SL Bhyrappa’s new novel flies off shelves, to see 3rd print soon

Bengaluru: Uttara Kanda, Saraswati Samman recipient SL Bhyrappa’s new novel, was sold out within an hour of its state-wide release on Monday, its publishers said.
“There were many pre-orders for the book from individuals and distributors. We had kept aside some copies to sell them at our bookshop on the release day. They too were sold out within an hour of the store opening this morning,” said MG Arun, proprietor of Sahitya Bhandara, publisher of all of Bhyrappa’s works.
Avid readers of the bestselling Kannada author had lined up in front of the Sahitya Bhandara bookshop at Balepete much before it opened.“When I reached at 8am, a large number of people had already queued up. I was anxious whether I would take home a copy or not. But luckily I got two copies – one for myself and another for my friend. I’m eager to read the book,” said Puttaraju GS, a retired employee of the police department, who learnt about the book through discussions on the Facebook page created by the Bhyrappa fan club.
“I have read almost all works of Bhyarappa, beginning with Dharmashree. I love his novels as his portrayal of characters is so realistic that we one relate to them in one way or the other,” said Satish Kushal, another Bhyrappa fan who runs a private business.
The publisher said they had been receiving enquiries for over a month. “Though it was a Sunday, we kept the shop open yesterday for binding and packaging. A lot of people came on Sunday to ask for book and we had to send them back,” said MG Raja of Sahitya Bhandara.
Booksellers who had ordered well in advance were a tad disappointed as they didn’t get as many copies as they had asked for. “We had placed an order for 100 copies but got only 20. We are flooded with enquiries from readers. We hope to get more copies on Tuesday,” said Raghuvir Samarth of Sahitya Loka Publications.
R Doddegowda of Sapna Book House said, “We had taken orders for 750 copies and asked for 1,000 copies. But on Monday we received only 400 copies, which were sold out immediately. We have sought another 1,000 copies and hope to get them once the book is reprinted.”
According to the publisher, individuals and booksellers suddenly stepped up their demand at the last minute. “Those who had ordered for 50 copies called up just a day before the release to say they wanted 500. Since the first print is sold out, we are releasing the first reprint on Tuesday. Even that is pre-ordered and already sold out. So we will bring out the second reprint (third print) in another 2-3 days. There is a huge demand for the book from readers in the US too. We will supply books to them in a week,” said Raja. The publisher didn’t reveal the number of books they were printing each time.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Uttara Kanda is a retelling of the Ramayana from Sita’s point of view. This is the second time that Bhyrappa is relooking at an epic. Exactly 40 years ago, he had penned his masterpiece, Parva, based on the Mahabharata. The 85-year-old author has 31 works to his credit, including about 25 novels.