The Aesthetics of Wonder: New Findings in Sanskrit Alankarasastra

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Creative writers everywhere harness the sense of wonder to secure readers' attention, to spice the inevitable duller passages, to enhance the readability of their works; Sanskrit poets have made a prolific use of wonder to secure these and many more objectives with conspicuous success.

But, surprisingly, little work has been done on the aesthetics of wonder; the writers on Sanskrit poetics have had little to say about this most attractive sensation This work examines, in great depth, the excitants of the sense of wonder and the various purposes for which poets harness it and presents the concepts, for the first time in the history of Sanskrit aesthetics, embellished with delectable examples delectable examples drawn from the whole of Sanskrit literature. The crowning achievement of the author is the startlingly new discovery about the nature and the role played by wonder, which will revolutionize the existing concept of the sensation

. The most attractive and unusual feature of the book is the high readability achieved through a scintillating style of presentation distinguished by sparkling wit and homour. An epoch-making book which scholars and lay lovers of literature alike would love to read.

A.V Subramanian (born1924) served as a Senior Officer of the Indian railways in the Personnel and the Accounts Departments and retired as Additional general Manager. The prime interest and guiding force of his life has been the pursuit of Sanskrit and Tamil literature, which he loves to read write and speak about. He has written over forty books, which have established him as a highly original writer commanding an unusually bright and interesting style of presentation. The more notable among his works are The Sanskrit plays on the Rama theme, the Unity of sentiment in Sanskrit plays, and the Innovative genius of Bhavabhuti, in Sanskrit aesthetics and A Fine Excess of Poetic Sentiment and focus on the Speaker in the field of Tamil aesthetics. He is now working on the Rasa theory in Sanskrit and expects to come out with some startingly new concepts on the fundamental groundwork of Sanskrit aesthetics.

As a speaker, he has toured USA, Canada and UK thrice, captivating his audiences by the depth of his conceptual range and the sparkle of his presentation. He has been invited to deliver endowment lectures by Indian Universities and scholarly bodies