Wildfire

And Other Stories

Banaphool

Translated by Somnath Zutshi

 

6 x 9 inches, 248 pp March 2018

ISBN : 9780857424976

Rs  699.00 (PB)
$24.50 (PB)
£18.99 (PB)

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Banaphool—which means wildflower—was the pen name of beloved Bengali writer Balaichand Mukhopadhyay (1899–1979). Wildfire brings together 45 short pieces by Banaphool that are brilliantly representative of his uncompromising, multifaceted talent. Stark and short, often much too short, some even cryptic, these stories often leave much of the narrative to our imagination. Here we find an irresistible grab bag: utterly whimsical tales, several ghost stories, a few morality fables, some bitterly critical political satires and a number of stories that examine the plight of those neglected in or rejected by society.

The  wildflower, Rabindranath Tagore had told the author, has no place in the porcelain vase, nor in the temple—it blossoms by the roadside, unnoticed, except by the creative vision. Identifying with it, Banaphool brings to our notice the worth of the marginal as well as the beauty of the mundane. The perfect introduction to a master writer, Wildfire will enchant and impress English-language readers new to Banaphool’s work.

Banaphool was the pseudonym of Balaichand Mukhopadhyay, a physician with a busy medical practice who still succeeded in turning out a large number of literary works, including novels, short stories, plays, poetry, essays and autobiographical writings.

 

Somnath Zutshi was a psychonanalyst by training who studied and wrote extensively on cinema. He has also translated works by Somnath Hore and Mrinal Sen.

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