Doshti Kishore Upanyas

This compilation for the young contains

• Gourer Kaboch
• Harano Kakatua 
• Golmaal 
• Chakrapurer Chakkare
• Chhayamoe
• Sonar Medal
• Patalghar 
• Haripurer Harek Kando 
• Dudhsayarer Dweep
• Bipinbabur Bipod

As obvious of Shirshendu's works, the novels consists of a conglomeration of weird characters, human and others, all weaved into adventures that will bring smile to the faces. Fun and frolick galore, all the adventures underlines pleasant messages that freshens the heart and appeases the soul. I'd already commented on Gourer Kaboch in an earlier post so won't go into any detail. Infact all the novels contains the same proportion of adventure and mystery combined with laughter and humour that makes these a treasure item. Especially I must mention Patalghar that I'd watched but I'll say that the story surpasses the film version by miles. Personally I feel Harano Kakatua to be a bit stretched but all the others had been just too good. Golmaal can be considered as a sequel to Bhuture Ghori. The next Chakrapurer Chakkare is a wonderful anecdote of a young man coming to terms with his heritage while Chhayamoe complements this storyline. The next Sonar Medal reunites an estranged pair. A quest for secret treasure is the central plot is Haripurer Harek Kando and the same quest continues but culminates in the classic sacrifice in Dudhsayarer Dweep. But the best climax is of Bipinbabur Bipod that along with the preceding story seems to be ideal short story in the volume.

Bagher Nakh

An ardent collector of Anandamela in my childhood days, I was enveloped in nostalgia when I came upon a short story by Adrish Bardhan from the pages of an old edition of Anadamela. It featured Indranath Rudra and his right hand Mriganka. Though this fast paced detective story is not so mind boggling but the charm of the old magazine freshened my spirit. A fine read it can be a good introduction to those not conversant with literary pieces of Bardhanbabu.

Nagchampa

A mystery story enveloped in a social drama introduced P.K. Basu, the lawyer sleuth of Narayan Sanyal. Also introduced in the same novel, were the Tommy & Tuppence of Bengali mystery story – Kaushik and Sujata. Infact, the story revolved more around Sujata than on anybody else with Kaushik playing a significant role in it. P.K. Basu entered the drama at a very later stage, that too in the capacity of an investigating lawyer with a client about whom the author remained curiously silent, though it can be logically concluded who it might be.

The story is about the civil engineer-cum-researcher Mr. Chatterjee, foster father to Sujata. Mr. Chatterjee made a breakthrough inventing a cheaper hollow block with a strength of the traditional blocks for construction. But a curious ailment took his life just on the very night he documented his research. It was the prudence of Sujata who could hide the documents from the clutches of the greedy industrialists and politicians but at a cost of being detained at her home. As she used all her wisdom to prevent the research papers from reaching the wrong hands a curious rush of events made all her calculations go awry. From then onwards the story takes a tremendous pace and the author’s magnificent way of story telling keeps the readers glued with climactic courtroom drama and a sensational revelation in an apparently social gathering.

But there are certain very disappointing aspects of the novel. The first is a very prolonged introduction of the story cluttered with poems that, though initially felt relevant but finally loses its implications. Second is among the several mysteries that remained unanswered, the most important one was the death of Mr. Chatterjee whose cause was not revealed at all. Thirdly was the extensive use of civil engineering terms that once again makes it shelved for its fullest enjoyment for a certain class of people.

Herbert

When you are going to read Herbert, it's better that you brace yourself with literatures like Fyataru, Masouleum, Kangal Maalshat, which I had fortunately gone thru earlier. So I was ready for Herbert and it indeed was a fine experience for me though at places the vagueness really keeps me at bay and eludes my humble wisdom, thus no doubt the novel gets all the accolades that it is due. Nabarun Bhattacharya's much acclaimed novel seemed a little less on the funnier side than the seriousness that it poses. It will be best for me not to elaborate lest the readers may be misled by my misjudgements but will always recommend the Bengali literature lovers to have a go at it.

The Guide

The Guide is the transformation of a corrupt and opportunist tour guide to a spiritual being. Starting his career without a heed to his father's business he gradually made a profit out of guiding excursionists to spots hitherto never hailed at all a place of sight seeing. Transforming places with only a trace of sceninc beauty just by the virtue of his story telling Raju had earned a regional fame around Malgudy. But unbeknownst to him, the Mempi Hills did really had a treasure of significant archaeology. Thus came Marco to explore the caves and with him came Rosie, his artist - the dancer of the Bharatnatyam genre. But it was not her dance that attracted Raju to her but something else made him lose his head completely. Then started the story of careful elopement that culminated in Marco and Rosie getting estranged. Raju, taking advantage of the situation gave Rosie a house but more importantly introduced her to the world of commerce. Rosie's dance, enthralling her audience wherever she went, soon catapulted them to a world of fame but not long before that Raju found himself thrown to jail due to a financial deal gone messy chiefly due to his ignorance in the legal and financial matters. But as he came out of jail, opportunities provided a remarkable transformation in him that, to me seemed to give him eternal peace.

An engrossing narrative that modifies the outlook of the reader as each page unfolds a new surprise this will hold you glued as long as it remains unfinished.

Bhooter Bhabishyat

http://calcuttatube.com/bhooter-bhabishyat-2012-bengali-movie-user-review/169894/

Aabar Byomkesh

http://calcuttatube.com/aabar-byomkesh-2012-bengali-movie-by-anjan-dutta-user-review/169891/

Brain

Robin Cook’s medical thriller again revolves around computers like the previous one and echoes Asimov’s concern about the power of machine that clouds the human mind leading them to a horrific extreme. Based on artificial intelligence, Philips Martin of Neuroradiology has conceived of an intelligent medical diagnostics but the machine seems to spell out too many details putting sinister forces at jeopardy. So as the enthusiastic researcher tries to corroborate the results the patients seem curiously to vanish or dead. Trying to cope up with the frustration in medicine and also in his personal life he stumbles upon a startling discovery all of a sudden. It seems that the patients’ disappearance is not a coincident but is a result of an obsessive secret research project. Filled with suspense the novel is again a gory reminder of the ultimate obsession of the researchers where human sacrifice is nothing but a routine procedure.

Whose Body?

A damn good detective story it was, maybe a very old one but a golden one no doubt! Dorothy Sayer’s 1^st novel of the Lord Peter Wimsey series had all the ingredients of a suspenseful mystery with the nobility taking interest in sleuthing, for a change. When a naked corpse with a pince-nez turns up in a humble architect’s bath it naturally arouses a curiosity. Add with it the curious disappearance of a famous financier just before an all important meeting on the next day. The motive being untraceable as was the corpse and all evidence carefully erased and those left leading haywire, Lord Peter tackles one of the shrewdest criminal brains with the help of Inspector Parker and Mervyn Brunnet, a butler and a photographer. The minute research of the criminal mind has been reflected in the works which adds a truly realistic touch to the narrative. A little stretched midway in the plot it revives the pace as Wimsey sees light in the mist of mystery. The narrative completes with a clearly composed explanation detailing every aspect of the crime that never feels boring. The only slight disappointment is the offender being unmasked at an early stage of the final chapters but it seems to be the right place as the way the novel has been developed.

Flight 714

Now it’s time Tintin gets touched by extraterrestrial intelligence. On their way to the Astronautical Congress at Sydney, Tintin and Snowy along with Calculus, Haddock and their old associate Skut, gets kidnapped along with a millionaire by none other than the scheming Rastapopoulas and Alan. And the next thing that happens is, they are taken down to a remote island and stranded with all the intentions of leaving them dead. But the real adventure begins with their escape and as the villains hunt them on one side, curious telepathy connection helps them to get out of the situation on the other. Thus begins one of the memorable adventures of the series whose each and every page is filled with funny excitements.

Asterix and the Chieftain's Shield

Asterix and Obelix accompany Vitalstatistix on a journey to cure the chief of ailment. But the holiday turned to a race with the Romans for obtaining an ancient Gaulish shield, lost from the Roman loot very long ago. In a village famous for amphora, clues flowed as wine but whether Asterix can outsmart the Romans in the chase remains to be seen. An amusing twist at the end awaits as Caesar seems on the verge of once more being humbled by the tiny but wise Gaul.

The Mansions of the Gods

Caesar plans a new mode of attack on the Gauls and send the architect, Squareonthehypotenuse (mark the name) who have never tasted the Gaulish tricks to build modern flats, boastfully dubbed by Caesar as the Mansions of the Gods, near the Gaulish village of Asterix. As the forest is being cleared of the trees, much to the anxiety of Dogmatix, Getafix soon uses his magic to get new trees to go rapidly in the places of the old ones. As the Roman slaves uproot the trees at night, the druid frustrates their effort at daybreak. This continues for a while along with more other tricks on the Romans but an overconfident Getafix soon seems to bring an unwanted threat to the unity of the Gauls. Then it remains to our little friend and his chubby buddy to set the things right only at the cost of the suffering of the Roman legionaries.

The Cigars of the Pharaohs

The adventures of Tintin had been one of those few collections that had started its career with the same popularity as it is now, if not greater. The young reporter unmasking criminals all over the world had held the fascination of every comic book lover and to me it had promoted its status to that of classics. So when I again got my hands on The Cigars of the Pharaohs, I once more voraciously went thru it to feel the same excitement that had filled me when I read it first. Maybe I am exaggerating a bit as the sequences had been etched to my memory from the day I had first read it but even then the amusement and the thrill remained the same. As Tintin gets involved accidentally in a case of smuggled drugs while excavating the tomb of a great Pharaoh in Egypt it takes more than his ready wit to catch the criminals. As he gives the slip to the murderous smugglers and the police who wrongly suspects him of criminal activities it is the readers who enjoy a good laugh. The 62 page compilation of Herge still fascinates Tintin fans throughout the world and remains a cherished collection till today. Generally I have a feeling that translated works do not produce the same impression as the original. So continuing with my conjecture I am at a loss as I wonder what the French speaking readers feel as they go through the real one!