Four Chapters

by Rabindranath Tagore, Rimli Bhattacharya (Translator)

Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) was aware of the potentially volatile contet of Char Adhyay, his last and thirteenth novel, written when he was seventy two. Who is a real patriot? Is liberation to be achieved by rhetorical slogans, ascetic militarism, conformity and ruthless external discipline? How can one be true to one's self in the making of a nation? Questions that make this tragic story of two lovers central to our times. The only existing English translation (edited ruthlessly for a foreign readership) was serialised in 1936 and came out as a book as late as 1950. This is the first complete translation of the Bangla novel. The Afterword by Rimil Bhattacharya relates the controversial history of the novel and draws the reader's attention to the poetry in this book.

Genres: Fiction, Classics, Indian Literature, Novels, Romance, Literary Fiction, Politics

149 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1934

About the author

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 essays spoke to topics political and personal. Gitanjali (Song Offerings), Gora (Fair-Faced), and Ghare-Baire (The Home and the World) are his best-known works, and his verse, short stories, and novels were acclaimed—or panned—for their lyricism, colloquialism, naturalism, and unnatural contemplation. His compositions were chosen by two nations as national anthems: India's Jana Gana Mana and Bangladesh's Amar Shonar Bangla.

The complete works of Rabindranath Tagore (রবীন্দ্র রচনাবলী) in the original Bengali are now available at these third-party websites:
http://www.tagoreweb.in/
http://www.rabindra-rachanabali.nltr....

Reviews

[Jammie · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Comment te faire comprendre à quelle hauteur je dois lever la tête pour apercevoir ton visage ?"