The Distaste of the Earth

Awards & Recognition

About this book

Inspired by the true and tragic love story of Manik Raitong and Lieng Makaw, Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih weaves an ancient world of Khasi kings and queens, warriors and plunderers, and chronicles the sorrows of a young man caught up in that world. And it all begins in a pata, the local bar.

Ambitious and expansive, lifelike and filled with wonder, this is the layered fictional history of a land where love knows no boundaries, where animals recount their tales of woe against man and where retribution arrives, sooner or later.

Artfully raising questions about earthly powers, godly dispensation and where our anthropocentric attitude is leading us, The Distaste of the Earth grapples with such themes as greed and oppression, revenge and justice,
love and tragedy, strife and peace.

At once mythical and contemporary, this is the work of a master fabulist.