Novel
অভিশপ্ত নগরী
Not translated into English
Satyen Sen · 1967
Synopsis
Jerusalem, in the days when the Jewish nation is in decline, caught in a vice between Egypt and Babylon, two enemy powers. In the rich and corrupt city three forces clash: the monarchy, the clergy and the prophet Jeremiah, who bears the word of Jehovah with complete fidelity; the novel follows this conflict between the throne, the temple and the prophet, and the politics of a small city caught in the game of empires.
Context
The novel appeared in 1967; the author takes up an Old Testament story to tell of people's struggle to live. In 1969 he gave its sequel, Paper Santan, which he presents in his preface as the second volume of the same work, its action set a little more than half a century later. A critic noted the paradox of a Marxist going to the Old Testament for his material. The two novels are today reissued as a single set in Dhaka.
Who it is for
A historical novel with biblical names; better to know the story of the prophet Jeremiah and the kingdom of Judah.
Prizes and reception
Banglapedia ranks it, with its sequel, among the novels that answered Ayub Khan's military regime through myth and symbol.