Malavikagnimitram: The Dancer And The King - Softcover

Kalidasa

3.64

98 ratings by Goodreads

9780143424086: Malavikagnimitram: The Dancer And The King

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0143424084 ISBN 13: 9780143424086

Publisher: India Penguin, 2015

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Believed to be Kalidasa s first work, Malavikagnimitram is the love story of King Agnimitra and the court dancer Malavika. The tale unfolds through humorous palace interludes, vivid descriptions of fine arts and the cunning machinations of court players. Even in this early work, Kalidasa s characteristic penchant for romance, art and natural beauty is evident at every delightful turn of the plot. He transforms a simple tale of forbidden love into an engrossing courtly drama filled with beauty, humour and wit. Srinivas Reddy s engaging translation captures to perfection the joyous vigour of the young dramatist s voice.

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About the Author:

Kalidasa, perhaps the most extraordinary of India s classical poets, composed seven major works: three plays, two epic poems and two lyric poems. According to legend, he lived at the end of the fourth century, and was one the nine jewels in the court of the Gupta king Chandragupta II. Although very little is known about his life, Kalidasa s popularity has endured for centuries. Srinivas Reddy began studying Sanskrit with his grandfather. Later he trained in classical South Asian languages and literatures at Brown University and University of California, Berkeley. In 2010 his translation of Krishnadevaraya s Telugu epic Amuktamalyada was published as the Penguin Classic The Giver of the Worn Garland. Srinivas is also a concert sitarist and has given numerous recitals around the world. He now lives in Ahmedabad and teaches at IIT Gandhinagar.

Review:

A real pleasure to read ... [Reddy s] translation restores a light deftness to Kalidasa s play ... The dialogue weaves and dips between direct responses, poetic double entendre, innocence and mischief. Reddy captures all this in an easy contemporary idiom, his verse translations sing sweetly even as his prose is appropriately laconic and lucid. --Mint

[Reddy s] illuminating introduction leads smoothly into the poem-play ... [He] has done justice to the talent of young Kalidasa --Asian Age

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