Karnali Blues - by Buddhisagar (Paperback)

About the Book

"As it recounts the evolution of a father-son relationship - a son's search for approval, a father's small acts of kindness and forgiveness, a son's fears for his father's dignity as his fortunes and faculties begin to fail - the reader is deeply drawn into young Brisha Bahadur's world. His father is kind and idealistic; his mother, though she is kind too, is often frustrated and irascible. The characters in this book are some of the most carefully drawn and authentic in all of Nepali literature. In a backwater district of a country about to undergo radical social, political and cultural change, Brisha's dreams, his games and his mischief, his loves, his hopes and his fears come alive."--

Book Synopsis

Karnali Blues, by Buddhisagar, is the most widely read Nepali novel to have appeared in the last twenty years.

As it recounts the evolution of a father-son relationship-a son's search for approval, a father's small acts of kindness and forgiveness, a son's fears for his father's dignity as his fortunes and faculties begin to fail-the reader is deeply drawn into young Brisha Bahadur's world. His father is kind and idealistic; his mother, though she is kind too, is often frustrated and irascible.

The characters in this book are some of the most carefully drawn and authentic in all of Nepali literature. In a backwater district of a country about to undergo radical social, political and cultural change, Brisha's dreams, his games and his mischief, his loves, his hopes and his fears come alive.

Translated from the Nepali by Michael Hutt, this highly original piece of work, with the simplicity of its language and its emotional range, holds the power to take your breath away. Its principal themes-the love between a son and his father, the joys and sorrows of childhood, the daily struggle for survival-are universal, and will resonate with readers the world over.

Review Quotes

A rich, lively, constantly engaging story. Buddhisagar is a Nepali Charles Dickens, orchestrating a great gallery of characters, and juggling their stories with seamless skill. It is impressive, ambitious and compulsively readable. -- MICHAEL PALIN

About the Author

MICHAEL HUTT studied Hindi and Nepali at SOAS, University of London, and taught Nepali and Himalayan Studies there from 1987 to 2020. In 1991 he published Himalayan Voices, introducing Nepali writers to an international readership for the first time. This was followed by over a dozen other books and many articles on Nepali literature, culture, society and politics, and numerous translations of Nepali literature. BUDDHISAGAR was born in the Kailali district of Nepal and spent his youth in Manma, in Nepal's Kalikot district. His earliest writings were newspaper articles and poems, for which he received several awards and prizes. He has also published the novel Phirphire and a collection of poems, Buddhisagarka Kavita. In 2019 he was an honorary fellow of the University of Iowa's International Writing Program.