successive parts of a novel, but rather are complete and separate from each other. Both start at the same point but travel in different directions. 'Arthanari' speaks to the relationship problems caused by the male's sense of possession over the female. The novel goes on to describe the way in which the resulting values pervade human minds.

"ONE AMAZING STORY. TWO DIFFERENT ENDINGS. AT THE END OF PERUMAL MURUGAN'S TRAILBLAZING NOVEL ONE PART WOMAN, READERS ARE LEFT ON A CLIFFHANGER AS KALI AND PONNA'S INTENSE LOVE FOR EACH OTHER IS TORN TO SHREDS. WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT TO THIS BELOVED COUPLE? IN A LONELY HARVEST-ONE OF TWO INVENTIVE SEQUELS THAT PICK UP THE STORY RIGHT WHERE ONE PART WOMAN ENDS-PONNA RETURNS FROM THE TEMPLE FESTIVAL TO FIND THAT KALI HAS KILLED HIMSELF IN DESPAIR. DEVASTATED THAT HE WOULD PUNISH HER SO CRUELLY, BUT CONSTANTLY HAUNTED BY MEMORIES OF THE HAPPINESS SHE ONCE SHARED WITH KALI, PONNA MUST NOW LEARN TO FACE THE WORLD ALONE. WITH POIGNANCY AND COMPASSION, MURUGAN WEAVES A POWERFUL TALE OF FEMALE SOLIDARITY AND SECOND CHANCES."

En liten pojke springer ivrigt genom mörkret, upplyst endast av det ljusa, ljusa månskenet. Han är på väg till hirsfälten med sin mamma och sin babybror. Medan mamman arbetar försöker han njuta av den månbelysta natten tillsammans med sin nyfunna vän – en herrelös hund – medan hans bror sover...

'With tender rage, one of India's most powerful living writers breathes life into an age-old tale of forbidden passion' - Nilanjana Roy