The truth of the matter is that I cannot honestly review this book. It is so heavily woven into and dependent on an unspoken understanding and appreciation for a universe I do not know or understand. I would need plenty of background reading or time spent in this universe to truly understand and appreciate this book. I honestly don’t think that anyone who is not from Kerala is likely to fully and completely grasp this book.
Do not misunderstand me: this is a unique, remarkable book. It combines a simple, straightforward story with myths, legends, gods and goddesses, worldview, and the ineffable. Even with my literal and figurative distance from all that it is about, there can be no doubt that it is an extraordinary effort.
It is translated by the author and, except for some occasional rough spots, the translation is good. There are, however, some choices that simply do not work. Moreover, this is a work that badly needs--at the very least--either a glossary or an introduction explaining the customs and beliefs of Kerala. It is, like many places, truly hard for an outsider to comprehend and that inevitable lack of complete comprehension makes it a harder work to appreciate.
The story follows Ravi, a bright, college-educated rationalist as he takes up a job as a grade school teacher in a new government school in a small village. A fascinating group of characters appear on the stage and you learn who each one is, what his or her story is. And so as the book proceeds, the village becomes "peopled”—you come to learn who fills what place in the village, how life works, who the personalities are, and very importantly, why; you learn how they confront each other as well as themselves.
There is, too, what a number of reviews have called “magical realism.” My understanding of that term is that it refers to something else entirely. Yes, this book deals with the gods and belief and, very importantly, karma, but Vijayan’s achievement is to render the “unreal” painfully and poignantly real: the actions and interactions between people, the natural world, the universe of the gods all somehow fit together and the reader enters into that world along with Ravi, learning step by step. I withhold a fifth star as much to reflect my inability to fully “get” the book as anything else. But I would encourage you to read it; you won't regret the time and effort and it may offer you, as it did me, just the tiniest glimpse into a world I'd never known. ( )

ഞാൻ ഏറ്റവും കൂടുതൽ സമയം ചെലവഴിച്ച ഒരു ഐറ്റം തന്നെ ആണ് വിജയാ നിന്റെ ഖസാക്ക്‌ ... ഖസ്ഖിന്റെ ഇതിഹാസം ആണ് ബുക്കിന്റെ പേരെങ്കിലും .... ഇത് വായിച്ചു കഴിഞ്ഞപ്പോൾ ഈ ബൂകിനെ ആണോ അതോ അതിന്റെ സ്രിഷ്ടവിനെയാണോ ഇതിഹാസം എന്ന് പറയേണ്ടത് എന്ന ഒരു സംശയമേ മാത്രമേ ബാകിയുള്ള് ....... മലയാളത്തിൽ എല്ലാ കാലത്തും ഈ ബുക്ക്‌ ഒരു ഇതിഹാസം അയ്ര്ക്കും........ കാലങ്ങള എത്ര കടന്നു പോയാലും രവി സിരും അല്ലാപിച്ച മോല്ലകയും..... കുഞ്ഞനതാൻ മസ്റെരും ... ഇപ്പോഴും ജീവിക്കുന്നു... ( )