Beyond Seven Seas and Thirteen Rivers

Beyond Seven Seas and Thirteen Rivers
Author: Saibal Gupta
Publisher: Prabhat Prakashan
Total Pages: 215
Release: 2009-01-01
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 8184300581

Beyond Seven Seas and Thirteen Rivers is a serio-fiction based on a hundred years old true story and the fictional story of a Naxalite rebel of the seventies of last century. The true story is about a man who lived in the nineteenth century and rebelled against the restrictive life of the society at that time and used to dream about distant foreign lands and adventures, stimulated by stories from Ramayana and Mahabharata. He left home as a teenager and through many adventures in the lands unknown became a renowned soldier and officer in the Brazilian Republican Army. His sketchy biography was published in a Bengali book at the turn of the century, 1899-1900, but nothing is known about him afterwards except that he died in Brazil in 1905. Born in the same year as Rabindra Nath Thakur and two years before Swami Vivekananda he remained an icon and an enigma, the only heroic-romantic character at the dawn of Indian renaissance. The fictional Naxalite rebel of the seventies also had to leave the country after many adventurous escapes, true events in the life of many young men, and reached Brazil and came to know about his predecessor a hundred years back and started searching for him. That changed his life bringing forth many perennial issues of man and society.

Mahasweta Devi

Mahasweta Devi
Author: Radha Chakravarty
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 271
Release: 2023-04-24
Genre: Literary Collections
ISBN: 1000873137

Mahasweta Devi occupies a singular position in the history of modern Indian literature and world literature. This book engages with Devi’s works as a writer-activist who critically explored subaltern subjectivities, the limits of history and the harsh social realities of post-independence India. The volume showcases Devi’s oeuvre and versatility through samples of her writing – in translation from the original Bengali—including Jhansir Rani, Hajar Churashir Ma, and Bayen among others. It also looks at the use of language, symbolism, mythic elements and heteroglossia in Devi’s exploration of heterogeneous themes such as exploitation, violence, women’s subjectivities, depredation of the environment and failures of the nation state. The book analyses translations and adaptations of her work, debates surrounding her activism and politics and critical reception to give readers an overview of the writer’s life, influences, achievements and legacy. It highlights the multiple concerns in her writings and argues that the aesthetic aspects of Mahasweta Devi’s work form an essential part of her politics. Part of the ‘Writer in Context’ series, this book will be useful for scholars and researchers of Indian literature, Bengali literature, English literature, postcolonial studies, cultural studies, global south studies and translation studies.

Epistolarity and World Literature, 1980-2010

Epistolarity and World Literature, 1980-2010
Author: Rachel Bower
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 222
Release: 2017-09-29
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 331958166X

This book examines the striking resurgence of the literary letter at the end of the long twentieth century. It explores how authors returned to epistolary conventions to create dialogue across national, linguistic and cultural borders and repositions a range of contemporary and postcolonial authors never considered together before, including Monica Ali, John Berger, Amitav Ghosh, Michael Ondaatje and Alice Walker. Through a series of situated readings, the book shows how the return to epistolarity is underpinned by ideals relating to dialogue and human connection. Several of the works use letters to present non-anglophone material to the anglophone reader. Others use letters to challenge policed borders: the prison, occupied territory, the nation state. Elsewhere, letters are used to connect correspondents in different cultural and linguistic contexts. Common to all of the works considered in this book is the appeal that they make to us, as readers, and the responsibility they place on us to respond to this address. By taking the epistle as its starting point and pursuing Auerbach’s speculative ideal of weltliteratur, this book turns away from the dominant trend of ‘distant reading’ in world literature, and shows that it is in the close situated analysis of form and composition that the concept of world literature emerges most clearly. This study seeks to re-think the ways in which we read world literature and shows how the literary letter, in old and new forms, speaks powerfully again in this period.

Dawn

Dawn
Author: Arūpā Paṭaṃgīẏā Kalitā
Publisher: Zubaan
Total Pages: 324
Release: 2004
Genre: Assamese fiction
ISBN: 9788186706848

Folktales from India Penguin Premium Classic Edition

Folktales from India Penguin Premium Classic Edition
Author: A.K. Ramanujan
Publisher: Penguin Random House India Private Limited
Total Pages: 567
Release: 2023-03-20
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 935492977X

Folklore pervades childhoods, families and communities and is the language of the illiterate. Even in large, modern cities, folklore-proverbs, lullabies, folk medicine, folktales-is only a suburb away, a cousin or a grandmother away. Wherever people live, folklore grows. India is a country of many languages, religions, sects and cultures. It is a land of many myths and countless stories. Translated from twenty-two Indian languages, these one hundred and ten tales cover most of the regions of India and represent favorite's narratives from the subcontinent. A.K. Ramanujan's outstanding selection is an indispensable guide to the richness and vitality of India's ageless oral folklore tradition.

Indigo

Indigo
Author: Satyajit Ray
Publisher: Penguin Books India
Total Pages: 280
Release: 2020-04-20
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9780143068099

Indigo is a collection of stories about the supernatural, the peculiar and the inexplicable from Satyajit Ray, one of the best-loved writers of our times. There are tales here of dark horror, fantasy and adventure along with heart-warmingly funny stories about ordinary people in extraordinary situations. In 'Big Bill' Tulsi Babu picks up a newly-hatched chick from a forest and brings it home only to find it growing bigger and fiercer by the day; in 'Khagam' a man kills a sadhu's deadly pet snake and invites a curse which brings about horrifying changes in his body; and in the title story, a young executive resting in an old abandoned bungalow for a night, finds himself caught up in a chilling sequence of events which occurred more than a century ago. Also included here is 'The Magical Mystery', a brand new Feluda story discovered amongst Ray's papers after his death, and several tales featuring Uncle Tarini, the master storyteller who appears in translation for the first time. From Mr. Shasmal, who is visited one night by all the creatures he has ever killed, to Ashamanja Babu, who does not know what to do when his pet dog suddenly begins to laugh, the unforgettable characters in these stories surprise, shock and entertain us in equal measure. Indigo is a veritable treasure trove especially for those who like a taste of the unusual in a short story and an unexpected twist at the end. Translated from the Bengali by the author and Gopa Majumdar.

Best Of Satyajit Ray

Best Of Satyajit Ray
Author: Satyajit Ray
Publisher: Penguin UK
Total Pages: 346
Release: 2001-12-07
Genre: Literary Collections
ISBN: 9351184293

Twentyone extraordinary stories from a master storyteller For several decades now, Satyajit Ray’s tales about unusual happenings and bizarre characters rooted in familiar surroundings have both regaled and terrified his readers, young and old alike. Here finally are the very best of his short stories, available together for the first time between two covers. In these pages, you will encounter— •The Hungry Septopus, a carnivorous plant with a monstrous appetite • Barin Bhowmick, a kleptomaniac who is taken back several years by a chance encounter on a train • Patol Babu, an amateur actor for whom a walkon part in a movie turns into the ultimate challenge • Bipin Chowdhury, who seems to be suffering from a most disagreeable bout of amnesia • Bonku Babu, a mofussil schoolteacher who is visited one night by a friendly and somewhat awkward alien • Ashamanja Babu’s Dog, who bursts out laughing one morning • Anath Babu, a ghost hunter who finds himself being stalked by his terrifying quarry and many, many more unforgettable characters This collection features four new stories, translated specially for this volume, including ‘Pikoo’s Diary’, Ray’s masterpiece about a small boy’s perception of his mother’s adulterous affair, written as a child’s diary. It also contains all eight short stories that Satyajit Ray translated himself into English. Hilarious and sinister by turns, this is perfect bedtime reading for those who like their terror seasoned with a pinch of humor, and a collector’s item for all Ray aficionados.

The Best of Satyajit Ray 2

The Best of Satyajit Ray 2
Author: Satyajit Ray
Publisher: Penguin Random House India Private Limited
Total Pages: 1051
Release: 2023-02-06
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 935492882X

Satyajit Ray (1921-1991), polymath, polyglot, novelist, short-story writer, illustrator, designer, music composer, was one of the most eminent film directors of world cinema. His Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road, 1955) established his position as a major film director, winning numerous awards. Recipient of the Lifetime Academy Award in 1992 'In recognition of his rare mastery of the art of motion pictures and for his profound humanitarian outlook, which has had an indelible influence on filmmakers and audiences throughout the world', Ray took Indian cinema to a grand platform hitherto unachieved by any Indian film director. "Not to have seen the cinema of Ray means,' said Akira Kurosawa, 'existing in the world without seeing the sun or the moon.' While Ray's films are fairly well-known, his writings-fiction and non-fiction-written in Bengali and English continue to attract attention. His illustrations, design works, comic strips, science fictions, detective stories are gems of Indian literature. Ray's non-fictions are gems, which bring to lights his thoughts on film-making, film appreciation, composition of music, art, design and screenplay, among others. 'The Penguin Ray Library' is an endeavour to open a window to the master's writings to a wide spectrum of readers. From the ever-popular adventures of Ray's enduring creation, the professional sleuth Feluda to the chronicles of Professor Shonku; short stories; writings on filmmaking; and thoughts on world as well as Indian cinema, among others, this anthology, a two-volume boxset, The Best of Satyajit Ray is not only a treat for the Ray enthusiasts but also a collector's edition.

Stranger

Stranger
Author: Satyajit Ray
Publisher: Penguin UK
Total Pages: 349
Release: 2001-09-20
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9351186741

A haunting collection of stories from the master of suspense and intrigue, this book showcases some of Satyajit Ray’s memorable explorations into the twilight territories of the peculiar and supernatural.