Thiruvananthapuram: In a first in Malayalam literature history, the novel Oru Sankeerthanam Pole by Perumbadavam Sreedharan is reaching its 100th edition. The book on the life of Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky and his love affair with Anna who later becomes his wife has broken all records in the history of Malayalam publication. The author is waiting for a date from chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan to release the 100th edition. He also plans to conduct 100 events in connection with the release of the book. The widely acclaimed novel was first published in September 1993.
Mr Sreedharan said he was a great admirer of Dostoyevsky from the time he read Crime and Punishment at the age of 19 while he was in his village Perumbadavam. "I have read all the books written by Dostoevsky and also his biographies and other works. It was this great administration which led me to write the book," he told DC. This book also saw the emergence of the strong relationship between a publisher Asramam Bhasi and the novelist. The book was published by Mr Bhasi's Sankeerthanam Books which published books of this single author only. Mr Sreedharan said he was an elected member of the director board of the Sahitya Pravarthaka Sahakarana Sanghom at that time. There was an allegation that writers wanted to get elected to the Sanghom to publish their books. "Hence I decided not to engage the Sanghom in the publication of the book," he said.
"It was in this context that Mr Bhasi who was one of my friends and a tile factory owner took up the publication. Later, the subsequent editions of my books published by other publication companies were also published by Mr Bhasi. As he had no book depots, the distribution was through DC Books." The novel revolved around the life of Dostoyevsky from the time of his meeting with Anna till their union. Dostoevsky could not write a single page of his novel the Gambler even though he promised his editor Stelovsky that he would complete it within a few months. He had not written a single page yet. He recruits a stenographer, Anna to speed up the completion who slowly discovered that Dostoyevsky who was seen as an alcoholic, gambler and epileptic had a deeper characteristics of his personality, which slowly progresses into the emotion of love. The novel delves deep into the mind of Dostoyevsky and exposes its loneliness, weaknesses, pain and spiritual agony.
