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Taranath Tantrik and Other Tales from the Supernatural
Description
The ghosts are everywhere.
Most are ghosts of ideas, feelings, memories. These are our personal ghosts,
and they follow us alone.
But there are other ghosts, in which we share a common fear. Thickening
shadows pooling at the corner of the room, unexplained breathing in the dark,
the child who steps out of an old photo—the shiver of supernatural frisson, a
thin crooked finger of ice tracing its way down your spine. This fear, and thrill,
is rightfully the domain of the kind of ghost you will meet in this book.
In Taranath Tantrik, Devalina Mookerjee translates nine stories of the uncanny
and occult by legendary Bengali storyteller, Bibhutibhushan. Seven are short
stories of séance, curses, return for revenge, and the desire for things that
have no place in human lives. Two are about tantra, of necromancy, spiritual
power, goddesses, and ghosts.
The borders of reality are porous in this world.
The ghosts are everywhere.
Most are ghosts of ideas, feelings, memories. These are our personal ghosts,
and they follow us alone.
But there are other ghosts, in which we share a common fear. Thickening
shadows pooling at the corner of the room, unexplained breathing in the dark,
the child who steps out of an old photo—the shiver of supernatural frisson, a
thin crooked finger of ice tracing its way down your spine. This fear, and thrill,
is rightfully the domain of the kind of ghost you will meet in this book.
In Taranath Tantrik, Devalina Mookerjee translates nine stories of the uncanny
and occult by legendary Bengali storyteller, Bibhutibhushan. Seven are short
stories of séance, curses, return for revenge, and the desire for things that
have no place in human lives. Two are about tantra, of necromancy, spiritual
power, goddesses, and ghosts.
The borders of reality are porous in this world.
234 pages, Paperback
Published June 10, 2022
12 people are currently reading
89 people want to read
About the author
Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay
204 books1,101 followers
This author has secondary bangla profile-বিভূতিভূষণ বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায়.
Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay (Bangla: বিভূতিভূষণ বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায়) was an Indian Bangali author and one of the leading writers of modern Bangla literature. His best known work is the autobiographical novel, Pather Panchali: Song of the Road which was later adapted (along with Aparajito, the sequel) into the Apu Trilogy films, directed by Satyajit Ray.
The 1951 Rabindra Puraskar, the most prestigious literary award in the West Bengal state of India, was posthumously awarded to Bibhutibhushan for his novel ইছামতী.
Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay (Bangla: বিভূতিভূষণ বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায়) was an Indian Bangali author and one of the leading writers of modern Bangla literature. His best known work is the autobiographical novel, Pather Panchali: Song of the Road which was later adapted (along with Aparajito, the sequel) into the Apu Trilogy films, directed by Satyajit Ray.
The 1951 Rabindra Puraskar, the most prestigious literary award in the West Bengal state of India, was posthumously awarded to Bibhutibhushan for his novel ইছামতী.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
November 9, 2023
Titulo: Taranath Tantrik and Other Tales from the Supernatural
Autor: Bibhutibhushan
Motivo de lectura: Letras Macabras (Isla Macabra 2023)
Lectura / Relectura: Lectura
Mi edicion: Electronico
Puntuacion: 3/5
El libro comienza con una introduccion sobre que son los fantasmas, desde la historia folclorica hasta pasando por una construccion social. Esta introduccion es exquisita.
Esta antologia contiene nueve cuentos con tematicas variadas (siempre dentro de lo sobrenatural).
The first story: una historia donde se explora la creencia y hasta donde se llegaria en orden para lograr un estado cercano a la divinidad. Un juego mental entre el protagonista (Taranath) y su guru, explorando el tantra, donde el limite de lo real y lo imaginario se confunde y fusiona en todo momento. 3.5/5
The second story: esta segunda historia tambien tiene de protagonista a Taranath, es una historia muy privada, muy intima. El amor entre lo divino y lo irracional, entre la pasion y la ira, todo retratado a traves de una mujer muy misteriosa. 4.5/5
Maya: es un cuento misterioso. En un principio la sensacion de persecucion, para luego caer en la perdida de la realidad. Por momentos el desequilibrio, por momentos la aceptacion de su propio destino. Todo ambientado en una atmosfera lugubre, tetrica. Tengan cuidado al lugar que finalmente llamaran hogar. 3.5/5
An open door: un relato terrorifico, que entrelaza a una medium, espiritus, y seres miticos sobrenaturales comocidos como elementales. El escepticismo es el timon de la trama, y hasta que punto llega la terquedad de una persona que se niega a creer que hay cosas que realmente serian dificiles de explicar. 4/5
The curse: es un cuento que no pasa desapecibido. La manera en que Bibhutibhushan va construyendo la maldicion, una mezcla entre marco historico, sadismo, y el karma. Ningun acto queda impune, al menos no para el universo, eventualmente de alguna manera, todo se paga. 4/5
The ghosts of spices: sinceramente me aburrio un poco, y me hubiera gustado saber mucho mas sobre el barco y su tripulacion. Igualmente esos sacos de especies me asustarian sin lugar a dudas. 2/5
Arrack: lamentablemente este cuento me aburrio muchisimo, criaturas fantasticas, patos y mucha incoherencia para mi gusto. 1/5
The house of his foremother: una historia sobrenatural acerca de los lazos familiares. Es una historia por momentos obvia, pero a su vez la disfrute. 3/5
A small statue: una historia fantastica que involucra a la diosa Sarawasti y un marco historico en India. Un cuento interesante, que mezcla el presente y el pasado a traves de visiones. 3.5/5
Autor: Bibhutibhushan
Motivo de lectura: Letras Macabras (Isla Macabra 2023)
Lectura / Relectura: Lectura
Mi edicion: Electronico
Puntuacion: 3/5
El libro comienza con una introduccion sobre que son los fantasmas, desde la historia folclorica hasta pasando por una construccion social. Esta introduccion es exquisita.
Esta antologia contiene nueve cuentos con tematicas variadas (siempre dentro de lo sobrenatural).
The first story: una historia donde se explora la creencia y hasta donde se llegaria en orden para lograr un estado cercano a la divinidad. Un juego mental entre el protagonista (Taranath) y su guru, explorando el tantra, donde el limite de lo real y lo imaginario se confunde y fusiona en todo momento. 3.5/5
The second story: esta segunda historia tambien tiene de protagonista a Taranath, es una historia muy privada, muy intima. El amor entre lo divino y lo irracional, entre la pasion y la ira, todo retratado a traves de una mujer muy misteriosa. 4.5/5
Maya: es un cuento misterioso. En un principio la sensacion de persecucion, para luego caer en la perdida de la realidad. Por momentos el desequilibrio, por momentos la aceptacion de su propio destino. Todo ambientado en una atmosfera lugubre, tetrica. Tengan cuidado al lugar que finalmente llamaran hogar. 3.5/5
An open door: un relato terrorifico, que entrelaza a una medium, espiritus, y seres miticos sobrenaturales comocidos como elementales. El escepticismo es el timon de la trama, y hasta que punto llega la terquedad de una persona que se niega a creer que hay cosas que realmente serian dificiles de explicar. 4/5
The curse: es un cuento que no pasa desapecibido. La manera en que Bibhutibhushan va construyendo la maldicion, una mezcla entre marco historico, sadismo, y el karma. Ningun acto queda impune, al menos no para el universo, eventualmente de alguna manera, todo se paga. 4/5
The ghosts of spices: sinceramente me aburrio un poco, y me hubiera gustado saber mucho mas sobre el barco y su tripulacion. Igualmente esos sacos de especies me asustarian sin lugar a dudas. 2/5
Arrack: lamentablemente este cuento me aburrio muchisimo, criaturas fantasticas, patos y mucha incoherencia para mi gusto. 1/5
The house of his foremother: una historia sobrenatural acerca de los lazos familiares. Es una historia por momentos obvia, pero a su vez la disfrute. 3/5
A small statue: una historia fantastica que involucra a la diosa Sarawasti y un marco historico en India. Un cuento interesante, que mezcla el presente y el pasado a traves de visiones. 3.5/5
November 6, 2022
Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay, most popularly known for the novel Pather Panchali (which Satyajit Ray adapted to cinema), also wrote stories of the supernatural: of ghosts, demons, elementals, beings not of this world. This slim volume consists of several of these stories: the first two are of the eponymous Taranath, a tantric who becomes friends with the narrator and describes to him his initial forays into the practice of tantra. The rest of the stories are about other supernatural encounters, from the odd happenings in the godown of an unscrupulous spice merchant, to what a duck-hunting royal saw at a salt lake near Kota.
I enjoyed this book a lot. Mookerjee’s translation is highly readable (and her notes on supernatural beings, especially in Bengali tradition, as well as her introduction to tantricism, are very helpful). And the stories are deliciously creepy. While the two Taranath Tantric stories are good, what I liked more are the other, non-tantric, ones: with varied settings and varied supernatural phenomena (interestingly enough, not all malevolent), these are really engrossing. Bibhutibhushan writes very evocatively: there were moments here when I could actually feel the hair on my nape rise! Note, though, that this is not the over-the-top gruesome and overly graphic horror so popular nowadays; this is more subtle, and the suggestion is, more often than not, what makes most of these stories so effective.
I enjoyed this book a lot. Mookerjee’s translation is highly readable (and her notes on supernatural beings, especially in Bengali tradition, as well as her introduction to tantricism, are very helpful). And the stories are deliciously creepy. While the two Taranath Tantric stories are good, what I liked more are the other, non-tantric, ones: with varied settings and varied supernatural phenomena (interestingly enough, not all malevolent), these are really engrossing. Bibhutibhushan writes very evocatively: there were moments here when I could actually feel the hair on my nape rise! Note, though, that this is not the over-the-top gruesome and overly graphic horror so popular nowadays; this is more subtle, and the suggestion is, more often than not, what makes most of these stories so effective.
December 29, 2024
3.5 stars
January 14, 2024
The only supernatural experience I had while reading this book was that it sucked the life out of me.
There's nothing to excite you in the story. Typically, eerie books have elements that surprise and keep the reader eagerly anticipating a moment that makes them jump. However, this book lacked any such elements. Every story was predictable.
I regret wasting my weekend on this book. I find myself questioning why I'm even giving it two stars. Perhaps there's something supernatural at play that's not easy to explain.
There's nothing to excite you in the story. Typically, eerie books have elements that surprise and keep the reader eagerly anticipating a moment that makes them jump. However, this book lacked any such elements. Every story was predictable.
I regret wasting my weekend on this book. I find myself questioning why I'm even giving it two stars. Perhaps there's something supernatural at play that's not easy to explain.
September 5, 2022
An alluring anthology which traps you in the eerie world accompanied by tantalizing storytelling which eggs on the reader to explore further.Mostly the stories are based in countryside where the mood is set perfect in old desolate bungalows, ancestral homes or deserted riverside.The characters in the tales reflect the dark side of humans which yearns for materialistic possessions,lust for body, power and wealth which often they try to conceal under the guise of goodness.
Well researched and well translated, the translator was able to retain most of the essence of the original work into the translated literature.The engaging storyline kept me glued to the book till the end.The fine detailing and interesting characters breath life into stories of the dead and afterlife.I loved reading Maya,The second story,Poitrik Bhima and Prattatava.
The tales grow slowly and steadily on you. One is jolted into reality with sudden revelations.The hair raising climax left me with an unsettling feeling.It is hard to stop the mind from wandering into the land of Maya, Lokkhi and Madhusundari.
If you are wondering who the above mentioned characters are do check out the book.I would recommend this addictive anthology to the lovers of gothic stories.
Well researched and well translated, the translator was able to retain most of the essence of the original work into the translated literature.The engaging storyline kept me glued to the book till the end.The fine detailing and interesting characters breath life into stories of the dead and afterlife.I loved reading Maya,The second story,Poitrik Bhima and Prattatava.
The tales grow slowly and steadily on you. One is jolted into reality with sudden revelations.The hair raising climax left me with an unsettling feeling.It is hard to stop the mind from wandering into the land of Maya, Lokkhi and Madhusundari.
If you are wondering who the above mentioned characters are do check out the book.I would recommend this addictive anthology to the lovers of gothic stories.
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January 28, 2025This year is not going good at all 🙃. Started off with a shallow book. Should've known
September 25, 2024
Very disappointing! The book says "not for the faint-hearted". It will put the faint-hearted to sleep.
August 6, 2022
Was so so excited to finally get this book in my hands and read it from cover to cover.
I don’t normally read short stories but bangla golper boi and ghost stories are the exception.
I have read some of Bibhuti Bhushan Bandhopadhyay‘s stories in the original but not Taranath Tantrik or his bhooter golpo.
These are such classic ghost stories and a big kudos to Devalina Mookerjee for bringing this to the English-reading population.
I was so engrossed in the book, reading story after story, that it was only afterwards that I thought “These are translations!” Never once while reading was there one jarring word, one convoluted phrasing or laboured explanation that made one think that one is reading a translated work. The writing felt so natural and so vivid, that I could literally see the stories unfolding scene after scene. The unused uncared for mansion, set away from the village almost into the forest, where the narrator sits chatting to a young child, the woman tantrik with all her paraphernalia in the midst of her ritual, everything comes alive on the pages. These stories are not translated but “trans created “
For me one of the best bits was the introduction that had, amongst other things, a detailed description of ghosts and supernatural beings of Bengal. I finally know what’s the difference between a shankhchunni and a petni (both female ghosts, one married and one not) . I would have bought the book for the introduction alone.
I don’t normally read short stories but bangla golper boi and ghost stories are the exception.
I have read some of Bibhuti Bhushan Bandhopadhyay‘s stories in the original but not Taranath Tantrik or his bhooter golpo.
These are such classic ghost stories and a big kudos to Devalina Mookerjee for bringing this to the English-reading population.
I was so engrossed in the book, reading story after story, that it was only afterwards that I thought “These are translations!” Never once while reading was there one jarring word, one convoluted phrasing or laboured explanation that made one think that one is reading a translated work. The writing felt so natural and so vivid, that I could literally see the stories unfolding scene after scene. The unused uncared for mansion, set away from the village almost into the forest, where the narrator sits chatting to a young child, the woman tantrik with all her paraphernalia in the midst of her ritual, everything comes alive on the pages. These stories are not translated but “trans created “
For me one of the best bits was the introduction that had, amongst other things, a detailed description of ghosts and supernatural beings of Bengal. I finally know what’s the difference between a shankhchunni and a petni (both female ghosts, one married and one not) . I would have bought the book for the introduction alone.
November 19, 2022
Bengal is rich in ghosts – all kinds and types that haunt trees, graveyards, old homes and kitchens. Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay put his formidable skills to writing about the supernatural when he wasn’t writing about village life or adventuring in Africa. Devalina Mooherjee’s translation carefully captures the everyday conversational style of the stories set in the world of the Bengali middle class and it is the ordinariness of the people involved that makes the supernatural even more uncanny.
Taranath Tantric is part of a popular series of tales about the tantric turned astrologer who looks back on his young and daring supernatural days. Bibhutibhushan only wrote two of the stories – the rest were written by his son – but the two covered Taranath’s life in detail. Bibhutibhushan makes no secret of the fact that he does not advocate black magic – Taranath talks about his past life and the fact that the two guides he met both told him to return home instead of toying with meditation in cremation grounds. Dead bodies, skeletons and hallucinations are all part of the experience which contrast with Taranath’s mundane life in Mott’s Lane with his wife and daughter both of whom seem slightly sceptical about his past. They are told as stories within stories, a listener’s account of past history that seem to break off on the listener’s thought as each ends.
The ghost stories that follow are more subtle and atmospheric. Most of them are set in rural Bengal dotted with the crumbling houses of great landowners, some utterly deserted some lived in from time to time. Like the wide world of ghost stories it is peopled with curses and sounds in the night – though not all of Bibhutibhushan’s ghosts are terrifying and some only haunt dreams. What one might comment on is the fact that the haunted are always men while the shades are those of women in many cases who materialise without warning at dusk. Perhaps Maya is the creepiest of the stories, the House of His Foremothers the most touching and Masala Bhoot the most unusual, though also the most conceptually weak.
Mookherjee’s translation keeps the old spelling of place names to heighten the atmosphere - her hard work in transferring Bibhutibhusan's casual conversational Bengali to an approximation in English pays dividends.
Taranath Tantric is part of a popular series of tales about the tantric turned astrologer who looks back on his young and daring supernatural days. Bibhutibhushan only wrote two of the stories – the rest were written by his son – but the two covered Taranath’s life in detail. Bibhutibhushan makes no secret of the fact that he does not advocate black magic – Taranath talks about his past life and the fact that the two guides he met both told him to return home instead of toying with meditation in cremation grounds. Dead bodies, skeletons and hallucinations are all part of the experience which contrast with Taranath’s mundane life in Mott’s Lane with his wife and daughter both of whom seem slightly sceptical about his past. They are told as stories within stories, a listener’s account of past history that seem to break off on the listener’s thought as each ends.
The ghost stories that follow are more subtle and atmospheric. Most of them are set in rural Bengal dotted with the crumbling houses of great landowners, some utterly deserted some lived in from time to time. Like the wide world of ghost stories it is peopled with curses and sounds in the night – though not all of Bibhutibhushan’s ghosts are terrifying and some only haunt dreams. What one might comment on is the fact that the haunted are always men while the shades are those of women in many cases who materialise without warning at dusk. Perhaps Maya is the creepiest of the stories, the House of His Foremothers the most touching and Masala Bhoot the most unusual, though also the most conceptually weak.
Mookherjee’s translation keeps the old spelling of place names to heighten the atmosphere - her hard work in transferring Bibhutibhusan's casual conversational Bengali to an approximation in English pays dividends.
August 26, 2022
The sign of a great translation is when a reader is swept away by the world of the book with no feelings of disconnect even though the book comes from an unfamiliar culture... This book does exactly that... Sweeps you away into its strange, atmospheric world and does not let you go... I read it breathlessly, kidnapped by its deep sense of dread even when the most ordinary things are happening, before things explode into terrifying encounters with otherworldly forces
December 12, 2022
Makes for a great read! Bibhutibhushan never fails to amaze me. His content, his style, his manner of describing every scene so that it plays out right in front of your eyes... it's magical. Happy reading!
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November 15, 2025Page 186: That afternoon, Sukumarbabu was immersed in a book about the disciplinary practices of the Sen dynasty, when I showed up like a people's revolution to destroy the scholarly tranquility of his study.
August 29, 2022
Excellent... A blend of paranormal and pure human psychology.... This is real indian horror literature.....
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews