Novel
Padma River Boatman
পদ্মা নদীর মাঝি
Manik Bandyopadhyay · 1936
Synopsis
Kuber, a fisherman on the Padma river, goes out on the wild waters and scarcely earns enough to feed his family: his wife Mala, lame in one leg, and their children. He has to turn to Hossain Miya, a merchant from nowhere who grows rich on trafficking and has bought Moynadwip, a jungle-covered island where he dreams of founding a colony. When Kuber brings back his sister-in-law Kapila from his in-laws' home, desire comes into play, and Hossain's dream gradually draws in the river people.
Context
The novel appeared in 1936, the same year as Putul Nacher Itikatha, with which it established the author's reputation. It shows how poverty shapes the conduct of the people of East Bengal. Translated into English in 1973 in the Unesco collection of representative works, it appeared in French at L'Harmattan in 1986. Goutam Ghose brought it to the screen in 1993, in an India-Bangladesh co-production, with Utpal Dutt in the role of Hossain.
Who it is for
A short, harsh novel, whose dialogue carries the accent of the riverbanks, and one of the few Bengali books in this catalogue that exists in French.
Prizes and reception
Regarded as one of the major works of twentieth-century Bengali prose, and the most widely read book by its author.
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