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Showing posts with label Twentieth Century. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Twentieth Century. Show all posts

Friday, October 4, 2019

Book Review : Tales from Bengal by Sourish Roy | Short Stories

Book Review

Tales from Bengal by Sourish Roy


Book Review : Tales from Bengal by Sourish Roy | Short Stories | Dhiraj Sindhi
Tales from Bengal by Sourish Roy

Author: Sourish Roy

ISBN: 978-8193963982

Genre: Short Stories

Length: 103 Pages

Publisher:  BIGFOOTPUBLICATIONS PVT. LTD. (2019)

My Ratings: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Order your copy right now: https://amzn.to/2ngloH5

About the author: 


Sourish Roy, an M.A. in English with distinction in Linguistics from Burdwan University and B.Ed. with specialization in Teaching Methodology from North Bengal University, has been serving as an Assistant Teacher in High Secondary school since 2005. With degrees in Classical Art from Nikhil Bharat Sangeet Parishad, he has also been a frequent practitioner in painting. Having earned professional training in Lead Guitar under the tutelage of Sri. Kaushik Bhattacharya besides being a vocalist himself, he also takes time out to musical ceremonies.

He is also a certificate holder of National Science Society. Alongside enjoying serenity in his multi-faceted life he has had experiences of trekking under the supervision of Himalayan Nature & Adventure Foundation, Siliguri.

From the very beginning, he has been a fond reader of good literary books. He took to writing at an early stage of his life with writing for the wall magazines and annual magazines in school and college. Now, as a writer, he has earned the renown of being dedicated to the daily life problems of the underprivileged class. His stories have been previously published in local English and Bangla magazines and pamphlets. His critical essays have also been provided space in some academic books.


Book Review : Tales from Bengal by Sourish Roy | Short Stories | Dhiraj Sindhi
Sourish Roy (right) receiving award for Best Short Story Collection Prize

Follow him on Instagram: @sourishjal
REVIEW

Narration

Tales from Bengal is a compilation of nine short stories depicting the serious transformation in the lives of villagers of Bengal in the last few decades of the twentieth century. Some of these short stories are narrated in first person point of view and some in third person point of view. This is the work of fine literature and Sourish Roy has put life in this book. Author narrates these significant stories using profound language and creative writing style. Each and every line says something, holds a meaning. One of the major trait of this book is, the voice which keeps you curious throughout the entire book.

Location and Setting

All stories are set in different lands of Indian state West Bengal. As I mentioned above, these stories take place in the most transformative decades of the twentieth century. Everything was changing in the sense of science, technology, entertainment and politically also. Sourish Roy has portrayed this picture in context of Bengal. All stories have major influence of Bengal and its culture and anything you could imagine. Author has tried to include as many topics as possible and made this book nothing less than a carnival of a sort.

Theme

While these stories are all distinct, they really seemed to me somewhat related but actually, they are not. The first story ‘Absolution’ is about accepting one’s limitations. ‘Anomaly’ is about the flaws come with evolution. ‘Iron irony’ depicts the story of a blacksmith going through the sudden development of marketing strategies. ‘Ratan’s Maa’ shows how, healthcare was made available to a commoner, which once they were deprived of. ‘The abstainer’ sketches the picture of a young, an incompetent descent to the family heritage. ‘The Handyman' tells a story, where a man was robbed of everything because of government’s empty pocket. ‘The Magician’s Plight’ is a story of a magician (a migrant from another country), who discovers the light after a huge loss. ‘The Mail-bearer’ is indeed a story of a mail-bearer and story which serves the message of ‘Perseverance never goes unpaid.’ And the last ‘The Quack’ is the story of a doctor who was denied the dream he had given his all away for, not once but twice.

My Views

If I have to retitle these stories with an adjective, it would be shattering, devastating and what not. While urbanization brought massive transformation, it wasn’t good for everyone. As the author says, these villagers are still waiting for elevation in their wretched living, which would probably take more time and until then would undergo numerous changes as depicted in the book. I really loved each story and devoured them again and again to re-ingest those feelings of pain and acceptance. It also made me reminisce the stories my grandma used to tell and this book had similar vibes, Sourish Roy made each story unforgettable by his literary skills.

Happy Reading!

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Will see you in the next post. Till then buh-bye. Take Care. Peace. ☮

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