The Shattered Thigh & Other Plays

The Shattered Thigh & Other Plays
Author:
Publisher: Penguin UK
Total Pages: 156
Release: 2008-01-16
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 8184758936

A selection of the earliest existing plays by a major dramatist in classical Sanskrit Bhasa is one of the most celebrated names in classical Sanskrit literature. He lived and wrote about two thousand years ago. Though his dates have not been conclusively established, it is certain that Bhasa preceded Kalidasa, the great poet and dramatist of ancient PBI - India, who has praised Bhasa by name in one of his own plays. Bhasa's works were considered lost and it was only in the beginning of the twentieth century that some of his plays were recovered. Six of these, which form the present collection, are based on the Mahabharata, which provides a thematic unity to the plays. Bhasa's strengths were his skilful melding of dialogue, legend and dramatic action. The comparatively short and fast-paced plays in The Shattered Thigh are remarkable in their nearness to modern idiom despite their antiquity. Of the six plays in this collection four—The Middle One, The Envoy, The Message and Karna's Burden—are one-act plays evoking tragic and heroic emotions. Five Nights and The Shattered Thigh have three and two acts respectively. The latter is a tragedy in which the hero dies on stage, an innovation that is very unusual in Sanskrit drama.

Thirteen Plays of Bhasa

Thirteen Plays of Bhasa
Author: A. C. Woolner
Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass
Total Pages: 396
Release: 2015-01-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 8120809084

This translation is of thirteen Sanskrit plays discovered in South India by the late Pandit Ganapati Sastri and edited by him in the Trivandrum Sanskrit Series. It comprises the following titles: 1. Pratijnayaugandharayana, 2. Svapnavasavadatta, 3. Carudatta, 4. Pancaratra, 5. Madhyamavyayoga, 6.Pratima-nataka, 7.Dutavakya, 8.Dutaghatotkaca, 9.Karnabhara, 10.Urubhanga, 11.Avimaraka, 12.Balacarita, and 13.Abhiseka. Sastri attributed all the thirteen plays to Bhasa and the prevailing opinion of the scholars is in agreement with him, though the available evidence is not conclusive and so the question still remains open. The translation was done by two eminent Sanskrit scholars. It was published s early as 1930 and a reprint is now issued in view of a persistent demand of scholars. Pandit Ganapati Sastri attributed all thirteen plays to Bhasa, a famous dramatist earlier than Kalidasa. Some verses are ascribed to Bhasa by medieval anthologies, but only ten with unanimity. We are told that he composed a Svapnavasavadattam (his best play) and that in another play the device of the wooden elephant was used. Characteristic features of his work are described by Bana, and other poets evidently held him in high estimation. One or two verses from his plays are quoted by writers on poetics. Otherwise, the text of BhasaÍs numerous plays had completely disappeared. The learned editor of the Trivandrum plays found that they contained a Svapnavasavadattam (the best play in the collection), and, in the Pratijna-Yaugandharayanam, a scene dealing with the wooden elephant. He noticed also certain peculiarities in the technique of the plays which he regarded as signs of antiquity. All these points confirmed the opinion that Bhasa was the author.

Simhasana Dvatrimsika

Simhasana Dvatrimsika
Author: A N D Haskar
Publisher: Penguin UK
Total Pages: 207
Release: 2007-01-07
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9352141008

Classic tales of courage and compassion The fabled monarch Vikramaditya is considered a model of kingly virtues, and his reign a golden age. These famous stories narrated by the thirty-two statuettes of nymphs supporting the magic throne of Vikramaditya extol his courage, compassion and extraordinary magnanimity. They are set in a framework recounting the myths of his birth, accession, adventures and death in battle, after which the throne remained concealed till its discovery in a later age. A fascinating mix of marvellous happenings, proverbial wisdom and sage precepts, these popular tales are designed to entertain as well as instruct. Many have passed into folk literature. The original author of the Simhasana Dvatrimsika is unknown. The present text is dated to the thirteenth century AD. It exists in four main recensions, from which extracts have been compiled together for the first time, in this lively and faithful translation of this celebrated classic by a renowned Sanskritist

We Beat the Street

We Beat the Street
Author: Sampson Davis
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 220
Release: 2006-04-20
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 9780142406274

Growing up on the rough streets of Newark, New Jersey, Rameck, George,and Sampson could easily have followed their childhood friends into drug dealing, gangs, and prison. But when a presentation at their school made the three boys aware of the opportunities available to them in the medical and dental professions, they made a pact among themselves that they would become doctors. It took a lot of determination—and a lot of support from one another—but despite all the hardships along the way, the three succeeded. Retold with the help of an award-winning author, this younger adaptation of the adult hit novel The Pact is a hard-hitting, powerful, and inspirational book that will speak to young readers everywhere.

Beautiful Disaster Signed Limited Edition

Beautiful Disaster Signed Limited Edition
Author: Jamie McGuire
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 416
Release: 2012-11-27
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1476719071

Abby Abernathy is re-inventing herself as the good girl as she begins her freshman year at college, which is why she must resist lean, cut, and tattooed Travis Maddox, a classic bad boy.

A Signal Shattered

A Signal Shattered
Author: Eric S. Nylund
Publisher: Morrow/Avon
Total Pages: 390
Release: 1999
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9780380975143

Thanks to the treachery of an all-but-omnipotent alien known as Wheeler -- mathematician Jack Potter's former business partner in the trade of alien and human technologies -- Earth has become the graveyard of billions. When Jack refused to find new worlds for Wheeler to despoil, the unscrupulous alien terminated their relationship...along with every living thing on Earth. But Jack and a handful of others escaped the holocaust by using an alien technology known as the gateway that allows instantaneous transmission of matter over vast distances. Now these few survivors are all that's left of the human race. Meanwhile, Wheeler is out to finish what he started...and Jack's only hope is the gateway. If he can hack into the device and decrypt its alien coding, he may learn the secret of a power great enough to destroy even Wheeler -- if it doesn't destroy Jack first.

Many Rivers, One Sea

Many Rivers, One Sea
Author: Joseph Allchin
Publisher: Hurst & Company
Total Pages: 248
Release: 2018-09
Genre: Bangladesh
ISBN: 1849048746

Blending reportage and analysis, Allchin investigates the Bangladeshi body politic to discern how Islamist radicals hope to reshape their country.