Here, Adiga takes a rather ambiguous position in rating the two writers. The bone of contention, however, is that Bhyrappa is politically affiliated to the Hindu right.Ī few weeks ago, Outlook carried an exclusive on Bhyrappa by Aravind Adiga- A Storyteller In Search Of An Ending. Many of his novels are of epic proportions, both in terms of extent and conceptual canvas. Beginning with Vamsavriksha (1965), he went on to pen more than 20 novels, some of which have already seen dozens of reprints. But it is Bhyrappa who enjoys wider readership within Karnataka. His Samskara (1965) was a landmark and is perhaps the best-known Kannada novel in the Anglophone world. His works-along with the poems of Gopalakrishna Adiga-pioneered the navya (modernist) phase of literature in Kannada in the late 1950s and early 60s.
Ananthamurthy is a liberal, centre-left writer and one of the eight recipients of Jnanpith from Karnataka. The rivalry between Ananthamurthy and Bhyrappa is well known and widely talked about among Kannada readers. For this reason, I desisted from being part of a notorious debate in Kannada between the fans of Ananthamurthy and Bhyrappa, although I was called upon to take sides in it on more than one occasion. I have cherished the works of both writers, albeit in very different ways. Bhyrappa’s book, Mandra, eventually won the Saraswati Samman. This list included books by two senior Kannada writers, U.R. Even works I was deeply critical of found their place there.
I admired some of the books in the list, but there were also titles I did not think highly of. This I did in order to ensure as much objectivity as possible. After several weeks of indecision, I set aside my idiosyncrasies and political preferences, and drew a list which included only those works that had left its marks on Kannada readers-no matter how small in number-in some way or the other. Some years ago, I was asked to shortlist books from Kannada for the prestigious Saraswati Samman.