Product Description

classic collection of stories on Bengal, Hinduism, social issues, caste. with critical introd. by Wailliam Radice. best edition available

Product Details

• Published on: 1991-05-23
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

About the Author
Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), Nobel laureate for literature (1913), was one of modern India's greatest poets and writers

Customer Reviews

Vivid, Magnificent, Haunting, Mysterious Stories
Rabindranath Tagore is best known for his Bengali devotional songs, which were translated to English as poetry. His most famous book of poems, Gitanjali, won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913. However, Tagore also wrote short stories which reflect the people, customs, social structure, turmoil, and relationships of the times in which they were written. When the stories were written, Tagore lived on a houseboat. He watched the ebb and flow of life in villages along the river. He captured the essential features of Bengali village life. He saw the caste system, the inequality, the struggles and limitations imposed on people. He wrote about the realities he witnessed. He saw that women were treated as second class citizens, despite their intelligence and talents. He witnessed death as a part of life, when antibiotics had not yet been developed, infections killed children and adults alike. Orphans remained to be raised by next of kin. Tagore manages to capture teh feelings and emotions of the disenfranchised, the poor, and the helpless. His stories are often haunting and eery - the reader gets the feeling for where the stories are leading but suddenly an unexpected twist can change the outcomes. Whatever the theme or topic, Tagore maintains a spiritual awareness or presence in all his stories ... he is sensitive to the innocent, the vulnerable, the unprotected ones in society. His characters have unique personalities. He describes family relationships and explores prescribed roles and society's expectations. He also reveals what happens when people challenge their roles and fall outside behavioral norms. Although the stories were written in the 1890s, the message Tagore conveys has meaning in modern times.
Expressions of love, respect, and decency toward one's fellow human being are universal, therefore Tagore will be held in high esteem by future generations, just as he has been revered by past and present readers. The content of his stories are not bound by space or culture, they are spiritual and therefore timeless. Erika Borsos (erikab93)

Touching...
Having the advantage of being a native from Bengal, I could relate to the tragedies expressed in the stories. The characters are highlighted by their uniqueness and yet so typical of the period, region culture and customs - all so brilliantly portrayed. I must point out the marvellous job done in translation. It is very difficult to keep intact the sense of each context when translating and it will never be possible to reflect the stories in its entirety in a translated form. Nevertheless, I felt this was as close as one could get. Tagore is undoubtedly a great poet but what amazes me is how he brings out the poet in anyone who reads his stories or poems. The appreciation does not end with reading his works but endures in your perceptions from then on.

Beautiful Stories, But Too Gloomy
These stories of Tagore's are hauntingly beautiful. One could almost call these stories a series of extended prose poems; the scenes of Bengali life are painted with full force. The situations are not very realistic, but the realism of emotion is all the more genuine because of it. The one complaint I have is that every single story turns out bad! There is not a single happy story in the book, which makes Tagore seem like so much of a pessimist. The stories are also not really stories in the western sense -- they are more properly called "tales", with a minimum of action and a sense of being "told" a story rather than experiencing it as it unfolds.