Calling out to all my reading friends - heres a sparkling little gem of a book you can curl up and read in a day!!! - Elbie’s Quest by Manjul Bajaj!!!! A profoundly simple, new must-read book about the age-old, timeless and universal conflict – that of good vs. bad, light vs. dark, construction vs. destruction – essentially creation vs. extinction. The quest for an answer to the existential conundrum – Who, What and Why am I? Complex and tricky? Not to our oxymoronic genius Manjul Bajaj as she delights in testing us with mental tongue twisters, punning deliriously and spinning us along as she takes us on Elbie, (the Little Big Tree)’s, short but momentous journey into the dark recesses of her own mind, proving that true answers can only emerge when each person embarks on their own personal mission of discovery. We ride the tide, washed effortlessly along with fluid flow of Manjul’s meanderings between prose and verse, never realizing how much is packed in this short magical tale. Not one word superfluous, nor a single episode meaningless – no mean a feat in a world stricken with verbosity and gifted with the art to perpetually perplex. (Sorry could not resist, but Manjul’s style is catching)! Claiming to target young readers, this book is relevant to all who have the child alive and kicking in them – all who can dream and imagine and who are hopelessly hopeful! The brilliant play of words, the creation of a simple story, aided with brilliant illustrations in sheer black and white by Team Oktopus, this is a book that straddles age, eons, geography and religion. Harking back to the tales that delighted us before we were divided by faiths, science, progress, this little book packs the punch to shatter our modern day definition of success without robbing us of our own relevance, replacing our super-fatted egoistic delusions with strong, sustainable, back-to-basics, eternal truths. Softly and skillfully Manjul draws a connection between the tales of the past - the “Rainbow” Sapt rishis, the conflicting forces of light and dark, the hope of the Messiah, all aptly and visually evocatively names – Roshni – the brilliant source of light (who can both cast an incandescent light allowing dreams to prosper as well as flash harshly to destroy), Benoor Badshah (sightless king) a tragic and flawed fallen angel, blinded by fate and then blinded by self-justification to wreak havoc as he condemns the world to the dark forces of death, Kanda Rishi (onion sage) who is not scared to sacrifice his own existence as he journeys selflessly within, peeling away to discover his own power to change, heal and renew. I could go on and on but this is a book that calls out to be read from cover to cover. Elbie’s Quest reminds me of Trina Paulus’ Hope for the Flowers, JK Rowling’s epic Harry Potter world, and Enid Blyton’s simple tales of magic on the one hand, while closely mimicking the underlying plot of all heroic tales, where normal unassuming characters get propelled to the centrestage – whose adventures, struggles and fates epitomize the human conflict. This is a book requiring only one binding criteria of the reader – the comprehension of the English word – stated and unstated! A definite thumbs up and a recommendation to go out and get your own copy! This is a book that begs to be read and discussed among avid readers of all ages, sizes and shapes, of all races, faiths and backgrounds, and which will encourage each of us to embark on our own personal journey to discover our place in the scheme of things! Details of the book etc are: scholastic.co.in/en/book/elbies-quest
Posted on: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 06:27:40 +0000
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