© 2020 Penguin India
FROM THE AUTHOR OF ANTI-CLOCK, SHORTLISTED FOR THE JCB AWARD 2021
“A compelling narrative of shifting faiths and displaced gods. As realities and fantasies disentangle there appears in the nether regions an un-god, Nireeswaran, with no halo. A mind-boggling work from a master novelist.” M. MUKUNDAN, recipient of JCB Prize 2021
Is it possible for society to exist without religion? Nireeswaran, the most celebrated of Malayalam novelist V.J. James’ works, uses incisive humour and satire to question blind faith and give an insight into what true spirituality is.
Three atheists, Antony, Sahir, and Bhaskaran, embark on an elaborate prank to establish that God is nothing but a superstition. They instal a mutilated idol of Nireeswaran, literally anti-god, to show people how hollow their religion is. Their plan starts turning awry when miracles start being attributed to Nireeswaran-a man waking up from coma after twenty-four years, a jobless man ineligible for government employment getting a contract, a prostitute turning into a saint-leading hordes to turn up to worship the fake deity.
The trio is put in a quandary. Will they fight their own creation? Is their intractable minds an indication that atheism is a religion in itself? Belief and disbelief, it is possible, are two sides of the same coin.
Imprint: Vintage Books
Published: Apr/2022
ISBN: 9780670096558
Length : 320 Pages
MRP : ₹599.00
Imprint: Penguin Audio
Published:
ISBN:
Imprint: Vintage Books
Published: Apr/2022
ISBN:
Length : 320 Pages
MRP : ₹599.00
FROM THE AUTHOR OF ANTI-CLOCK, SHORTLISTED FOR THE JCB AWARD 2021
“A compelling narrative of shifting faiths and displaced gods. As realities and fantasies disentangle there appears in the nether regions an un-god, Nireeswaran, with no halo. A mind-boggling work from a master novelist.” M. MUKUNDAN, recipient of JCB Prize 2021
Is it possible for society to exist without religion? Nireeswaran, the most celebrated of Malayalam novelist V.J. James’ works, uses incisive humour and satire to question blind faith and give an insight into what true spirituality is.
Three atheists, Antony, Sahir, and Bhaskaran, embark on an elaborate prank to establish that God is nothing but a superstition. They instal a mutilated idol of Nireeswaran, literally anti-god, to show people how hollow their religion is. Their plan starts turning awry when miracles start being attributed to Nireeswaran-a man waking up from coma after twenty-four years, a jobless man ineligible for government employment getting a contract, a prostitute turning into a saint-leading hordes to turn up to worship the fake deity.
The trio is put in a quandary. Will they fight their own creation? Is their intractable minds an indication that atheism is a religion in itself? Belief and disbelief, it is possible, are two sides of the same coin.
V.J. JAMES writes in Malayalam. Born and brought up in Changanacherry, Kerala, he currently resides in Thiruvananthapuram. An engineer by profession, he worked at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre. The English translation of Corashasthram, titled Chorashastra, was shortlisted for the Atta Galatta-Bangalore Literature Festival Book Prize. The English translation of Anti-Clock was shortlisted for the JCB Prize for Literature 2021 and longlisted for PFC-VoW Book Award 2022.
MINISTHY S. is an IAS officer working in the Uttar Pradesh cadre. She translates between three languages: Malayalam, English and Hindi. She has translated three novels by V.J. James: Anti Clock, which was shortlisted for the JCB Prize for Literature 2021, Nireeswaran and Dattapaharam, all published by Penguin Random House India.