Fantasy Fictions from the Bengal Renaissance: Abanindranath Tagore’s The Make-Believe Prince (Kheerer Putul); Gaganendranath Tagore’s Toddy-Cat the Bold

by Abanindranath Tagore, Gaganendranath Tagore, Sanjay Sircar (Translator)

'Fantasy Fictions from the Bengal Renaissance' presents two masterpieces of Bengali literature by Rabindranath Tagore's nephews, Abanindranath Tagore and Gaganendranath Tagore. 'The Make-Believe Prince' is the delightful story of a king, his two wives, a trickster monkey, a witch, and a helper from another world who is not a 'fairy godmother'. Abanindranath deploys traditional children's rhymes and paints exquisite word-pictures in his unusual original rendering of a tale which has its origins in Bengali folktale materials in various genres. 'Toddy-Cat the Bold' sees a group of brave comrades seek help from a young boy to rescue the son of their leader from the Two-Faced Rakshasa of the forest, and has another, more numinous helper. Inspired by Lewis Carroll's Alice books, it presents a comic, exciting, and mysterious journey quite unlike Carroll's, with many traditional local touches and an unexpected ending.

372 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 23, 2014

About the author

Abanindranath Tagore (bn: অবণীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর), was the principal artist of the Bengal school and the first major exponent of swadeshi values in Indian art. He was also a noted writer. He was popularly known as 'Aban Thakur'. Abanindranath Tagore was born in Jorasanko, Calcutta, to Gunendranath Tagore. His grandfather was Girindranath Tagore, the second son of Prince Dwarkanath Tagore. He is a member of the distinguished Tagore family, and a nephew of the poet Rabindranath Tagore. His grandfather and his elder brother Gaganendranath Tagore were also artists.

Reviews

[Denipreet Kaur · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fables For All Ages has three stories. All the three stories were good, it felt nice reading them, they were witty & interesting. At times it felt like reading a children's story but then something complex would happen; indeed these fables are for all ages. Since the stories are translated from Bengali some important terms are not translated into English, maybe to preserve the original charm of the stories; however there is a complete glossary at the end of the book. I really can't decide which story was my favourite :)

[Ritambhara Dixit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute boook...can really be read by all ages. A fun and thrilling read!