Wednesday, 25 September 2024

BOOK REVIEW OF TEN DAYS OF THE STRIKE

       



            Author:   Sandipan Chattopadhyay

Original Version:  Bengali

Translator:             Arunava Sinha

Publisher; HarperCollins Publisher India

Genre; Literary and Contemporary Fiction

Buy the book  here @Amazon

 

Sandipan Chattopadhyay was one of the pioneers of the Hungryalist movement, who influenced the Indian languages by narrating the Bengali landscape in his Kritadas Kritadasi. He was awarded the Bankim Puraskar in the year 1995 and the Sahitya Academy Award in the year 2002.

The Translator Arunava Sinha is a famous translator especially from Bengali to English.  He has succeeded in completing the translation of eighty literary works.

The Selected stories titled “Ten Days of the Strike” written by Sandipan Chattopadhyay who is one of the most skillful short-story writers of his generation.  The collection of these Ten Stories is best known for his immensely popular day-to-day adventures of every common man of Kolkata.

These stories explore the macabre as well as natural and are marked by the sharp characterization and trademark expression that distinguish his narration.

This collection brings together ten different types of his stories like The Last Metro, Meerabai, Banabehari and I, and The Ivy Shome Murder Case (1978) which readers of the middle Age will enjoy.

This collection with nearly 330 and odd pages has been rendered into English from Bengali.  It’s a monumental effort reflecting the enormous dedication and unremitting labour of the translator over his assigned task.

Translating any work from one language into another is an arduous task, especially so if the work of translation consists of spoken words.

The sixth story of this collection, Banabehari and I is the largest one which is endowed with more than 80 pages chaptered with eleven scenes, some chapters with three, and some with ten parts in each.  In the scene five, part 6 begins with a dialogue format.

The translation was rightfully discharged by the translator through his duty to recreate the original into English without deviation from the source.  The English language found in this book reveals the “Bangabhasha” or “Vangavasi”.

The descriptive style of the vernacular language of the region merged with the theme of the novel and the anecdotes which are suitable to the country yards help to strengthen the structure of the novel.

The cover page was well designed by the illustrator Sourish Mitra which makes the readers visualize the theme of the story - Ten Days of the Strike the second one of this collection.   Particularly in this story, how the middle-class family overcame from the day to day problems like inexplicable conditions in the bathroom like blocking of the toilet, overflowing septic tank, endowed with many cockroaches and centipedes etc.,   

This collection provides the approach to lead a life with great courage, and positive thoughts, maintaining relationships, and in turn, it helps to develop the feeling of rejoicing.

The book has many experienced faces in the form of the characters which provokes the readers to understand reality.

This classic edition consists and is graced with many moving stories, that will inspire the readers.  Readers can take a few minutes here and there and read the stories to remind themselves of the good in the world.

The author was successful in presenting the ten stories lucidly.

 

(This book review is the part of Blogchatters Book Review program)





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