While the Light Lasts and Other Stories

It starts with a tale of despair that defines romance in The House of Dreams. Written in her early years, the signature style is so subtle that it might only be realized in hindsight. Surely not the best of her creations, it could really be her path to lesser fame had not a novelist friend came to her aid with encouraging directions. That it was required for the budding author was acknowledged by Christie when she paid her respect to Philpotts while already established in a literary career. It is followed by The Actress, a thrillingly fascinating narrative that is short but crisp. This drama is intensely psychological, revealing the inherent cowardice that is exploited to stage the apparently vicious trap. Thrills continues in The Edge, which befits the title in varied ways as the frustrated dame fights the desperate wife in a battle of nerves with a fatal climax that is deceptively tragic. Each piece has afterword which gives a little bit of perspective to the works. The following features Poirot in the mystery with title Christmas Adventure, which is though a reread, but the title was different while the charm similarly satiating. The Lonely God is romance weaved in mystery that blesses the same with the delightful Heavenly appeal. The twist in the tale was predictable yet satisfactorily welcome as the long lost artist meets the lost love at the feet of the Deity with apparently a dearth of worshipers but still standing supreme with the sacrifices that a God can only offer. Disappointment will be in store while reading Manx Gold but the afterword will be more than a satisfactory justification of its apparent vague treasure chase. Written for attracting tourists for the Isle of Man, the clues are strewn in the text for its readers to detect. Within a Wall is a black romance with a crooked sense of desire. While the silent lover seeks love in helping the needy, the calm companion longs the same in possesiveness. The touch of cunning returns with Poirot in unravelling The Mystery of the Baghdad Chest that contained a murdered body, hidden apparently in a room full of guests and their attendees. Being the original to 'The Mystery of the Spanish Chest', perspective played the vital pivot to identify the criminal while evidences supported the hypothesis. Guilt and comfort play a black tale in While the Light Lasts, where the apparent relief to the anxious heart paints a tragedy that lies hidden from the coarser eyes. It seemed to reflect a certain status conscious author giving vent to her ambitious nature camouflaged in a manner, which is both convenient and elegant.

Parker Pyne Investigates

If you are not happy, then Parker Pyne awaits you to take your case and make you hearty. With a fee payable in advance, you can let the love detective take care of your case just like Mrs Packington in The Case of the Middle-Ages Housewife. If adventure is your choice, you will be matched with romance with a touch of mystery as was The Case of the Disconcerted Soldier scripted by his acquaintance, Mrs Ariadne Oliver, the novelist who will see to the thrills of it. Fees varies for each case, but that is justified as each case is specially crafted to suit the clients' requirements. But there is an inherent investigator in Pyne who makes his presence felt time and again, starting from The Case of the Distressed Lady where curiously, though happiness to the client is robbed off but the same in the reader will be guaranteed. But sometimes it becomes a bit more than tricky where happiness looms round the corner but the client takes a sudden turn as in The Case of the Discontented Husband, taking the agency of happiness by surprise. However, the honest proprietor is never deterred by these outcomes and will even lose money if the cause is so deserving like in The Case of the City Clerk, where, unbeknownst to the client, he embarks upon an adventure with political consequences and international importance, yet cleverly embroidered by the seller of happiness that satisfies all interested parties. But never have been the satisfaction more heartfelt than in The Case of The Rich Woman, where unhappiness due to excessive wealth is solved with a plan so elaborate that it will defy imagination yet will be rendered classic by the humble ambience. But the real mischievous prank is in Have You Got Everything You Want? where the adoration for the newly married hubby is smirked by a sudden discovery that puts doubt in the mind of the wife, but for a chance meeting with the agent of happiness, each matter is solved in a series of humorous twists. As opposed to slight mischief, the next involves a murder near The Gate of Baghdad, where the killer and the killed are in the same troupe as is the sleuth. Following at its heel is a curious death that happened long ago in The House at Shiraz that would have remained buried in the darkest past if not the merchant of cheerfulness would turn sleuthing for the sake of happiness. His investigative streak continues in The Pearl of Price in deducing the whereabouts of a seemingly expensive pearl but the interesting point is the portraiture of the sleuth. The author has developed the character in such a way that he sometimes seem to resemble Poirot but then she adds that additional detail which makes Parker unique with his very own way of looking into perspectives and justifies the requirement of different characters to solve different sets of crisis. The short and crisp Death on the Nile is a murder mystery on a boat where the small pool of suspect seems to help the retired civil servant in the Department of Records to narrow it down on the perpetrator with the real evidence that lay aside the pile of false. Sequel to it, with a subtle clue lying hidden in some remarks, is the mystery of The Oracle at Delphi, where kidnapping and ransom constitutes the primary plot but the more interesting plot lies hidden till the climactic phase. Though a premonition remains irrationally unexplained, but the classic style bears the incomparable Christie signature written all over it.

Dadur Keerti

Like the other Sanjib Chattopadhyay classics, these are also a collection of homely stories for the young  minds. Based on the central character of Dadu or the grand old grandfather of the house, the stories fleet from subject to subject. Sometimes it is about the searching for a home for his brother in Dadur Bagan, sometimes about the loss of the loved ones depicted in Dadur K(n)athal that affects the rich and the poor alike. Some are about the rodents in the house in which makes life miserable but when they are caught and are on the verge of getting thrashed, the apparent unhappiness of the hapless creatures makes the soul miserable still. Dadur I(n)dur, Dadur Dwitiyo I(n)dur are both of such category. Some stories are pure comic like Dadur D(n)ad(n)adano B(n)aat, where the new set of false teeth comes in way, not only while eating but also between justice in remarkably funny way. I had read all these stories in my childhood as part of some other collection of the author, but to collect these again seemed to bring back cherished memories of the youth. Some stories are understandably not in chronological sequence of the plots as are Dadur Shesh Khawa that narrates the tragic mishap of the house cat which apparently came to the family as described in the following Dadur Biral, as are some of the details that seems a bit confusing, but on the whole, the entire volume is a fantastic mould of sorrow, humour and hope.

Pikur Diary o Onyanya

This book had been among the prohibited few that my parents asked me to keep at bay for the right age. So when that age came, at least when I felt it came, I pounced on it in the bookshop to be introduced to the writings for the adults by Ray, who is more famous for his literary creations for the young. The book consists of Pikur Diary, where the diary of Piku reveals the daily details of his family in the coarse form that is to be expected from a child of his age but which also reveals the genius of Ray as he used the dialect of the child along with the obvious spelling mistakes while revealing the mature details with subtle clues. The next is the script for the movie Piku, which actually is a major deviation from the story and is acknowledged in the introduction by the writer himself. There is also another script of Shakha-Prasakha, but it is again one of the earlier versions for the movie. There are a couple of science fiction, Sabuj Manush and Mayurkanthi Jelly, with the latter more suspenseful than the former. But the most hilarious is Aryashekharer Janma o Mrityu which shows how the intellectual impetus of an unfortunate genius becomes too much for the society as well as for his self. The book with its various hues will be enjoyable for its cohesive diversity.