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55th out of 381 books
—
930 voters
Chokher Bali
First published as a serial, a novel on love, family and sexuality in Bengal society. a classic, trans. by Sukhendu Ray
Paperback, 298 pages
Published
January 28th 2005
by Rupa
(first published 1914)
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My most precious read about Indian culture and heritage by the famous poet and writer Rabindranath Tagore.
In this novel there are many ups and downs,the story is about a bengali family settled in calcutta. And the author describes that how the power of passion and desires can shake any relation from its roots and how a man becomes a slave of his own desires which he's not being able to overcome despite wanting to concentrate on his wife and family.This is a novel about desires,passions,unfulfill...more
In this novel there are many ups and downs,the story is about a bengali family settled in calcutta. And the author describes that how the power of passion and desires can shake any relation from its roots and how a man becomes a slave of his own desires which he's not being able to overcome despite wanting to concentrate on his wife and family.This is a novel about desires,passions,unfulfill...more
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It gets two stars from me primarily because i was reading a translation. The language of the translator, I felt, was too simplistic and stilted in places. The lyrical beauty which is so integral a part of Tagore's prose was missing. As a result, the characters of Mahendra, Binodini, Behari and Asha seemed wooden and the situations contrived.
Unfortunately, while I can read Bengali, since it is not my mother tongue, it would take me ages to finish the book in the language and I am too impatient. M...more
Unfortunately, while I can read Bengali, since it is not my mother tongue, it would take me ages to finish the book in the language and I am too impatient. M...more
I was confounded whether to give this book a three star or a four star in the first place.
It's a beautiful family drama that transpires in a pre-independence Indian household. It's a tale of love, hatred, envy and lust that is present between the four main characters of the household. Mahindra, Behari, Asha and Binodhini. The story is well paced for most part of the book. I found it slacking a bit towards the middle part of the book where I felt the arguments and emotions were becoming repetiti...more
It's a beautiful family drama that transpires in a pre-independence Indian household. It's a tale of love, hatred, envy and lust that is present between the four main characters of the household. Mahindra, Behari, Asha and Binodhini. The story is well paced for most part of the book. I found it slacking a bit towards the middle part of the book where I felt the arguments and emotions were becoming repetiti...more
i dont know how many people loved this book and made it one of their top ten favourites but i am certainly not one of them,for me this was one of those books where you read the synopsis at the back of the book and are excited to sit in a comfy chair and start reading but i was utterly disappointed by what this book delivered,i dont know if it was the writing or me that couldnt grasp the message or point of this book. after every page i was wondering when will this get interesting or when somethi...more
One does not pass verdicts on the works of someone like Rabindranath Tagore and if one has to, then the rating cannot be anything less than a 5/5. Chokher Bali is such a complicated story of love, lust and longing. I finished it in less than 2 days - I wanted to take time to absorb each development but it is so fast and compelling that I could not put it down. Tagore was truly a Master. The level of thinking he had at the end of 19th century is more advanced than authors of the present millenniu...more
Chokher Bali has all the ingredients necessary to make a gripping drama - love and hate, loyalty and deceit, downfall and redemption. And it does not disappoint. Nearly every character starts off black or white, but in the end, all that are left are shades of grey.
There are times when the book tests the modern reader's willingness to suspend disbelief, but they are neither frequent nor are they inconceivable in the period the book is set.
There are times when the book tests the modern reader's willingness to suspend disbelief, but they are neither frequent nor are they inconceivable in the period the book is set.
Only Tagore could have had written such a master piece. Every character with details so profound that one can picture them while reading. Its so intensely wovened with spirit of calcutta that it makes one travel through narrow lanes of calcutta.
Character of Binodini is such that you hate her but have to love her too. Its worth a read atleast once in life.
Character of Binodini is such that you hate her but have to love her too. Its worth a read atleast once in life.
Only Tagore could have had written such a master piece. Every character with details so profound that one can picture them while reading. Its so intensely wovened with spirit of calcutta that it makes one travel through narrow lanes of calcutta.
Character of Binodini is such that you hate her but have to love her too. Its worth a read atleast once in life.
Character of Binodini is such that you hate her but have to love her too. Its worth a read atleast once in life.
Maybe because it was a translation and not the original I felt the flow of the language very disconnected. It was abrupt and shifted from one scene to another very haphazardly. Having said that I can see the story trying to bring out the frustrations and pent up energy a young widowed woman in 1900 India may have felt and the repercussions of letting those out and the damages it can cause.
Its one of the masterpiece by Rabindranath Tagore, I would give 5 star for that but the original essence was lost in translation. I am rating 4 star because of the translator who could have done much better work with it. Certain things/dialogues even sound funny when literally translated from Bangla to English.
عده ای به طور عمیق اندیشیده اند و حقیقتت را کشف کرده اند،آنها بزرگند.من گوش سپرده ام،شاید نوای سازت را بشنوم و خوشحالم
Tagore has said about the novel, "I have always regretted the ending".
Chokher Bali is a complex tapestry woven by the emotional interplay between five finely defined characters: the impulsive and weak Mahendra, his adoring mother Rajlakshmi, the frail and sensitive Asha, the strong willed, silent Behari, and the self-willed and irresistibly attractive, scheming Binodini. It is not storytelling, but as Tagore himself says in his preface “a revelation of the secrets of the heart".
A vivid portrayal...more
Chokher Bali is a complex tapestry woven by the emotional interplay between five finely defined characters: the impulsive and weak Mahendra, his adoring mother Rajlakshmi, the frail and sensitive Asha, the strong willed, silent Behari, and the self-willed and irresistibly attractive, scheming Binodini. It is not storytelling, but as Tagore himself says in his preface “a revelation of the secrets of the heart".
A vivid portrayal...more
okay.....WOW....
seriously....only a writer like Tagore can write the feelings of a woman so accurately in a book....and hats off to Binodini....awesome books....
seriously....only a writer like Tagore can write the feelings of a woman so accurately in a book....and hats off to Binodini....awesome books....
Possibly the best dramatic crescendos I've read and the rushing innuendo is aptly written. The dissection of characters is molding and riveting.
This is a beautifully written book and extremely interesting on the human level.
While the story is set in the area around Calcuta and talks about an Indian mariage and family many of the problems could apply to people all over the world.
Tagore's description of his main characters is very vivid and we realize that some human traits unfortunately do not change and that basically we are not that different.
Maybe some of the situations of the book do not apply to the way we look at life, or our custo...more
While the story is set in the area around Calcuta and talks about an Indian mariage and family many of the problems could apply to people all over the world.
Tagore's description of his main characters is very vivid and we realize that some human traits unfortunately do not change and that basically we are not that different.
Maybe some of the situations of the book do not apply to the way we look at life, or our custo...more
Excellent book and excellent translation.
Jan 15, 2013
Anas Khan
marked it as to-read
i think it is a nice book
Apr 29, 2013
Moonmoon
added it
fantastic book
Guess the beauty got lost in the translation
its beautiful.
Jan 15, 2010
Saeeda
added it
ok
A masterpiece. This book will stay with you long after you have finished reading it. The depth of relations and the personalities of the characters, the society that lies between being modern yet traditional, the riveting emotions, the mirage of comfort all make up the beauty called Choker Bali. It is a strong plot of varied characters and is definitively a must-read.
This is a very very slow, story unfolds itself as if a big we are on a bullock cart.
..it's beautiful,,
when a widow uses her ultimate beauty to fulfill her intimate desire under all Indian social hypocrisy.
A fascinating portrayal by Rabindranath Tagore.
when a widow uses her ultimate beauty to fulfill her intimate desire under all Indian social hypocrisy.
A fascinating portrayal by Rabindranath Tagore.
I read this book in bengali...
Wow, what writing! This is a very good book. Binodini was very very fascinating. I just love her character.
MUST READ!!!
Wow, what writing! This is a very good book. Binodini was very very fascinating. I just love her character.
MUST READ!!!
I'm glad I picked this old Indian classic on my trip to India this time. Written almost a century ago, it must be spectacular in the original Bengali.
great depths of a woman's feelings understood by the man who wrote this book.
Lost in translation.
Nov 12, 2009
Ann
added it
DID NT LYK IT MUCH......IT PORTRAYS FRIENDSHIP,LOVE,MARRIAGE....READ IT B'COZ IT WAS BY RABINDRANATH TAGORE...
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Awarded 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 ess...more
More about Rabindranath Tagore...
Tagore modernised Bengali art by spurning rigid classical forms and resisting linguistic strictures. His novels, stories, songs, dance-dramas, and ess...more
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“My dearest life, I know you are not mine forever; but do love me even if it’s for this moment. After that I shall vanish into the forest where you cast me, I won’t ask anyone for anything again. Give me something that can last me till I die.”
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29 people liked it
“It is easy to drown yourself effortlessly into that which is truly profound and do no realise its true worth. And since the restless illusion which brings no pleasure even if you drain it to the dregs lead us by the nose and makes us dance a merry dance to its tune and we take it to be the lost desirable thing”
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1 person liked it
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