Brahma Dreaming: Legends from Hindu Mythology - Hardcover

JOHN JACKSON was born in 1929 in rural Devon, England, close to where he lives today. He is an established author, lawyer, businessman, and political and constitutional campaigner.

Brahma Dreaming by John Jackson, illustrated by Daniela Jaglenko Terrazzini, is an unusual book in which the author with extremely good story-telling skills retells the ancient Hindu tales of their great gods, The Mahadevas, The book is sensitively illustrated by the well-known artist Terrazzini, who created black and white prints which look very much like ancient Indian cultural styles, with dream-like quality to the brush strokes. The sections are divided into Tales of Creation; Tales of Destruction; and Tales of Preservation. If you have ever been interested in Hindu culture and beliefs you will find this book really interesting and well done for modern eyes and ears.

The beautifully produced art-book, with thick paper and monochrome prints, is in the style of books from the golden age of children’s literature in the early decades of the last century. Like many, I devoured my parents’ copies of these books in my childhood. Among them were illustrated fairy tales that brought the narratives to life, whether it was H.J. Ford images in Andrew Lang’s Fairy Books series, or Margaret Tarrant’s drawings for Hans Christian Andersen’s stories. For an older generation, J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens will always be associated with Arthur Rackham’s drawings rather than the later cartoon versions. The successors of these illustrators worked in more contemporary children’s books, so Robin Jacques’ drawings were instantly recognizable, as was the later rock album art of Roger Dean.

The images were integral to the books, illustrating key moments and episodes, and remain forever part of the text itself. Daniela Jaglenka Terrazzini’s images draw on this different lineage of illustration as a new way of presenting the familiar tales of Hindu mythology.

The style of the stories of the gods, told by John Jackson, is also redolent of this era of fairy tales. The simple language brings characters to life and presents situations afresh with deceptively plain sentences, with vivid descriptions and pithy dialogues.