Ananta Jeevanam by Kolakaluri Enoch  (Hardcover, Kolakaluri Enoch)

This thought-provoking and contemplative novel is perceptive in planning and philosophical in approach liberating the soul from evil forces that surround humankind. It depicts the struggle to fight the forces of nature. In the centre is the social awakening of people of Anantapur district, a rain shadow area of Rayalaseema, Andhra Pradesh. The heavy rain, the fall of the zamindari system and the commoners’ uprising intertwine the story of the cyclone that lashed for 36 hours. The gripping narration has the elemental spirit of culture and eternal beauty of nature. It shows how the social contours, the regional penury and the overbearing feudal system come to terms with the unexpected turn of events. It is not just its story line that is remarkable, its diction too is so. Its chain of short and pithy sentences, pregnant with deeper sense, touch the sensitivity of the reader. The way of chronicling the events and the episodes interspersed with other similar events and episodes in the style of flashback goes to heighten their effect . . .The depictions of the feudal lords refusing to break out of their mental cocoons and refusing to accept the stark reality is so life-like and down to earth that it lends a character of its own to the novel. So does the torrential rain lashing the city not prepared for it, the rain that wreaks havoc on the weaker and the under-privileged segments of society. The novel also captures in all its contours, the societal anomalies. SATYA VRAT SHASTRI, Writer