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{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Oru Sankeerthanam Pole''}}
{{infobox book 
| name =Oru sangeerthanam Pole
| title_orig =
| translator =
| image = Cover picture of the book Oru Sankeerthanam Pole.jpg
| caption = 46th edition cover (March 2011)
| author = [[Perumbadavam Sreedharan]]
| cover_artist = T.A.Joseph
| country = India
| language = Malayalam
| series =
| genre = [[Novel]]
| publisher= Ashramam Bhasi, Sankeerthanam Publications, Kollam
| pages = 223<ref>{{cite web|title=Title at Indulekha|url=http://indulekha.com/malayalambooks/2006/12/oru-sankeerthanam-pole.html|access-date=2012-07-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120625141015/http://indulekha.com/malayalambooks/2006/12/oru-sankeerthanam-pole.html|archive-date=2012-06-25|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| release_date = September 1993
| isbn = 978-812400354-1
| dewey=
| congress=
| oclc=
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
}}

'''''Oru Sankeerthanam Pole''''' ({{lang-ml|ഒരു സങ്കീർത്തനം പോലെ}}, 'Like a Psalm') is a widely acclaimed novel written by [[Perumbadavam Sreedharan]], first published in September, 1993. Set in the city of [[Saint Petersburg]], it deals with the life of the Russian author [[Fyodor Dostoyevsky]] and his love affair with [[Anna Grigoryevna Snitkina]] who would later become his wife. This book broke [[Malayalam]] publishing records in 2005 by selling more than 100,000 copies in just 12 years after its initial publication.<ref>{{cite news|title=Celebrating a milestone|url=http://www.hindu.com/2005/12/17/stories/2005121700170200.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060307071919/http://www.hindu.com/2005/12/17/stories/2005121700170200.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 7, 2006|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|date=Dec 17, 2005}}</ref> It won numerous awards, the most prestigious one being the 1996 [[Vayalar Award|Vayalar award]].<ref>{{cite web|title=List of Vayalar Award Winners|url=http://www.keralasahityaakademi.org/ml_aw27.htm}}</ref>.The book surpassed its 100th edition with above 200,000 copies in about 24 years.<ref>{{cite news |title=‘Oru Sankeerthanam Pole’ goes into 100th edition |url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/2017/nov/26/oru-sankeerthanam-pole-goes-into-100th-edition-1711185.html |access-date=16 January 2021 |work=[[The New Indian Express]] |issue=26 November 2017}}</ref>

Excerpts from the novel are part of Malayalam school and college curricula.

==Plot==

The novel revolves around the life of [[Fyodor Dostoyevsky|Dostoyevsky]] from the time of his meeting with [[Anna Grigoryevna Snitkina|Anna]] till their union. Dostoyevsky had promised his editor Stellovsky that he would complete the novel ''[[The Gambler (novel)|The Gambler]]'' within a few months, but he had not yet written a single page. On the advice of a friend, he recruits a stenographer, Anna, to speed up the completion. Anna had great respect for the novelist. But he was nothing like she imagined. On the surface, Dostoyevsky was an alcoholic, gambler and epileptic who could evoke revulsion in anyone. But Anna slowly discovers deeper characteristics in 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. His own emotions of being a gambler and alcoholic gets portrayed in his novel ''The Gambler''. The string of failed relationships, poverty and diseases haunt him. The presence of Anna gives him great relief. In the end, he communicates his love to her. They decide to be together.

==Writing==

[[Perumbadavam Sreedharan]], in his introduction to the book, thanks Anna's memoirs for giving inputs for the theme of the book. The details of the life and personality of [[Fyodor Dostoyevsky|Dostoyevsky]] were derived from his various novels and biographies.

Unlike other biographers of Dostoyevsky, Perumbadavam does not crucify him for his weaknesses and manias. In the introduction to the book in a reprint in 2006,<ref>{{cite book|title=Oru Sankeerthanam Pole|year=2006|edition=Reprint|publisher=Ashramam Bhasi, Sankeerthanam Publications|pages=7–14}}</ref> he says that the agonies that life gave [[Fyodor Dostoyevsky|Dostoyevsky]] purified him into a saint. He argues that only a saint could have produced such great works as ''[[Crime and Punishment]]'', ''[[The Idiot]]'' and ''[[The Brothers Karamazov]]''. Dostoyevsky's epileptic seizures, gambling mania and alcoholism are not considered as mere weaknesses of his heart, but as symbols of creative agony and internal conflicts of a great writer.

==Characters==

* [[Fyodor Dostoyevsky]] - Russian author
* [[Anna Grigoryevna Snitkina]] - Dostoyevsky's stenographer
* Fedosya - Dostoyevsky's elderly maid
* Gregory Yakov - Old man who lends money for gambling
* Stellovsky - Cruel publisher of Dostoyevsky's books
* Alonkin - House owner
* [[Polina Suslova]] - Earlier lover of Dostoyevsky
* Pasha - Dostoyevsky's stepson
* Ivan - Young man who wishes to marry Anna
* Olkhin - Principle of stenography school

==Publication==

The book was first published in September, 1993. It sold more than 50,000 copies in the first six years and more than 100,000 copies in the first 12 years. The latter feat was celebrated at [[Thiruvananthapuram]] on August 3, 2005.<ref>{{cite book|title=Oru Sankeerthanam Pole|year=2006|edition=Reprint|publisher=Ashramam Bhasi, Sankeerthanam Publications|pages=14}}</ref>

==Translations==

The novel was translated to English by [[A. J. Thomas]] as ''Like a Psalm''.<ref>{{cite web |title=The double |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/tracking-indian-communities/the-double/ |website=[[Times of India]] |access-date=16 January 2021 |date=21 July 2018}}</ref> It has also been translated to Hindi and foreign language like Arabic.<ref name="OneIndia">{{cite news|url = http://malayalam.oneindia.in/culture/literature/010604sankeerthanam.html|title = Oru Sankeerthanam Pole to be released in Hindi|last = One India|date = 1 June 2004|access-date = 17 July 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Oru Sangeerthanam Pole in Arabic|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/article557239.ece|newspaper=The Hindu|date=August 7, 2010}}</ref>

==References==

<references />

{{Malayalam Literature |state=collapsed}}

[[Category:Malayalam novels]]
[[Category:1993 novels]]
[[Category:Novels set in 19th-century Russia]]
[[Category:Novels set in Saint Petersburg]]
[[Category:Philosophical novels]]
[[Category:1993 Indian novels]]

Oru Sankeerthanam Pole - Revision history

imported>Ira Leviton: Fixed a typo found with Wikipedia:Typo_Team/moss.