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Tagore Tales
Book Summary of Tagore Tales Rabindranath Tagore is the greatest poet and story writer from India. Tagore was a writer from Bengal who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1913. He was born in Calcutta and later travelled all over the world. Tagore grew up in a family where there was much writing and artistic activity. He wrote prolifically throughout his entire life, producing more than 3000 songs as well as volumes of novels, short stories, plays and poems. In later life he delivered lectures and made many paintings. In this collection, we present a great collection of short stories, translated from Bengali by Carolyn Brown with Sarat Kumar Mukhopadhyay. All stories are complete and unabridged.
208 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2006
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About the author
Rabindranath Tagore
2,609 books4,280 followersAwarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913 "because of his profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse, by which, with consummate skill, he has made his poetic thought, expressed in his own English words, a part of the literature of the West."
Tagore modernised Bengali art by spurning rigid classical forms and resisting linguistic strictures. His novels, stories, songs, dance-dramas, and essays spoke to topics political and personal. Gitanjali (Song Offerings), Gora (Fair-Faced), and Ghare-Baire (The Home and the World) are his best-known works, and his verse, short stories, and novels were acclaimed—or panned—for their lyricism, colloquialism, naturalism, and unnatural contemplation. His compositions were chosen by two nations as national anthems: India's Jana Gana Mana and Bangladesh's Amar Shonar Bangla.
The complete works of Rabindranath Tagore (রবীন্দ্র রচনাবলী) in the original Bengali are now available at these third-party websites:
http://www.tagoreweb.in/
http://www.rabindra-rachanabali.nltr....
Tagore modernised Bengali art by spurning rigid classical forms and resisting linguistic strictures. His novels, stories, songs, dance-dramas, and essays spoke to topics political and personal. Gitanjali (Song Offerings), Gora (Fair-Faced), and Ghare-Baire (The Home and the World) are his best-known works, and his verse, short stories, and novels were acclaimed—or panned—for their lyricism, colloquialism, naturalism, and unnatural contemplation. His compositions were chosen by two nations as national anthems: India's Jana Gana Mana and Bangladesh's Amar Shonar Bangla.
The complete works of Rabindranath Tagore (রবীন্দ্র রচনাবলী) in the original Bengali are now available at these third-party websites:
http://www.tagoreweb.in/
http://www.rabindra-rachanabali.nltr....
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 12, 2024
Earlier this year, I read my first work by Rabindranath Tagore, his novel, The Home and the World, and fell deeply in love with the style of his writing. Thus, as this month’s reading theme focussed on the Short Story, I was pleased when this short collection of ten stories and a novella came across my path in a tiny second-hand bookshop in Thailand. The physical copy, published by Projapoti in 2006, its pages weathered by humidity, was originally only available for sale in India; however, its voyage emphasises the power of the physical movement of books. Somehow, they find a home, oftentimes far from where they originally started.
Several of the tales strike at the root of the injustices and divisions that exist between various peoples, for example:
“A Girl in Between” highlights the division that can be caused by adherence to a system that displaces normal marital relations in the pursuit of cultural practices rooted in patriarchy.
“Professor” features the hubris one male student exercises in his unawareness of the superior scholarship of a young woman.
In “Ascetic,” the reader witnesses the impact of a mistaken response to the prodigality of a beloved son, and how the perception of possibility might prove more fantastical than an insipid reality.
Finally, “A Muslim Woman’s Story” presents a reaction to intolerance, and the hope of what tolerance by cultural leaders might inculcate in others.
4 stars. As I continue to engage with Tagore’s work, I consistently find a powerful voice, one that engages and challenges societal norms and realities, and still remains salient a century later. Tagore’s work deserves to be read at present, with awareness of how the divisive cultural cracks he presents might somehow metamorphize into a balm that heals the wounds of injustice. Such writing proves exactly the kind of torch that might illuminate ways of perceiving our world, and finding ways to transform it, if only marginally.
Several of the tales strike at the root of the injustices and divisions that exist between various peoples, for example:
“A Girl in Between” highlights the division that can be caused by adherence to a system that displaces normal marital relations in the pursuit of cultural practices rooted in patriarchy.
“Professor” features the hubris one male student exercises in his unawareness of the superior scholarship of a young woman.
In “Ascetic,” the reader witnesses the impact of a mistaken response to the prodigality of a beloved son, and how the perception of possibility might prove more fantastical than an insipid reality.
Finally, “A Muslim Woman’s Story” presents a reaction to intolerance, and the hope of what tolerance by cultural leaders might inculcate in others.
4 stars. As I continue to engage with Tagore’s work, I consistently find a powerful voice, one that engages and challenges societal norms and realities, and still remains salient a century later. Tagore’s work deserves to be read at present, with awareness of how the divisive cultural cracks he presents might somehow metamorphize into a balm that heals the wounds of injustice. Such writing proves exactly the kind of torch that might illuminate ways of perceiving our world, and finding ways to transform it, if only marginally.
December 11, 2018
These stories are quite different. For a European reader, it is extremely interesting to read them and have a grasp of what is life in India and specifically in Bengal. Unfortunately, the translation doesn't help to bridge the cultural gap. There are many Indian terms that go untranslated and uncommented, such as a ghat, or a khadi, or countless others. A dictionary of terms as an appendix or some footnotes would have greatly helped to understand the stories.
From the narrative point of view, the stories are good. Some are very good, such as Detective, The Professor, or A Fouled Nest. Others feel a bit rushed. All the endings, in particular, are not real endings and imply some sort of moral or ethical consideration from the reader. Honestly, sometimes, I couldn't see where Tagore was pointing at and I was just left clueless.
A good read, three solid stars, much closer to four than to two.
From the narrative point of view, the stories are good. Some are very good, such as Detective, The Professor, or A Fouled Nest. Others feel a bit rushed. All the endings, in particular, are not real endings and imply some sort of moral or ethical consideration from the reader. Honestly, sometimes, I couldn't see where Tagore was pointing at and I was just left clueless.
A good read, three solid stars, much closer to four than to two.
January 30, 2022
None of the stories were gripping as I'd expected them to be except maybe "Fouled Nest" and "Artist".
This was a spot-on case of beauty getting Lost in Translation.
This was a spot-on case of beauty getting Lost in Translation.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews