THE GOSPEL OF ‘Y’UDAS BY K. R. MEERA (TRANSLATED FROM THE MALAYALAM BY RAJESH RAJAMOHAN)

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BOOK NAME: THE GOSPEL OF YUDAS

AUTHOR NAME: K R MEERA (TRANSLATED FROM THE MALAYALAM BY RAJESH RAJAMOHAN)

GENRE: POLITICAL FICTION 

PUBLISHER: PENGUIN INDIA




BOOK REVIEW

I read two books for the Malayalam translation readathon in 2025, one of which was this outstanding political fiction by K.R. Meera, carved out of the tension that rose during the emergency in India. 


In this novella, the author has gone to great lengths to establish the criminal atrocities committed by people in power against those who cast their voices during the emergency rule. The protagonist, Prema, the daughter of an ex-policeman who was involved in the brutal torture of Naxalite rebels, seeks an escape from his clutches. Not until later does she meet J.U. Das, aka Yudas, whose passionate work is to retrieve dead bodies from the lake and then disappear. Prema develops an intense liking for the strange man who calls himself a traitor, giving away his Naxalite rebel friends to brutality. But in a land torn in war, and when your life is hanging by a thread, is there any right and wrong? And when people working under power must do what needs to be done even if they don’t want to, does it make them the monsters we think they are?


This is the first time I have loved a second book by the same author more than the first one. Qabar introduced me to K.R. Meera’s writing, and she has been on my radar ever since. Qabar impressed me with its style and eloquence, but this one stood out with the questions it asked and how it unfolded as a story of a man arrested by his past and a woman who tried to bring him out of it. I didn’t put this book down until I finished it, which happened after a long time. 


A story so short, so beautiful, so captivating, and so heart-rending that it stays with you forever. The best part of the book is that it leaves you befuddled with more questions than answers for you to reflect on. When you seek them, you understand that the moral compass doesn’t really work the way we think. The translation is brilliant, and the translator needs to be acknowledged for such an evocative rendition of the original work. This is a book I will advocate forever. 


This is a part of BlogchatterA2Z2026 challenge

#penbooksandscalpel

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