Bridge to Global Literature
₹399.00
Set in 1960s Kolkata, Ghunpoka, Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay’s debut novel, traces Shyam’s haunting descent from a life of respectability into alienation and despair after he resigns from his job in humiliation. Wandering through the restless city like a disillusioned flâneur, he confronts its noise, its people, and the hollowness of his own ambitions. Memories of his past success collide with the emptiness of his present—his mother’s fading prayers echo across borders, while strange visions of deer,trains, and clouds fill his mind. When a reckless act involving a motorcyclist plunges him deeper into darkness, it is up to Leela, a receptionist at the American Consulate, whom he is obsessively fascinated by, to instill some hope. The question remains: can redemption or meaning still be found? With striking psychological insight and lyrical precision, Mukhopadhyay crafts a portrait of the modern man’s disintegration—brilliantly brought to life in Tapas Kumar Sen’s evocative English translation
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Born in Bikrampur, Dhaka, in present-day Bangladesh, Sirshendu Mukhopadhyay is one of modern Bengali literature’s finest and most prolific writers. He began his writing career in the politically volatile West Bengal of the 1960s with his novel Ghunpoka, which was critically acclaimed for presenting a protagonist with an unsettling interiority. He gave Bengalis their new clan of literary sleuths, including the famous Shabar Dasgupta and Baradocharan. He has experimented with a range of literary styles and genres, including detective fiction, surrealism, science fiction, and children’s literature. He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1989 for his novel Manabajamina, won the Vidyasagar Puraskar by the Government of West Bengal for his contributions to children’s literature, is a three-time winner of the Ananda Puraskar, and received the Banga Bibhushan Award in 2012. His stories and novels reflect a deep sensitivity to the human condition, affirming love and faith over violence and conflict.
Tapas Kumar Sen started translating out of his sheer love for literature and language. Having completed his schooling from the Metropolitan Institution (Main), a vernacular school founded by Iswarchandra Vidyasagar in 1864, Sen earned his bachelor’s degree with honors in English from Scottish Church College, and his master’s degree in English from Presidency College, University of Calcutta. It was during his college days that he began translating poems, working in both Bangla and English. After completing a full-term service at a state-owned bank—during which his translated poems appeared in literary magazines—he now earnestly pursues his passion. In the last few years, he has been translating various short stories and novels.
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| Pages | 168 |
| ISBN | 9789349203648 |
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