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The Best of Tenida
The humorous escapades of Narayan Gangopadhyay’s immortal character and hisragtag bunch of friends, now in EnglishThe leader of a gang of four, Tenida is a brash, loud-mouthed fellow with a large heart anda gargantuan appetite. Along with the quick-witted Kyabla, the Bangladeshi-accented Habul and the cowardly Pela, Tenida fallsheadlong into one misadventure after the other, that is, when he is not telling tall tales of his own heroism. Full of wit and old-world charm, The Best of Tenida is dotted with vignettes of life in yesteryear Calcutta.Featuring five of Narayan Gangopadhyay’s best-known short stories and his timeless novella Charmurti, this English translationintroduces one of the most beloved figures in Bengali children’s literature to a wider audience.
205 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 21, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 13, 2020
It's decent.
Little humor here and there is evoked by the way dialogue ensues and the way Tenida contradicts himself, like when he says he duped them and in the very next sentence says he never lies. This would have been far more fun reading as a child. And a Bengali might outright relish the book, what with all the native snacks and cuisines appearing in every other line, with our heroes utterly famished right after a sumptuous meal.
This is no Swami and Friends but this was fun to read nevertheless. Particularly the self-deprecating humor of Pela being the highlight.
You wouldn't regret reading it.
Little humor here and there is evoked by the way dialogue ensues and the way Tenida contradicts himself, like when he says he duped them and in the very next sentence says he never lies. This would have been far more fun reading as a child. And a Bengali might outright relish the book, what with all the native snacks and cuisines appearing in every other line, with our heroes utterly famished right after a sumptuous meal.
This is no Swami and Friends but this was fun to read nevertheless. Particularly the self-deprecating humor of Pela being the highlight.
I'm Pelaram of Potoldanga, thin as a rake, racked by malaria, forced to sustain my feeble frame on gourd-and-catfish-curry.
You wouldn't regret reading it.
June 7, 2018
I've read this book like 10 years ago! It was sooooo funny. I highly recommend it :)
February 22, 2016
Tenida was recommended to me by a neighbour and also by some book group friends and I was glad to find this translation since I can't read Bengali. This was a fun collection of tales (my favourite was the novella Charmurti)-some of adventure, some just the tall tales that Tenida is rather an expert at telling, and of the tricks they play. They are set in a simpler time where one could just enjoy conversation and a snack unlike the too fast paced life of today. And speaking of snacks, these Potoldanga boys beat EB's characters hollow when it comes to their appetites, especially Tenida, and reading these does make one positively hungry. One enjoys their distinctive characters as well. Only the humour of these stories doesn't (as the translator herself admits) translate quite as well into English-there were points where I kept feeling, if I could translate certain sentences into Bengali in my head, I would get the humour but that of course I couldn't.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews