The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Sarnath Banerjee's second novel launched in city

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 13, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Sarnath Banerjee's second novel launched in city

Staff Reporter

NEW READ: Writer Sarnath Banerjee displaying his book `The Barn Owl's Wondrous Capers' during its release in Bangalore on Monday. — Photo: Sampath Kumar G.P.

Bangalore: "The book is a sign of respect for pulp, low class literature and 18th Century pornography; all things I've grown up on," said graphic novelist Sarnath Banerjee of his second book "The Barn Owl's Wondrous Capers," whose Bangalore launch was held on Monday.

The novel, which is the second work of the first graphic novelist in the country, builds around the myth of Cartaphallus, the wandering Jew, a time-warped tale that delves into the underbelly of history, complete with decadent aristocrats, eccentric zamindars, psychic cartographers and more.

Originally conceived as a collection of essays on Kolkata, as part of a project for the India Foundation for the Arts, it eventually grew into a novel at IFA's insistence. According to Mr. Banerjee, the novel is a tribute to one particular Bengali work called "Hutom Penchar Noksha," which "redefined yellow journalism much before there even was yellow journalism." Even the title "The Barn Owl's Wondrous Capers" comes from the literal translation of the Bengali work's title, he added.

Speaking on the growing popularity of graphic novels in the country, Mr. Banerjee said that the narrative form was gaining global legitimacy. "I would love to stake a claim to it. But the good thing about my work was timing." One of the reasons for the success of his first novel "Corridor," he said, was because it came at a time when the "dodginess" of Indo-Anglian writing was being questioned.

Mr. Banerjee also made a mention of Phantomville, a platform for original Indian graphic novels created by him and friend and collaborator Anindya Roy. The idea behind the effort, he said, was to create an original Indian idiom so that when international graphic novels flood the Indian market, the local idiom would not be negated in an attempt to copy other international ones.

The launch also featured "The Barn Owl's Abandoned Opera," a unique multimedia presentation and reading of sections of the graphic novel by Nakul Krishna, a young performer.

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