Book: The Green of Bengal and Other Stories.
Author: Gautam Benegal
Publisher: Harper Collins
Pages: 188
Read On: Kindle
How Long it Took Me To Read: 2 days
Plot Summary: A guest with epic gastric trouble, the besieged political campaigner, the cruel critic, the secret murderer, the homophobic ruffians, the reluctant nude model, the talking dog, the frustrated illustrator, the grandfather who pines for the home he lost. Gautam Benegal's short stories are peopled with characters we almost recognize - a neighbour, an uncle, a niece - bringing alive the Calcutta of the late 1980s and the early '90s. There is nostalgia here, but it is shot through with darkness. A political pulse runs through the whole, informed by Benegal's own preoccupations with gender and class, his keen interest in people and the workings of their minds. Yet, there is a lightness of touch, a desire to engage the reader in a story, even an occasional twist in the tale.
Review: I read 1/7 Bondel Road back in 2015 and LOVED it. I loved the setting, the people and the nostalgia it evoked. I even reviewed it HERE. It's a book I adored and I cannot recommend enough.
Last month while I was treating myself to some ebooks, I spotted that the author had another book out, which came out in 2014 (how did I miss this!) and I knew I had to get it.
I read it pretty much immediately and it did not disappoint, not one bit.
I immediately made my sister buddy read it with me and we both loved this book.
It's so damn good.
My first five star read of the year..I think...no I'm pretty sure its my first 5/5 read for 2020.
There is so much I loved about this book, first up the setting. There is honestly nothing I love more than Calcutta in the 1990s. It's my kryptonite. A book set in this particular time period will always, always pull me in...take all my money and give me a good story about one of my favourite places in the world and a time that makes my heart happy.
Secondly, I really appreciated and enjoyed the sheer range of these stories. There were human interest stories, sort of science fiction-ish stories, stories with child narrators and heartbreaking stories of love and loss. There is, pretty much, a story for every mood and every kind of nostalgia.
These stories also have a bunch of different and nice characters. Some characters stay with you long after you finish the book. We also get some characters from 1/7, Bondel Road and it was really nice to be back with those characters after a few years.
So, seriously, if you are looking for a wonderful collection of diverse short stories, which are all very well written, then The Green of Bengal is the book to pick!
Highly, highly recommend.
Rating: 5/5
No comments:
Post a Comment