The Obliterary Journal: Volume 1 by Rakesh Khanna (Editor), Rashmi Ruth Devadasan (Editor)

Blurb (from GoodReads):

A collection of comics, street art, typography, and illustrated stories from India and beyond. Includes:

*) A classic Bengali gangster comic in translation

*) Traditional Odisha palm-leaf engravings of alien robot invaders

*) 12th century Sanskrit algebra problems

*) Bus painters from Suriname

*) New work from Vidyun Sabhaney, Amitabh Kumar, Roney Devassia, and Aarti Sunder

*) Bleeding lizards

*) Defecating cyclopses

*) Psychopathic killer tomatoes

*) and much, much more!

My take on the book:

Another addition to our collection of Indian Graphic Novels and Graphic Novels, in general.

Blaft Publications is one of its kind publishers, I have ever come across. A mere look at the names of the books from their catalogue and one can't help admitting their uniqueness, or rather peculiarity for publishing. Most of their publications consists of translated pulp fictions from various languages, especially from Tamil. Even the books they publish don't consist of a ordinary plot. It is entirely for readers of another dimension.

I got this Graphic Novel way back when I had first developed a fascination for them, and was on a spree to promote Indian Graphic Novels. Like I have mentioned in some other review, there are very few Graphic Novels - I repeat, Graphic Novel, not comics - have seen the limelight of Indian literary industry and this one stood out among them.

If you are expecting me to about the contents of the novel, I apologize that I can't. It is beyond my abilities. Not only mine, but any words can't describe the basic purpose of this novel. You know, these days, it is very important a book had it's purpose. And clearly this book doesn't.

The first story itself portrays a introspective sequence of a guy which random and highly mythical, with an end as absurd as ever. There are images of road-arts, which clearly serves no purpose. It is just a collection of road-arts, which is very famous across Tamil Nadu. In fact, even the table of content for this book is an image of a wall-art.

The more I try to put the content of this book in words, the more bewildered I am, so I finally conclude this review by giving a hint of what it holds. It is a potpourri of arts, images and street-arts, with no particular pattern. If at all it as a pattern, it would be 'no-pattern' pattern, whatever that is. 

The book will have a seriously biased effect on readers. Not all readers could enjoy it. In fact, there is possibility that most of them would presume the books to be just a waste of bucks and pulp, making them livid. After all, it costs up to 700-bucks. Try it at your own risk and if you come to love these kinds of books, I would assure you that you will love this book like nothing else.

Well, I am mulling over whether to get the second journal or not...

                

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Title: The Obliterary Journal: Volume 1

Author: Rakesh Khanna (Editor), Rashmi Ruth Devadasan (Editor)

Tagline: A Blaft Joint

ISBN (edition I've read): 9789381626443

Series: The Obliterary Journal, #1

Rating:

Read between: 02-05-2014 to 03-05-2014

Publishers: Blaft Publications

Pages: 269

MRP: ₹ 695

The best deal of this book could be found here: